Beginning the next chapter in its expanding business, Page Street Publishing is launching an imprint this spring—Page Street YA—dedicated to the company’s growing teen readership. Under this brand, the company expects to double the number of annual releases by 2024, with 24 new titles slated.
The Salem, Mass.-based publisher of picture books and nonfiction titles cited strong 2022 sales in the YA sector, particularly with its horror and LGBTQ titles. “As sales and awareness of Page Street’s YA list increases, it feels like the right moment to set these books apart from our adult nonfiction and kids’ picture book list with a YA-specific imprint,” publisher William Kiester said in a statement.
Since Page Street’s 2018 entrance into the YA space with two titles, the publisher now produces 12 new releases each year, distributed by Macmillan. Last fall, the company saw its first indie bestseller with The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror, edited by Tori Bovalino, which remained on the bestseller list for four weeks. Other notable selections include Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez, a 2020 William C. Morris Award finalist; Goodreads Choice Awards semifinalist The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar; and The Bone Charmer and The Splendor by Breeana Shields, both of which earned the Whitney Award for YA Fantasy. In addition, Page Street’s YA titles have received statewide recognition, including the Texas TAYSHAs, Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers, and Maine Student Book Award.
This spring, Page Street YA will broaden its portfolio with the Puerto Rico-set portal fantasy The Last Sunrise in Eterna by Amparo Ortiz (Mar.) and The Alchemy of Moonlight, a gothic-inspired gay werewolf fantasy by David Ferraro (May). In October, the company will publish Katya de Becerra’s When Ghosts Call Us Home, a contemporary horror novel.
“We are so excited to publish even more YA books in 2024,” senior editor Lauren Knowles said in a statement. “We have an incredible list coming up—including sapphic romance, heartfelt contemporary, edge-of-your-seat horror, and cozy fantasy—and we will continue to highlight diverse stories so that all teens can see themselves reflected in our list.”
In a conversation with PW, Knowles said, “We know how deeply important books are, how meaningful they can be, and we want to make books that readers will love for years to come.”
Kiester added, “The new imprint and expansion of the list underscores the hunger in the market for characters who are LGBTG+, BIPOC, or from other under-represented communities, portrayed in stories of equally diverse settings with page-turning plotlines across a gamut of genres. Page Street YA takes a modern look at YA, flying the flag of a new generation of readers, and we hope it is now even easier for readers to find a story that speaks to them.”