Roughly a year after the Amazon Children’s Publishing division launched, it has announced two new imprints. Two Lions will be home to picture books, chapter books and middle-grade fiction, and Skyscape will be devoted to titles for young adults, encompassing works from both established authors and new voices. Margery Cuyler is editorial manager for Two Lions, and Tim Ditlow is editorial manager for Skyscape. Amazon Children’s Publishing's general manager is Amy Hosford; Larry Kirshbaum, publisher for Amazon Publishing, oversees the editorial leadership for the company’s Seattle and New York adult imprints, as well as Amazon Children’s Publishing.
Amazon Publishing acquired more than 450 titles from Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books in late 2011 and Cuyler, who had been publisher of MCCB (and is also an author), retained her title when she joined Amazon at that time. Ditlow came on board as associate publisher of Amazon’s children’s publishing unit in January of last year.
The launch season for the two new imprints is spring 2013. Titles on the inaugural Two Lions list include Gandhi: A March to the Sea by Alice B. McGinty, illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez, a biography written in free-verse; and Poco Loco, a debut picture book about a mouse inventor by J.R. Krause, illustrated by Maria Chua. Titles under the Skyscape umbrella include You Know What You Have to Do by Bonnie Shimko, about a 15-year-old girl who hears voices in her head telling her to kill people; and Reason to Breathe, the first book in the Breathing Series trilogy by Rebecca Donovan, an initially self-published title that had already earned a dedicated readership.
According to Amazon, the two lions of the imprint name represent the past and the future -- and “together they embody strength through heritage and innovation.” And, the company says, “the sky’s the limit” for the broad spectrum of intriguing stories that Skyscape will be bringing to readers. Amazon will unveil the new list at the American Library Association's midwinter meeting later this week in Seattle.
