Selling Like Clockwork

Children's literature has long been awash in cute and kindly mice characters. Many of those good-natured rodents have even become superstars--Stuart Little, Lilly, Martin the Warrior. Now there's a new varmint nibbling at their heels: a mouse watchmaker named Hermux Tantamoq, hero of the novel Time Stops for No Mouse by Michael Hoeye (Putnam, Jan.). And Hermux may well be on his way to becoming quite a big cheese.

After creating the name Hermux Tantamoq during a word-jumble challenge presented by his wife, Portland, Ore., copywriter Hoeye said he felt compelled to create an adventure tale to go along with his character. The result was a whodunit in which Hermux becomes an unwitting participant in a mystery of international intrigue (and also develops a crush on a daring mouse aviatrix). Hoeye self-published the book as a trade paperback (Terfle Books, June 2000) and began pitching it in his native Northwest.

The title picked up steam among independent booksellers across the country, earning it a slot on the Book Sense 76 list three times (and a subsequent nomination for this year's Book Sense Book of the Year award), and soon drew the attention of several major publishers eager to acquire the property. Putnam won hardcover and paperback rights at auction for the reported sum of $1.8 million for Time Stops for No Mouse and two sequels, including the previously self-published The Sands of Time, which is due out from Putnam in fall 2002. A Puffin paperback edition of Time Stops for No Mouse is tentatively scheduled for summer/fall '03.

With a first printing of 115,000 copies of the hardcover Time Stops for No Mouse behind them, Hoeye and Hermux began the new year at full tilt, embarking on a monthlong national book tour. According to Katrina Weidknecht, director of publicity for Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 'The response has been really great, considering he's still unknown. We've had terrific turnouts. And because Michael is a new author, we had the luxury of not repeating any tour territory. People are really going out of their way to show how excited they are about the book.'

Treehouse Readers, a children's bookstore in Kingwood, Tex., is a case in point. For Hoeye's February 6 appearance, store owner Susan Kent and her staff planned a meet-the-author pizza party. 'We got together with Papa John's [the pizza chain] and they allowed us to place a half-page flyer announcing the event on all their pizza boxes for a one-week period, which included Super Bowl Sunday,' she said. Papa John's donated a portion of the party's pizza, too. In addition, bookseller and 'resident artist' Gaye Jones created a life-size grandfather clock with a face that opened. Event attendees were thrilled to see the author (and his shock of red hair) hidden inside the clock. Kent also had prizes on hand, including cosmetics (key to the Time plot) from a local Mary Kay representative. 'Free pizza worked really well getting the kids in here,' Kent said with a laugh. She estimated her store has sold 60 copies of Hoeye's book to date.

Going Global

A certain image may come to mind when one hears the entertainment industry descriptions 'moguls' and 'most powerful young women in Hollywood.' For most people, that image would not be of 15-year-old twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Most people would be wrong.

Since their appearance as series regulars on ABC's Full House when they were just nine months old, the Olsen twins have been working pretty much nonstop. Their oeuvre includes several subsequent television series, a string of bestselling direct-to-video titles, fashion dolls, video games, a magazine (currently shopping for a new publishing umbrella) and most recently an exclusive line of clothing, accessories and domestics (and a soon-to-launch health and beauty products line) sold at Wal-Mart.

Books are also a part of the Olsen merchandise empire, which is estimated to rake in over $1 billion in sales in North America this year. Beginning with Full House tie-ins, the twins have been featured in an extensive list of books jointly developed by Parachute and Dualstar Publishing (the twins are cofounders and executives of the Dualstar Entertainment Group, along with their manager, Robert Thorne, the company's CEO). Though previously published successfully by Scholastic, the Olsen Twins book properties have been published by HarperEntertainment since 1999. To date, more than 29 million Olsen Twins books have been sold in the U.S., a sum that represents Scholastic and Harper titles combined.

The Olsens' train shows no signs of slowing, either. HarperEntertainment recently acquired three new Olsen Twins series: So Little Time is based on the TV series, launched in January for ages nine to 15; Sweet Sixteen, a series focusing on all the festivities leading up to the girls' real-life 16th birthday on June 13, 2002, will feature three books releasing in April, May and June; and In Action, a series inspired by the animated Saturday morning TV series of the same name, will debut in October for readers ages four to seven. These three additions join New Adventures of Mary-Kate and Ashley, Two of a Kind and Starring In... to bring the total number of book series in print to six.

According to Hope Innelli, v-p and editorial director for HarperEntertainment, the three already established series are the top three bestselling children's paperback series at HarperCollins, and the company sells more than one million Mary-Kate and Ashley books per quarter.

With this groundwork laid in the U.S., the girls have begun to expand their appeal on foreign shores. 'Exponential growth is happening in every area of merchandising for them,' Innelli commented. 'They are making major inroads all over the world, which has paved the way for the books to make an entrée into other markets.'

Thorne of Dualstar believes that the books, in particular, have legs. 'Reading is a source of empowerment for girls, and books will always be a part of the Mary-Kate and Ashley brand,' he said. 'The books start out based on TV shows or movies, but they are not novelizations; they are new stories that surpass the other material. They are reality-based and are all about feeling good about yourself.'

Explaining Dualstar's general globalization strategy, Thorne said, 'We enter an exclusive fashion retail partnership and then entertain auctions for all other merchandise.' In the U.K., the Mary-Kate and Ashley fashion line launches at Asda (a British retailer similar to Wal-Mart) this month. HarperCollins U.K. won the book publishing rights for that territory and will release more than 60 Mary-Kate and Ashley books over the next five years, beginning this month with the Two of a Kind and So Little Time series (both TV shows air in the U.K.). To support these efforts the Olsens will make a London publicity appearance for the book launch on April 9.

A similar deal in Canada saw the girls' fashion line kick-off at Wal-Mart Canada last month. HarperCollins Canada publishes the Mary-Kate and Ashley books north of the border, and reports indicate that since publicity surrounding the Wal-Mart partnership hit, sales of the books through Canadian wholesalers that ship to Wal-Mart and other discounters have increased by 500%. Thorne said that Australia is next and that HarperCollins Australia will participate in a late-March auction for publishing rights there. He is also working on deals for Germany, France, Japan and New Zealand.

Can such growth continue? Thorne is confident it will. 'Mary-Kate and Ashley are unique in that they are celebrities as well as a brand. As a brand, they know no cultural or territorial boundaries. It's the only brand I know of that continues to change and evolve because the girls are growing up. The excitement isn't going away for a long time.'

Leading Readers to Water

Australian author-illustrator Graeme Base burst onto the children's book scene back in 1987 with his intricately designed picture book Animalia, after Paul Gottlieb, then publisher of Abrams, had enthusiastically purchased the book at the Frankfurt Book Fair. To date, the animal-themed ABC title has sold 'well over a million copies,' according to Jonathan Stolper, Abrams v-p and director of sales. Base has published a number of popular picture books since then, but now, nearly 15 years later, comes Base's brisk-selling The Water Hole, a counting picture book that Stolper and many others consider to be 'the true companion to Animalia.'

Since its August 2001 publication, The Water Hole has been a welcome refreshment for Base fans as well as booksellers. The book has 85,000 copies in print thus far, and is still going strong in its first printing. 'We're selling several thousand copies each month, and sales are better each month,' Stolper said.

Stolper and Abrams Books for Young Readers publicity director Amy Corley credit The Water Hole's splash to booksellers' and consumers' reception of a strong marketing effort. 'We consciously tried to make a connection to Animalia,' Stolper explained. 'We built our campaign on the idea 'From the author who brought you the ABCs, here are the 123s.' We created floor and counter displays and promotional materials for both books, which brought it all home for fans of Graeme's who had been there all along. That helped us get great placement in stores.'

Stolper credited independent booksellers with doing 'a great job' of handselling, adding, 'The chains came in strongly and we also made a very large sale to Scholastic Book Fairs. It's been a 50-50 split with sales for chains and independents.'

As part of the Water Hole push, Abrams had planned a bookstore tour for Base in September. But following the events of September 11, the promotional appearances were rescheduled for mid-November to mid-December, a move that Corley initially feared might be less successful. 'We haven't toured authors at that time, because of the holidays,' she said. 'But store traffic was good, with many grandparents and parents shopping for gifts. In the end, it proved to be a good time to tour it was very effective.'

Though The Water Hole is still doing swimmingly, the book will receive another promotional boost in April. 'We're going to re-pitch the book because it has such a strong connection to the themes of Earth Day,' Stolper said. 'We have very high expectations in 2002.'

Books Built for Two

It's not unheard of for two children's books to have the same title. But two new books published last fall share not only a title, but a worthy concept and robust sales. You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Stories to Read Together by Mary Ann Hoberman, illus. by Michael Emberley (Little, Brown/Tingley, Sept.), and You Read to Me & I'll Read to You: 20th-Century Stories to Share, selected by Janet Schulman (Knopf, Sept.), are both books designed for children and adults to enjoy together, if in slightly different ways.

Hoberman has said that her book was born out of need. As she worked with her local Connecticut chapter of Literacy Volunteers of America, Hoberman knew that books written in 'two voices' would be helpful as a device to invite children to read along with an adult. Not able to find what she was looking for on the market (though a 1962 book of poems to share, You read to me, I'll read to you by John Ciardi, illus. by Edward Gorey, is still in print), Hoberman created a book herself. Fittingly, she is donating a portion of the proceeds from You Read to Me, I'll Read to You to LVA, the group that inspired her.

According to Kerri Goddard, senior publicist at Little, Brown Children's Books, the book idea was something fresh for her company and for retailers as well. 'Having type set in three columns in three colors (the first time a Little, Brown children's book was printed on a seven-color press) was instrumental in getting stores excited by the concept,' she said. 'The result is a unique and user-friendly book that celebrates the joys of reading together.'

From the time the book was first shown at BEA last June, it began to garner attention from booksellers, librarians and reviewers, Goddard noted. The book was published in September with a first printing of 30,000 copies. An additional 6,000 copies went to book clubs and a 36,000-copy reprint was completed in December. A third trade printing of 25,000 is due in April, bringing the total in-print figure to 95,400 copies.

Goddard reported that sales were steady from September through November, but that 'December saw a huge spike in sales--up 300% from previous months,' and sales have remained strong. According to Little, Brown estimates, independents account for approximately 44% of the books sold, chains for 33% and clubs 23%.

Helping to boost sales were Hoberman and Emberley's joint appearance at the New England Children's Booksellers Association's annual dinner in early October and a mid-October tour, during which Hoberman visited several high-profile stores (all but one were children's independents) throughout California.

The book's success has already spawned a sequel, tentatively titled More You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together. The book will contain tales adapted by Hoberman and is scheduled for fall 2003. An additional companion title is set to follow in 2004.

Schulman's project, a companion to her 1998 anthology The 20th-Century Children's Book Treasury, is meant to encourage adults to read to/with children, even if the youngsters have already become independent readers. The large-size anthology contains such well-loved works as Amos & Boris by William Steig and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, and at $34.95 it doesn't seem to be suffering from any price resistance on the part of book buyers.

As it was for Hoberman's title, last year's BEA was also a strong send-off point for Schulman's book. 'We gave away blads and T-shirts--in youth and adult sizes, which supports the basic theme of the book: parents and children reading together,' explained Judith Haut, v-p and executive director of publicity at Random House Children's Books. In addition, accounts received bookmarks and posters as point-of-purchase perks, and Random House designed a lectern display on which stores could simultaneously feature both You Read to Me and The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury.

A first printing of 175,000 copies is 'selling nicely across the board,' said Haut. 'But we know it is a particular favorite among the independent bookselling community, as it was #3 on the Book Sense 76 list for Winter 2001 and is now up for a Book Sense Book of the Year Award in the children's category.'

A January profile in USA Today and Schulman's January 30 appearance on The Today Show provided 'a nice bump in sales,' according to Haut. The book was a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club as well.

They Keep on Truckin'

A couple of recent bestsellers appear to have the staying power of the Energizer bunny. PW checked in to see how they are doing.

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis (Delacorte) was selling strongly even before it won the 2000 Newbery Medal, and the hardcover edition has sold 420,000 copies (with 14 printings) since its September 1999 publication. The Yearling paperback edition of the book was published January 9 with a first printing of 200,000 copies, and Haut at Random House estimates that more than three-quarters of the initial supply of books has already shipped to retailers. Looking down the line, Haut projected that 'this is sure to be a big summer reading title and we expect to reprint in order to meet that demand from booksellers.'

Additionally, the book should get a sales lift from Curtis's five-city national tour March 17-26. He'll be doing both store signings and school visits in Chicago; San Jose, Calif.; Austin, Tex.; Cleveland, Ohio; and Rockville, Md.

In the picture book arena, Olivia Saves the Circus, the second book by Ian Falconer, is reporting some high-flying sales. The book bowed in October 2001 with a first printing of 250,000 and has 535,000 copies in print after six trips back to press. Falconer received major national media coverage on television (The Today Show; a review on CBS's The Early Show) and in print (profiles in People magazine, USA Today, the New York Times) over the fall and early winter, and his book was a New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2001. Olivia Saves the Circus is also a Book Sense Book of the Year nominee. The first book about Falconer's precocious piglet protagonist, Olivia, is still moving briskly as well; that title (published in October 2000, and winner of last year's Book Sense Book of the Year as well as a Caldecott Honor) currently has 800,000 copies in print.