Longtime publishing director of Bloomsbury Children’s in the UK Sarah Odedina will become managing director of “an entirely new children’s publishing company” in London as part of Bonnier Publishing. The line will launch in late 2011 or early 2012, focusing on children’s fiction across all age brackets.
CEO of Bonnier Publishing Richard Johnson says in the announcement, “Bonnier is committed to grow in the English language and lead the way in quality children’s publishing and we could have wished for no one better than Sarah, one of the UK’s leading children’s publishers, to head this new initiative.” Odedina adds, “I very much look forward to building an exciting list that will embrace the many challenges our market is facing at the moment.”
Bonnier Publishing already owns Templar and Autumn Publishing in the UK, along with Weldon Owen and Five Mile Press in Australia and Piccolia in France, comprising $100 million in annual sales. The group itself is a UK-based subsidiary of Bonniers Books, a division of Sweden’s Bonnier AB with annual sales of $900 million with operations in 20 countries.
Francesca Main will join Picador UK as editorial director on September 26. She is currently an editor with Simon & Schuster UK.