In some publishing ventures it's all about finding your forte and hitting your stride. This is surely the case with a number of small children's houses that have established solid reputations for specialized lists that serve a specific purpose—and market. PW talked to representatives from five such companies to learn how each discovered its niche and mission and how that philosophy guides its publishing program. Some of these publishers seem to have found their direction quite serendipitously. Other company founders decided to concentrate on subject areas they felt were being neglected by mainstream publishers. What emerged from our interviews was an intriguing composite portrait of flourishing niche publishing—and of publishing from the heart.
Storytelling in the Spotlight
More than two decades ago, Ted Parkhurst and his wife, Liz, launched Little Rock, Ark.—based August House as a nonprofit organization, with the goal of cultivating writers in their area. "We realized that we are far away from the main centers of publishing power," explained president Ted Parkhurst, "so we held workshops for local writers in our early years. And soon we were enjoying the process and the results of publishing so much that we became a stock [for-profit] company." (August House was acquired by Marsh Cove Productions last month, and will continue to be run by the Parkhursts.)
One of August House's early bestsellers, 1985's Ghost Stories from the American South, edited by W.K. McNeil, helped set the company on its editorial path. "This was the first of our books that national chains bought in significant numbers," Parkhurst said. "The author, a folklorist by training, put us in touch with a number of other leading folklore authors, including Simon J. Bronner. In 1988, we published his American Children's Folklore, which also became a national bestseller. And at that point we realized that we were on to something that wasn't just regional."
Given their authors' focus on folklore, the Parkhursts became aware of the burgeoning nationwide storytelling movement and the annual National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tenn. "I telephoned the festival's director and introduced myself as a publisher of folklore and suggested, since many of the participants in his festival perform folklore, perhaps there was a synergy to explore," Parkhurst recalled. "Out of the blue, he sent me manuscripts by several people who live in a world I didn't then know existed—individuals who perform at a national circuit of storytelling festivals as well as at schools and libraries."
Parkhurst was so charmed by one of these manuscripts, Listening for the Crack of Dawn by Donald Davis, that August House rushed it into print in time for the 1990 festival, where Davis was performing. The publisher took boxes of the book to a tent where books were being sold, recalling, "Every time Davis finished performing a story, a flood of people showed up to buy his book. We brought 589 copies to the festival and sold every one of them. After that event, I said to my wife, 'We have found our market.' "
August House staffers attend approximately 100 storytelling festivals each year, where, Parkhurst said, "Some 80% of the books or audios being sold are published by our company. We publish works by about half of the top 50 performers in this field."
Parkhurst estimated that sales at festivals account for about 20% of the company's sales and that the remaining revenue is split evenly between sales to the trade and to school and library markets. August House has 364 books, audiotapes and audio CDs in print, with the audio category making up approximately one-third of the list. In mid-2004, the company decided "to get aggressive and publish more, since we had trimmed the list back to about 12 titles a year after 9/11," and Parkhurst noted that the house will now release some 20 titles annually. Current company sales are in the $2 million—$3 million range.
Highlights of future lists include a picture book by Jane Yolen and two titles by Robert San Souci: a picture book entitled Zig Zag and Sister Tricksters, an illustrated story collection. Due in the fall is Sherry Shahan's Cool Cats Counting, illustrated by Paula Barragán, a bilingual English-Spanish counting book that is a follow-up to 2004's Spicy Hot Colors.
The company has been able to grow within its niche, Parkhurst said, by "keeping attuned to new talents in the storytelling world and taking our material to a broader market. We feel as though we're competing not only with publishers of our size but with larger publishers, too. We always emphasize the importance of the authenticity that our storytellers bring to their books. That's our trump card."
Creative Marketing Approaches
Wade Hudson, president and CEO of Just Us Books, and his wife, Cheryl Willis Hudson, editorial director, formed their East Orange, N.J., publishing company in 1988, after determining that, for the most part, mainstream publishers did not understand the black-interest market. "We had written several manuscripts dealing with some aspects of African-American experiences," Wade Hudson said, "and we found there wasn't much interest from publishers. There just weren't as many black-interest titles being published at the time. Rather than convince other publishers that there wasa market, my wife and I decided to start our own company and meet the need and demand that we recognized. We set out to publish books about black history and culture that would empower, educate and entertain not only black children, but all people. We felt that one of the major problems we face as a country and as a world is that different groups know so little about each other."
The Hudsons published their own Afro-Bets ABC Book, in which six characters contort their bodies to form alphabet letters, before officially launching their company. Given the immediate success of that title, the authors observed (as Wade Hudson put it), "that we were on to something," and founded Just Us Books. That inaugural book has sold 400,000 copies, and the publisher recently sold rights to the title to Scholastic. The Afro-Bets characters have subsequently appeared in a series of titles, including The Afro-Bets Book of Black Heroes by Wade Hudson and Valerie Wilson Wesley, which has sold 600,000 copies since its release in 1989.
Now publishing up to 16 titles a year, the house has more than 100 books in print and last fall introduced a new imprint, Sankofa Books, which reissues titles by African-American authors that are no longer available from their original publishers. The debut release from this imprint was Reflections of a Black Cowboy: Buffalo Soldiers by Robert Miller.
Observing that many of the titles that Sankofa Books will issue "didn't really get a good opportunity to make it in the marketplace," Hudson explained that the marketing strategies Just Us Books has in place gives these and all the company's books a better shot at success. "We find ways to get our books to those who will buy them," he said. "Many potential buyers in our market don't go to bookstores, so we have found alternative ways to reach them. We focus on the church market and on social and fraternal organizations and have developed fund-raising programs with many of them. They sell our books and keep a percentage of the profits, which not only gets our books into the hands of people interested in buying them, but also helps these churches and organizations make a difference in the movement to fight illiteracy."
The Hudsons' frequent speaking engagements at churches and organizations also help promote and sell Just Us books, as well as bring the publishers into contact with their readers. The publisher also attends 40 or 50 conferences and festivals annually. Hudson, who estimated that trade sales account for about 48% of Just Us Books' sales, remarked that sales in these alternative markets have expanded each year, with an added bonus: "We don't have to deal with returns in these markets."
Forthcoming titles include I Told You I Can Play, a picture book by Atlanta Braves outfielder Brian Jordan, who writes about his childhood; and I'm Late by Mari Evans, a YA novel dealing with teenage pregnancy. Introducing and delivering these and the other Just Us Books to their audience is truly a family effort: Katura Hudson, daughter of Wade and Cheryl, is the company's marketing manager and associate editor; and Wade's brothers Willie and Major are, respectively, director of sales and shipping manager.
Searching the World for Stories
"In the beginning, we found our niche by publishing books that originated in countries other than the U.S., and we are doing the same thing 20 years later," said Kira Lynn, publisher of Kane/Miller, based in La Jolla, Calif. Perhaps not entirely surprising considering its home state, the house had its ideological roots in another medium. "Sandy Miller, who with Madeline Kane founded the company, was involved in the movie industry and primarily brought foreign films to the United States," explained Lynn. "After his child was born, he thought it would be wonderful to bring foreign children's books to this country as well. He felt that books, like films, can bridge the gap between cultures."
International book fairs—Lynn cited those in Bologna, Frankfurt and Taipei—are key sources of the picture books that land on Kane/Miller's list. And, she noted, "We've been in the business long enough that people in the industry know what we specialize in, so we do get many submissions." The publisher has observed a shift in Kane/Miller's market in recent years: "Up until five or six years ago, the bigger percentage of our sales was attributable to the school and library market. But our books now have a more mass appeal and we have been selling very successfully into the trade. And, like most small publishers, the nontraditional market is growing for us. We sell a lot of books at such stores as Urban Outfitters and Pacific Sun. As the bookstore market shrinks, we, like other companies, have to find other avenues to survive."
A self-described "tiny publisher—very successful but still tiny," Lynn said that though it's difficult for Kane/Miller to compete with large houses, "once our books are on the shelf, it's an equal playing field, since luckily there is not a huge consumer awareness of publishers as a brand. I can't say that it isn't harder for us to get on the shelf, since we're not as big a presence in the market. But we've been very fortunate with our independent commissioned reps and our buyers—and we believe a lot of our success has to do with our product." Yearly sales for the publisher are close to $2 million.
Among Kane/Miller's biggest successes on its 110-book backlist are Taro Gomi's Everyone Poops (1993), an import from Japan that has sold more than one million copies; and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (1985) by Mem Fox, illustrated by Julie Vivas, an Australian title whose sales Lynn predicted will reach the million-copy mark by year's end. A recent hot seller hails from Taiwan: Chih-Yuan Chen's Guji Guji, the tale of a crocodile raised by a family of ducks, has sold 65,000 copies since its September 2004 release.
Looking ahead, Lynn is excited about a forthcoming picture book from Australia, Dougal the Garbage Dump Bear by Matt Dray. "Since we draw from the entire world, we are never at a loss for books to publish," she said, "though sometimes it's a challenge to find books from regions that are not well represented on our list. But we find that to a certain extent that is changing. We are lucky, in that kids are kids all over the world, and there are authors everywhere writing for them."
Illuminating the Southwest and Beyond
Started in 1998 as the children's imprint of Northland Publishing in Flagstaff, Ariz., Rising Moon originally focused on Southwestern-themed picture books. Eric Howard, director of marketing and sales for the company's adult and children's imprints, explained that, given the publisher's location near one of this country's most frequently visited tourist spots (Flagstaff is 75 miles from the Grand Canyon), the children's list was "initially geared toward the gift and tourist market, featuring books very much related to the Southwest."
In 1990, Rising Moon released The Three Javelinas by Susan Lowell, with art by Jim Harris, a Southwestern spin on "The Three Little Pigs," which Howard describes as "our breakout title that got us national attention." Now approaching 400,000 copies in print, that picture book was followed by other titles (including Chewy Louie by Howie Schneider, touted on Oprah!) that, in Howard's words, "led us out of our region and encouraged us to expand our list so that it wasn't so area-specific."
More national successes have followed, notably Carmela LaVigna Coyle's Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?, illustrated by Mike Gordon, a 2003 release that has 130,000 copies in print; and its sequel, the recently published Do Princesses Really Kiss Frogs?, which sold out its initial print run within three weeks.
Ten years ago, Rising Moon, recognizing the demographics of its local area, began publishing bilingual English-Spanish versions of its books and later began releasing original bilingual titles. Having amassed a solid bilingual backlist, the publisher shifted those titles last fall to a new imprint, Luna Rising. To jumpstart the new imprint, the company bought the rights to publish bilingual editions of two strong sellers, Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever and Richard Scarry's Best Counting Book Ever. "This is a strategy we are going to continue—looking at well-known titles for Luna Rising as well as developing bilingual storybooks of our own," said Howard.
Though schools and libraries have experienced recent budget cuts, Howard observed that the institutional market's purchases of Spanish-language and bilingual books are growing, rather than shrinking. With this in mind, Howard has high hopes for Luna Rising's new series of bilingual picture-book biographies of Latino and Latina role models, debuting with My Name Is Celia/Me llamo Celia by Monica Brown, illustrated by Rafael López, profiling Cuban-born salsa queen Celia Cruz.
And while sales of the company's books are expanding in trade and institutional outlets, they continue to thrive in Rising Moon's original markets. "When you consider that more than five million people visit the Grand Canyon every year, it stands to reason that we sell lots of our Southwestern books through National Parks visitor centers, gift shops, galleries and airport stores," Howard said.
Rising Moon currently has 55 titles in print; Luna Rising has 22. Editorially, the company will maintain what Howard described as "a measured approach to bringing new titles out. We'll take a chance when a chance needs to be taken, but we will continue to stick closely to what we know. As a small company, we can't afford to swing for the fence every time. But we do strive to have a good solid hit each time we step up to the plate."
Free Spirit Soars in Self-Help Genre
A former classroom teacher who worked primarily with gifted and talented children, Judy Galbraith was aware of the lack of books addressing the real-life issues that her students faced. In 1983, she decided to fill that void by starting Free Spirit Publishing in Minneapolis. Among the company's first publications was a pair of titles that began as Galbraith's graduate school thesis: The Gifted Kids' Survival Guides (there is one edition for teens and one for kids 10 and under), which have a combined 300,000 copies in print. Galbraith observed that a number of Free Spirit's earliest titles are still in print and selling well, including Fighting Invisible Tigers: A Stress Management Guide for Teens by Earl Hipp and Stick Up for Yourself! Every Kid's Guide to Personal Power and Positive Self-Esteem by Gershen Kaufman, Lev Raphael and Pamela Espeland, which boast respective in-print totals of 205,000 and 175,000 copies.
A hallmark of Free Spirit's mission, Galbraith explained, is "finding books that are evergreens. We are not a trend publisher but rather are interested in providing books that address ongoing challenges for kids and teens, books that will help them grow up healthy and strong. And we also augment these books with guides for adults who care about kids—parents, youth workers and teachers." Galbraith cited one parenting title, What Kids Need to Succeed: Proven, Practical Ways to Raise Good Kids, a 1998 release that she penned with Peter L. Benson and Pamela Espeland, as a book in this genre that has done "phenomenally well," with 604,000 copies in print.
Describing the key markets for Free Spirit's books, Galbraith observed, "Just as we're a niche publisher in terms of our self-help books, we are very much a niche marketer. A little more than half of our sales is to the trade and the other half is direct-to-consumer sales or organizational sales. In addition to our trade catalogue, we do a mail-order catalogue to educators, including classroom teachers, special-ed teachers and school social workers. We also do mailings to community youth-serving organizations.
The house currently has an annualized percentage growth rate of 30% and a backlist of 150 books; it will release 24 new titles this year. Galbraith is particularly excited about the May publication of Bill Zimmerman's 100 Things Guys Need to Know, offering advice to adolescent boys, an audience the publisher feels is underserved by the self-help genre. And she is pleased by Free Spirit's initial foray into board books, as the board-book editions of the series that includes Martine Agassi's Hands Are Not for Hitting and Elizabeth Verdick's Feet Are Not for Kicking have been "hugely successful."
Galbraith commented that one of the best indications of success for her is hearing from kids themselves. "The good news is that they reach out to us, which takes courage. We realize the weight of what we are doing at Free Spirit. And we take our responsibility very seriously."
