Also forthcoming is a new “multi-platform” house-created series from Scholastic, in the vein of their successful 39 Clues and Infinity Ring lines. SPIRIT ANIMALS is their first fantasy series in this format, and it launches September 10, 2013, with the first title–WILD BORN–written by Brandon Mull and another in January 2014 by Maggie Stiefvater. The series “centers around the fantasy world of Erdas where children who come of age go through a ritual to determine if they have a ‘spirit animal,’ a rare bond between human and beast that bestows great powers to both. Four children from different cultures undergo […]
Book Fairs
January Is Digital Book World Month
We’ve already had strong enrollment for the fourth annual Digital Book World Conference and the associated events, and now that the new year is here it’s really just about two weeks away–convening January 16 and 17, at new space in the New York Hilton. As with all of the book trade’s major events, there is always a big wave of sign-ups as the date gets close. This year there are lots of good reasons to put DBW IV on your calendar if you haven’t already. The opening morning keynote sessions alone paint a powerful picture, with the Obama campaign’s digital […]
Obama Campaign Digital Director to Address Publishers
The digital director of President Obama’s re-election campaign Teddy Goff, whose highly-successful social media and digital marketing strategies were credited as an important part of the president’s victory in November, is the latest high-profile speaker to join the roster at January’s big Digital Book World conference. Goff’s keynote will share best practices advice on micro-targeting and social media marketing in a way that that can be utilized by publishers and authors, and he will detail the campaign’s techniques in greater detail in a second breakout session. Coming up soon after the holidays, the main DBW event takes place January 16 […]
Children’s Trends for 2013 and More
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. […]
Expanding Children’s
Next month Ruckus Media will expand their children’s ebook platform with a revamped Ruckus 2.0 app/store release and in advance, the company has announced a number of “ebook partnerships for digital distribution” with other publishers. Their new relationships include deals with Little, Brown Children’s, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children’s, Thomas Nelson and Charlesbridge Publishing, covering “about three dozen new titles” at launch with more titles to be added on a monthly basis thereafter. Licensed titles include THE POLAR EXPRESS, TOOT AND PUDDLE, many CURIOUS GEORGE titles, some Margaret Wise Brown titles, and HEAVEN IS FOR REAL FOR KIDS Release That announcement […]
Briefs: FBF Trade Attendance Declines Slightly; Retailers Send Mail On eBook Settlement Credits
The Frankfurt Book Fair said that trade attendance decline 1.6 percent–while total visitors including the German public rose slightly, by 0.6 percent. FBF said in their release that “the fact that the number of visitors declined only marginally during the trade visitors’ days reflects the fact that the industry remains optimistic and is well equipped to face its challenges.” As previously announced, major ebook retailers started notifying qualifying customers by email that they will be entitled to unspecified store credits as part of the settlement of the suit by state attorneys general and the three Settlers. Amazon’s mail landed first, […]