Editors at Scholastic’s book fairs and clubs along with their trade editors have released a forecast of 10 top trends in children’s books for 2013. They say bullying is “the timely topic,” and also look for biographies, Civil War anniversary books and survival stories in nonfiction. In fiction they say to keep a watch out for more strong girl protagonists; novels in cartoon form; and sci-fi. The year’s big movie tie-ins include film releases of Scott Orson Card’s Ender’s Game, Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s Beautiful Creatures, Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments, and the latest Percy Jackson adaptation, Sea of Monsters.
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Continuing that theme from the publishing side, Publishing Trends writes about how in-house development of “original IP is becoming increasingly prominent in children’s publishing…. Being able to own the rights to their properties allows publishers to protect and distribute their content globally, as well as profit from new partnerships.” The essay comes in advance of a panel exploring the same topic at our Publishers Launch Children’s Conference coming soon on January 15 in New York. (The article is taken from the comprehensive book/ebook that we provide to all attendees illuminating the issues covered at the show.)
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The live panel features IP attorney Devereux Chatillon, HarperCollins vp of digital publishing and business development Corinne Helman, Penguin UK publishing director for Media and Entertainment Eric Huang, Macmillan Children’s president Jon Yaged, and Creative Conduit founder Swanna MacNair.
The conference is packed with leaders and innovators from across children’s publishing, where the digital transformation–and the opportunities it provides–is very different than in adult publishing and needs its own deep focus. We’ll have fresh data, broad looks at new platforms, digital marketing case studies, views from librarians and educators, and insights from the top executives at Random House Children’s, Candlewick, Disney and more.
Come for the full-day event on January 15 by itself, or sign up for the “children’s publishing package” and attend the first day of the full Digital Book World show–with opening keynotes, and an afternoon children’s publishing track that includes newly-commissioned data on kids and ebooks from PlayScience.
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