Led by gains in its juvenile nonfiction imprints, Independent publisher Sourcebooks reports an overall increase in sales of 17% in 2018 over 2017.
Sourcebooks CEO and publisher Dominique Raccah cited a 108% increase in sales from eXplore, the house’s juvenile nonfiction imprint, driven by two bestselling titles: Raj Haldar, Chris Carpenter and Maria Tina Beddia’s P Is for Pterodactyl and The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen. Sourcebooks also sold more than 850,000 copies of Baby University by Chris Ferrie, a series of science books for kids. Raccah said, “Sourcebooks Kids now accounts for 53% of our business, and sales from our children’s list were up 30 percent last year.”
Sales of Sourcebook adult fiction rose 23% over the previous year, led by Sold on Monday by Kristina McMorris, which has sold more than 100,000 copies since it was published last August. Sourcebooks Casablanca romance imprint grew 3% in a year when the romance category was down overall.
Raccah also cited continuing success of Marie Benedict’s bestselling adult novel The Only Woman in the Room; and the bestselling children’s picture book, Love: From Sesame Street by the Sesame Workshop
“We’re extraordinarily excited about the work we’re doing this year. The books and the team have real momentum, and our retail partners are clearly excited by our work,” Raccah said.
