After putting Egmont USA up for sale last October, parent company Egmont Publishing announced that it “has decided to close the office, effective from January 31,” since “attempts to sell” the unit “have not resulted in any final agreements.” January 30 will be the last day of employment for Egmont USA staff. But they will issue their spring 2015 list even without local staff, and their books will continue to be available through their distributor Random House. (Their spring 2015 catalog lists 10 titles for publication.) Six jobs will be eliminated when the US office closes. And recent PM deal reports […]
Children's
Launching with Kids, Then the World
Just as children’s and YA sales led the industry last year, next week’s big conferences start with our one-day Publishers Launch Kids conference, the opening event of Digital Book World, on January 13. For the fourth year in a row, Launch Kids is the biggest professional event specifically for children’s book publishers (and children’s content digitalists). Once again the program is overstuffed with more than 30 speakers from across the children’s content world — from top publishers (Susan Katz at Harper Children’s; Barbara Marcus at Random House Children’s; Suzanne Murphy at Disney; Dominique Raccah at Sourcebooks), major educational platforms (Chris Palma […]
People: Bykofsky Associates Takes Over DSM Agency List
Sheree Bykofsky Associates has taken over the list of DSM Agency, as Doris Michaels “decided to make a transition in her life, which meant finding a new home for her clients.” Colleagues for a long time, they report: “Sheree and Doris realized that they ran their agencies in much the same way and Doris decided to look no further in her search for the perfect home for her list. It has been an extremely smooth transition, and they both feel like this was meant to be.” Sara Weiss has been promoted to editor for both the Grand Central Life & Style and Grand […]
Bonnier Acquires UK’s Igloo Books
In the UK, Bonnier Publishing has acquired Igloo Books on undisclosed terms, adding £30 million in annual sales to create a group with £85 million in sales focused on children’s books and adult fiction. The company says it will make them “one of the five largest children’s publishers in the UK, and the dominant force in children’s mass market publishing.” Parent company Bonnier Books is said to have annual revenue of £600 million. Igloo Books ceo John Styring and the full management team will remain in place, and the unit will continue to operate from their Northamptonshire offices. “The deal […]
Advance Look: NYT’s Top 10 Picture Books for 2014, and Goodread’s It Book Search
The New York Times Book Review announced its list of the year’s 10 Best Illustrated Children’s Books, though they will not be featured in print until the November 19 issue. Their picks are: Draw!, written and illustrated by Raul Colon (Simon & Schuster) Shackleton’s Journey, written and illustrated by William Grill (Flying Eye Books) The Promise, written by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Laura Carlin (Candlewick Press) Where’s Mommy?, written by Beverly Donofrio, illustrated by Barbara McClintock (Schwartz & Wade) Haiti, My Country, written by Haitian schoolchildren, illustrated by Roge (Fifth House Publishers) Time for Bed, Fred, written and illustrated by Yasmeen Ismail […]
Amazon Adds KDP For Kids
Amazon has officially launched a KDP Kids initiative that provides authors access to a Kindle Kids’ Book Creator to help create files for illustrated children’s books “that take advantage of Kindle features like text pop-ups.” The new software is offered as a download for both Mac and PC that Kindle svp Russ Grandinetti says in the release their new tool “makes it easy. In addition to helping authors craft their books, we’re helping customers find them with things like age and grade range filters.” A little more description is posted here.