The Dell Laurel-Leaf imprint of Random House Children's Books, a YA imprint, has just launched a new publishing program, called Readers Circle, that will publish rack-sized editions of award-winning and classic YA titles. Similar to the Ballantine program of the same name, 16 extra pages at the back of each Readers Circle book contain discussion questions, author interviews and biographical information, to help readers understand a book's historical context.
Aimed primarily at teen book clubs, discussion groups and writing groups, the Readers Circle program has 18 titles on its inaugural list, including such acclaimed books as Holes, The Giver, Forgotten Fire and The Gospel According to Larry. Three titles will be added in both fall 2003 and spring 2004.
Heading up Readers Circle are Beverly Horowitz, v-p and publisher of Knopf, Delacorte, Dell Young Readers Group, and Michelle Poploff, v-p and editorial director, children's paperbacks and executive editor, Delacorte Press. Horowitz and Poploff hatched the idea for the program when they realized that the popularity of adult book discussion groups was crossing over, and that more and more teens were getting together and talking about books. "It seemed like the right time to give the discussions some focus by putting questions right in the back of the book," said Horowitz.
In choosing which books to publish in Readers Circle editions, they looked to "books that evoked questions," according to Horowitz. Some of the books were hardcovers at other houses, and are new for Random House in paperback, and some are reprints of previous Random House titles. With a wide range of titles to choose from, she said, "We're trying to include new authors, new topics, and favorites—a combination of what's interesting and what's new."
The editors made sure that the information in the back of the book varies from title to title. "There is no formula for the questions and information in the back of the books," said Horowitz. "We are trying to be inventive for each book. We are offering challenging questions, but they are not off-putting. It's not like going to fourth-period English class."
To start the program, Random House is sending seven Readers Circle authors on tour: Louis Sachar, Lois Lowry, Kimberly Willis Holt, Jennifer Armstrong, Adam Bagdasarian, Janet Tashijian and Ruth Pennebaker. All seven authors attended two kick-off events in New York City on May 19 and 20, then were divided into four teams to tour different areas of the country together.
According to publicist Ashley Caro, who is spearheading the publicity campaign, "the authors are really excited about teaming up because they get to tour with another one of their peers." Each team will visit areas near their home towns; in total, the authors will attend 24 events in 10 cities, from Raleigh, N.C., to Seattle.
A large marketing plan has also been set in gear. Eight hundred floor displays have been shipped to retailers, as well as 100 merchandising kits, each containing window clings, an easel back, bookmarks, buttons for the staff and a shelf talker. For the library market, brochures have been mailed to 2,500 YA librarians nationwide. Consumer, educator and librarian resources can be found at www.readers-circle.com.
