The year has only recently begun and the announcement of the publication of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been made. July 16 is the big day and all other titles are busily being rescheduled to release on any other date. But, almost more important than the date for most of the trade, is the price. Will anyone stick to the fixed price? Discounted prices are already being bandied about; Amazon.co.uk, which lists it at £9.99 (a 41% discount), had 420,000 preorders for Rowling's last title. Amazon's discount has been matched by Tesco and capped by WH Smith's 42% discount, bringing the independent booksellers out in protest. Knowing that both the bookselling chains and nontraditional outlets such as supermarkets and Woolworths will grab as many copies as they can sell, booksellers have called on Bloomsbury to end "excessive" discounts and to offer smaller sellers better terms so that they can compete. Bloomsbury has made it clear that it will not respond to pressure and has the backing of the Publishers Association in doing so.
But the success of children's fiction doesn't lie in the hands of just one author. Earlier this month, Random House Children's Books held a reception for Jacqueline Wilson to celebrate sales of 20 million copies of her titles since The Story of TracyBeaker in 1991 and the publication of her latest title (and 30th for Doubleday), Clean Break. Coincidentally, the annual borrowing figures from the U.K. libraries have just been released: Wilson is the most-borrowed author (for both adults and children alike) for a second year running; more than two million copies of her 70 titles were loaned out from the libraries during 2004. Behind her on the list comes Mick Inkpen at #4, and Janet and Allan Ahlberg at #7. Perhaps even more remarkable is that at a time when public appearances seem so important in making a book a success, Roald Dahl, who has been dead for over a decade, took 10th place.
Although Rowling and Wilson are the pinnacle in terms of both sales and borrowings, "branding" has paid off for other authors and illustrators, too, as both the library figures and bestseller lists show. "There are a number of children's authors hovering just under the top-50 mark of the U.K. bestsellers list," said Philippa Dickinson, managing director of Random House Children's Books. "And we know that bestseller lists don't reflect the whole market. There is a large area of the market that is as yet untapped."
New Roles
To capitalize on and exploit these opportunities, both Random House and Puffin have made new appointments. Fiona Macmillan has joined Random House as publishing director of custom publishing, a new post set up to allow RHCB to reach what is now seen as a big pool of potential readers by expanding its publishing into book-plus and novelty formats. "Fiona Macmillan's appointment is designed to help us to create books for particular customers," Dickinson said. "This could be from our existing books or it could be creating books for a specific market." Her company already has some business in these areas but plans to expand it.
At Puffin, Elaine McQuade, longtime marketing and publicity director, has been appointed to the new role of consumer development director, working across the Penguin Group. Like Macmillan, McQuade will be instrumental in growing the market for Puffin titles, but, rather than creating new kinds of books, McQuade's brief is to look for ways to reach and communication with new readers. "There are an increasing number of initiatives both inside and outside the industry to grow the market," said McQuade. She is especially committed to playing a major role in the industry-wide World Book Day Adult Literacy drive, which will be launched on March 3.
These appointments reflect the fact that for real growth, new markets have to be found. The parameters of the children's book market have been changed by the much higher sales figures and profiles of just a few titles. This has fueled an optimism about what can be achieved with the right book, the right branding and the right campaign, but it hasn't changed the overall size of the market. As Dickinson put it, "The children's market isn't growing, but we're all working to increase our market share." Certainly, individual authors and titles are getting a much higher profile, both in terms of news stories on acquisitions with the mention of six-figure advances and high-pressure auctions, both of which were formerly an exclusive preserve of the adult market. These news stories mark the beginning of a campaign that heats up as the book nears publication. This year and last have seen an upward trend in "super lead" and "lead" titles, which encourage the reviewing of a particular book across all media in any given week.
None of the big books of 2004—Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now (Puffin) or Michelle Paver's Wolf Brother (Orion) to name but two—were "surprise" hits; they were programmed for success from the beginning. For 2005, the big books have already been flagged, long before publication. Stuart Hill's The Cry of the Icemark (Chicken House) was tipped to be one of the hottest fantasies of the year and, within a week of publication (Feb. 1), it had won the first Ottakar's Children's Book Prize. Titles such as Julie Hearn's The Merrybegot (OUP, Feb. 28) and Charlie Higson's SilverFin (Puffin, Feb. 24) are primed to follow on. They are already earmarked for reviews, author interviews and bookshop space. It is a promotional technique that increases immediate frontlist sales but does not fit so comfortably with the traditional patterns of children's book sales. It also has the effect of leading to the more ready celebration of new talent than the affirmation of a well-established author. Only with time will it be revealed if great success at launch results in better lifelong sales.
Kate Wilson, new group managing director of Scholastic U.K., has the potential for expansion in every area of the market. With a strong background in trade publishing and marketing, she is now coming to grips with both publishing for and selling to the school market, as much of Scholastic U.K.'s business lies in school book clubs and fairs. The series of new appointments Wilson has made are an indication of her ambitions for the company. "Scholastic has been punching a little below its weight," Wilson said soon after her arrival, as she brought over Marion Lloyd and Alison Green from Macmillan. Both are being given the opportunity to launch their own imprints. Eponymous imprints are common in the U.S. but less so in the U.K., and Green's will be the first to specialize in picture books.
The arrival this month of Alyx Price as group PR director will mark the last of Wilson's initial round of changes. High-profile marketing will ensure that both the new-look Scholastic U.K. and the already strongly established list—which includes prize-winning authors such as Philip Reeve, Eleanor Updale and Anne Cassidy, as well, of course, as Philip Pullman and the hugely successful Horrible Histories line—will have a substantial profile.
Macmillan may have lost a remarkable editorial team, but since it currently has 5.8% of the general children's retail market (according to Nielsen BookScan), and with Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler's The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo's Child showing that picture books can hit very high-volume sales, they are not going to lose their market share quickly. Former sales director Emma Hopkin has taken over as managing director of Macmillan Children's Books while Sarah Davies, in charge of the successful Young Picador list, has been promoted to publishing director of fiction, picture books and Campbell Books, the 0—3 imprint.
Hopkin is clear about the ways in which Macmillan will both consolidate from where it is and move on. "Our publishing strategy will continue to be fluid, being guided by our markets," she said, adding that, like everyone else, she is looking for expansion. "Our sales objective continues to be growth in all areas, both in English-language and foreign editions. The team here is very strong, a good mix of old and new faces, and our new streamlined structure gives us a clear focus on our publishing, as well as more focus on our sales and marketing aims."
With a new picture book from author/illustrator team Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler and new titles from Georgia Byng (Molly Moon's Incredible Book ofHypnotism), Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries) and Frank Cotrell Boyce (Millions, soon to be a feature film), as well as the addition of a highly acclaimed first novel, Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge, the Macmillan list has great potential for 2005.
This year has also already seen the restructuring of Egmont, into Egmont Press and Egmont Publishing. Group managing director Rob McMenmy said, "Some authors felt uncomfortable [being published] alongside the [licensed] characters, so it seemed better to give each division its own dedicated editorial, design and marketing teams. When incorporated within one company, I felt that the two divisions detracted from each other."
Since January 1, Cally Poplak has been in charge of Egmont Press, whose fiction list includes prize-winning authors Jamila Gavin and Jenny Nimmo as well as William Nicholson and the current Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo. Supported by Lemony Snicket, the company's share of the general fiction market has grown to 7.4%. Poplak has now taken over picture books and series nonfiction as well. "Our fiction has always been strong," Poplak said. "But we've pared the list down to a manageable size, which means we can give every book the necessary championing in and out of house and continue to develop writers." She plans to keep the number of new picture books down while concentrating on the core backlist in a variety of formats.
David Riley now heads up Egmont Publishing, which will focus on classic and contemporary characters, coloring and activity books. Egmont's characters include Winnie-the-Pooh, Mr. Men, Thomas the Tank Engine and Tintin, making it the country's number-one character publisher.
News from Smaller Houses
There's a new look coming for Andersen Press, too, where Rona Selby is adding fresh blood to Andersen's distinguished picture book list. "We are still bullish about picture books and are keeping up our output to about 20 titles a year," Selby said. "My brief is to look for some new talent to go with the stars that are already on the Andersen list." Selby is also developing Andersen's paperback line. "We're concentrating on a more trade-focused design and, at the same time, we're improving our brand images and developing new formats for our picture books—such as board books." With the exception of Melvin Burgess, Andersen's fiction has a quiet profile but with some niche titles, such as a forthcoming novel from Henning Mankell, Selby hopes to make a more significant impact in the future.
Also trusting the picture book market is a familiar name: David Bennett, who has just created a new company for 2005. His previous company, David Bennett Books, was sold to Collis & Brown in 1997; his current company, Boxer Books, began life a couple of years ago as a packager, then, following the success of his four titles at the Bologna Fair last year, Bennett decided to publish them in the U.K. himself. A former art director at Walker Books, Bennett has always specialized in developing new illustrators. Boxer Books launches next month with two titles, I Love My Mummy and I Love My Daddy by newcomer Sebastien Braun, followed by Wait! I Want to Tell You a Story! by another newcomer, Tom Willans.
Though both Andersen Press and Boxer Books express confidence in their incursions into the picture book market, it is certainly less secure territory than the fiction market, since publishers are struggling with both the decline of the trade market at home and significant cutbacks in foreign co-editions. But as Donaldson and Scheffler's The Gruffalo shows, the right picture book can find its place on the bestseller list, while Mick Inkpen's inclusion in the top 10 most borrowed library authors shows that, once established, picture books can last.
