Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ISRA
EL
ITALY TAIWAN
AND
ICEL
PORTUGAL
SLOVAKIA
ROMANIA
AUSTRALIA
CATALONIA
IC
ARAB
GREECE
CHINA
GERMANY NORW
AY
FRANCE
RGIA
GEO
TURKEY E
JAPAN BASQU
NDS
NETHERLA
OM
D KINGD
UNITE BULGARIA
SLOVENIA
SPAIN
DENMARK SWEDEN
FINLAND
3/22/19 6:37 PM
BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY APRIL 2019
4
2020
The year Canada will be the GUEST OF HONOUR
at the FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
L’année où le Canada sera À L’HONNEUR à la
FOIRE DU LIVRE DE FRANCFORT
canadafbm2020.com
@CanadaFBM2020
@Cfbm2020
BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY APRIL 2019
Rachel Hecht flow of different markets, where one might begin to flourish,
Owner while another experiences difficulties (Turkey, for example,
Rachel Hecht Children’s seems to be coming back slightly after retrenching for the
Scouting past few years). One minitrend we’re seeing is publishers
Heading into Bologna, I seeking to create more marketing and promotional materials.
think the power of the When this happens, we need to properly coordinate design
tie-in continues to have a and copyright elements, as well as work with any existing
significant impact inter- licensees.
nationally: books that
Mia Roman
6
How
volcanoesdo
erupt?
PLAARTEHT
E
Jh F
d
on
Ti H t hi
ins
h
W
do hy
tc
Moones the Hu
ch Tim
shape?ange John Farndon
We Are Quarto
CHARLOTTE GUILLAIN
YUVAL ZOMMER
QuartoKnows.com
STUPENDOUS
70
SCIENCE
SUPER COOL
EXPERIMENTS
YOU CAN DO AT HOME
Rob
Beattie
Sam
Peet
L’indépendance créative
BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY APRIL 2019
way.
Another focus is character-driven content. From the
studios and networks down to the creatives, there is a
desire to explore relatable stories. Along with the push for
diversity, buyers want to tell narratives that evoke emotions.
This spans from children’s all the way through teen/tween.
Buyers are also looking for material that has the ability
to span internationally. Can a story be inherently American
but still make sense abroad? Does the story take place in a
different country but have characters who are universally
relatable?
Buyers are looking at material that entire families can
enjoy watching together, like Night at the Museum and
8
Frankfurt Kids
awaits you October. Frankfurt.
16 – 20 October 2019
Frankfurter Buchmesse
Meet us in Bologna at
More Children’s Books. the German collective
stand, Hall 30, Stand C6/D5
More media.
More events.
Contact
More creativity. Martina Stemann
Phone: +49 (0) 69 2102-126
Simply more. Fax: +49 (0) 69 2102-46126
Truly global. E-mail: stemann@book-fair.com
buchmesse.de/kids
#fbm19
BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY APRIL 2019
10
APRIL 2019 BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY
11
BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY APRIL 2019
I’m just hoping we can all continue to broaden our lists across borders and languages: humor and fantasy—from
with books from different places. Kids deserve to know high fantasy to tales more modest and Nesbit-like—with
about other parts of the world, no matter where they live, reliably unbridled love for stories that pack an emotional
and books in translation can do that. It’s a crucial element heart-punch.
for being a global citizen. In both middle grade and the teen arena, after the suf-
focating boom times of paranormal and dystopia, it’s
Michael Stearns become clichéd to say there are no big trends. But that
Founder doesn’t mean there aren’t vibrant smaller trends that
Upstart Crow Literary make up a healthy something-for-everyone children’s
Interest in illustrated book market. Interest from publishers and readers in
works for older readers— authentic voices remains huge; that #OwnVoices umbrella
full-on graphic novels encompasses everything from tales of underrepresented
but also heavily illustrated cultures to stories of kids who were labeled “disabled”
novels—has been build- but are now rightly seen as people with challenging diffi-
ing steadily for the past culties to overcome.
15 years or so, to the point And that enthusiasm isn’t just homegrown. With those
that now such books are titles, we’ve seen an encouraging pickup from foreign
in the mainstream, both publishers around the world. This “trend”—if it’s right
on bookstore shelves and to label a publishing turn toward greater empathy as a
in terms of projects we trend—extends to younger age groups, as well. Our most
read and sell. In general, successful picture books in the U.S. market, bestsellers
the last half decade has seen a rebalancing of publishers’ and not, are also the titles we’ve seen the greatest interest
lists toward middle grade, and that market has become a in across the international market. They’re stories that
much more vibrant one, if still a difficult one in which to help readers understand one another better. What a joy—
forge a bestseller. The stalwarts undergirding middle grade modest though it may be—to sell books one not only
4149_Bologna_advert_215.9x147.32mm_MAR19.pdf 1 26/03/2019 10:19
remain the ones that have always worked and worked well loves but believes in some small way better the world. ■
UNDERSTANDING THE UK
CHILDREN'S BOOK MARKET
NIELSEN BOOK'S CHILDREN'S REPORT REVEALS THE LATEST
TRENDS IN THE UK:
● 74% of 0-17s read or listen to books/magazines weekly for fun,
C
down 1% from 2017
CM
MY
NIELSEN BOOK'S LICENSING AND BRANDING DATA
CY
ANALYSES POPULAR BRANDS AMONG 0-17s:
CMY
K
● Disney™ reached £8.6m in 2018, driven by the growing Twisted Tales
series as well as increased sales for Disney Princess™ and
The Incredibles™ books
A
trio of American indie booksellers what they’ve seen working for those publish-
will be among the thousands of pub- ers as a starting place to find more publishers
lishing professionals converging on with whom to work, and more titles to coax
Bologna for the 2019 Children’s Book Fair, into the American market. For instance,
each with an eye on how to bring an interna- Hadge prominently features books from
tional dimension to their work back home. Barefoot Books and has seen “an uptick in
Melissa Posten of the Novel Neighbor in St. bilingual board books.” Posten seeks out
Louis, Clarissa Hadge of Trident Booksellers books from Enchanted Lion and Ground-
& Café in Boston, and Sarah Hedrick of wood and has found success with readers of
Iconoclast Books & Gifts in Hailey, Idaho, illustrated titles from around the world.
are attending the fair on scholarship from Still, Posten believes there are opportunities
Melissa
Bookselling Without Borders, an industry Posten for publishers to bring more well-crafted
group that aims to increase booksellers’ translations to American readers in a number
awareness of international bookselling trends. of areas. “I definitely feel like a big area of
I caught up with Posten and Hadge to talk opportunity is in middle grade,” she says.
about their expectations. “Publishers are doing a much better job get-
“I feel humbled and grateful that I was ting translated picture books into the hands
chosen to go, so I’m hoping to bring back all of people.”
of the knowledge that I get over there and Posten also hopes the book fair will give
share it,” Hadge says. her insights into the decisions publishers use
Posten and Hadge are first-time attendees to regarding layout and book design for titles.
Bologna but have extensive children’s book- Along with the opportunity to meet pub-
selling experience, and they say that the fair is lishers, the booksellers are eager to see how
an opportunity to see how publishers decide indie booksellers from other countries do
Clarissa
which foreign-language books have a future Hadge their work. “I don’t know anything about
place on American bookshelves, which don’t, what goes on in indie bookstores overseas,”
and why. says Posten, who has more than 17 years of experience as a
For Hadge, the timing couldn’t be better. A fire and flood bookseller, beginning at Children’s Book World in Haver-
shuttered Trident in 2018, but the store has reopened with ford, Penn.
more than double the previous space available for its chil- The Bologna Book Fair is just one of six sites for book-
dren’s section. With that added space, she intends to add seller residencies and scholarships through Bookselling
more programming, including educator nights, school pro- Without Borders this year. The organization was founded
grams, and publisher showcases. The trip to Bologna will by Europa Editions in 2016 and has grown to include 13
help guide her next steps. “I’m really striving to provide publishing partners and a host of other industry affiliates
children’s books that will be a reflection of the market and dedicated to providing American booksellers with an oppor-
our readership in the store but will also show kids and tunity to see international publishing firsthand.
adults a wider scope of the world out there,” Hadge says. “The hope is that booksellers will change the way they
The same goes for Posten, who says she is selling books think about selling international literature,” Europa edi-
in a community where more than 70 languages are spoken tor-in-chief Michael Reynolds told PW earlier this year,
in the schools. She notes that she has wanted to attend the adding, “I find it extraordinary how many end-of-year
book fair because “St. Louis has traditionally been very lists about diverse books come out without a single title of
welcoming to immigrants,” and she hopes to bring back translation.”
helpful insights for local librarians with whom she works All told, this year 14 booksellers will participate in
for readings and school events. fairs and residencies in six locations, with guided tours,
Both booksellers have already had some success selling meetings with fellow booksellers and publishers, and
books published by a handful of American publishers who educational workshops organized by Bookselling
bring international titles to their lists. They intend to use Without Borders. ■
14
Find Fox Chapel Publishing at the American Collective Stand
Hall 26
Stand B50
For Little Readers Our mission is to educate, excite,
Introducing Happy Fox Books,
an Imprint of Fox Chapel Publishing and help children understand the
world around them.
BigFoot Spotted at World- BigFoot Visits the Big Cities of BigFoot Goes on Great BigFoot Activity Book
Famous Landmarks the World Adventures Discover hundreds of whimsical
See the sites and look for BigFoot Travel from the Big Apple to Go on 10 wild and challenging mazes, riddles, search & find
as he explores 10 different Athens and Tokyo to Toronto adventures searching for BigFoot puzzles, word games, coloring
landmarks, including the Golden as BigFoot visits 10 major as he climbs the Himalayas, pages, fun facts about the world,
Gate Bridge, the Great Wall of cosmopolitan destinations of the dives into the Great Barrier Reef, and more than 80 free stickers,
China, and more! world! and more! all with BigFoot!
9781641240024 9781641240017 9781641240253 9781641240345
£9.99, $14.99 (USD), $18.99 (CAD) £9.99, $14.99 (USD), $18.99 (CAD) £9.99, $14.99 (USD), $18.99 (CAD) £6.99, $9.99 (USD), $11.99 (CAD)
10 x 10 in. 10 x 10 in. 10 x 10 in. 8 x 10 in.
48 pages 48 pages 48 pages 136 pages
Interest age 5-12 years Interest age 5-12 years Interest age 5-12 years Interest age 5-12 years
Vacation Crafting Once Upon a Paper Doll Picture Book Play Learn & Draw Animal Friends
Inspired by the classic crafts that This delightful book provides Kids will love the 15 fun art New from Kid Scoop, kids can
you made in summer camp, this hours of imaginative play with projects that show them how to learn more about their favorite
big book provides more than 150 nostalgic paper doll characters draw like their favorite picture animals – while learning to draw
child-friendly craft ideas to take from favorite fairy tales. book authors! them, too!
on the road. 9781641240048 9781641240338 9781641240321
9781641240178 £10.99, $14.99 (USD), $18.99 (CAD) £10.99, $14.99 (USD), $18.99 (CAD) £9.99, $12.99 (USD), $14.99 (CAD)
£12.99, $16.99 (USD), $21.99 (CAD) 8 x 10 in. 8 x 10 in. 8 x 10 in.
7 x 9 in. 59 pages 128 pages 128 pages
160 pages Interest age 5-12 years Interest age 5-10 years Interest age 5-10 years
Interest age 5-12 years
Brazil’s YA Scene
Heats Up
CALLING A passion for local stories is putting
more focus on homegrown talent
ALL
CHILDREN’S By Taissa Reis
PUBLISHERS! T
en years ago, the Brazil-
ian YA market consisted
mainly of translated titles
Get the latest on the U.S. children’s and, with only a few exceptions,
was dominated by American
and YA publishing scene with
and British writers. But Brazilian
Children’s Bookshelf. publishers have become eager to
foster more careers and publish
This free e-newsletter from more Brazilian YA authors,
Publishers Weekly covers it all: transforming the market from
n In-depth reporting on the one focused primarily on buying
rights to one now looking to sell
biggest new releases
rights abroad—which is why
n Deal announcements
there’s so much Brazilian YA on
n Market trends
offer here in Bologna.
n Breaking news The reason for this change is
n Author and illustrator interviews simple: with the appetite for YA
growing, Brazilian readers want
n Profiles of up-and-coming creators
to see themselves represented in
the books and, as a consequence,
Get vital news and information
are demanding more titles by
delivered free to your inbox homegrown authors. The Bra-
twice a week by subscribing now to zilian YA audience treats their
Children’s Bookshelf. favorite authors like rock stars,
and top writers have huge fol-
Go to lowings. When YA bestseller
publishersweekly.com/bookshelf Cassandra Clare’s readers arrived at the 2014 Bienal do
Livro, Brazil’s annual book fair, fans broke the glass door of
the venue, desperate to get spots in her signing line.
The massive crowds of YA readers can be credited as
the force behind the recent rapid rise of book festivals in
Brazil. In 2017, Diana Passy of the publishing house
Companhia das Letras, PRH’s arm in Brazil, developed
Flipop (Pop Literature Festival). Inspired by Yallfest and
LeakyCon, among others, she brought together the YA
community and put readers in direct contact with Brazilian
and international YA authors. Authors featured at the
event have included Alwyn Hamilton, Morgan Rhodes,
Benjamin Alire Saénz, and Jeff Zentner, as well as book-
tubers and other publishing professionals. The event has a
format more like a convention than a traditional book-
selling event, and readers can watch and interact with
panel discussions.
18
APRIL 2019
My Bologna Favorites
KAREN
BOERSMA
Publisher,
Owlkids Books, Toronto
19
BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY APRIL 2019
SPECIAL MENTIONS
À TRAVERS
BOLOGNA
Tom Haugomat
Éditions Thierry Magnier
(France)
RAGAZZI ET PUIS
Icinori
Albin Michel Jeunesse
(France)
SPECIAL MENTIONS
FICTION ORBIS SENSUALIUM PICTUS. EL MUNDO EN IMÁGENES
WINNER Johannes Amos Comenius,
PANÁCEK, PECKA, illus. by Paulo Kreutzberger
ŠVESTKA, POLENO A ZASE Libros del Zorro Rojo
PANÁCEK (Spain)
Vojtech Masek,
illus. by Chrudos Valousek ✰ ✰
Baobab BOLOGNA RAGAZZI
(Czech Republic)
DIGITAL AWARD
This is a special international prize for excellence
and innovation in digital content.
✰ ✰ WINNERS
HONORABLE MENTION/ FICTION: The Gardens Between
The Voxel Agents (Australia)
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
AWARD AUGMENTED REALITY: A Brief History of Amazing Stunts
Within (U.K.)
Author-illustrator Attilio Cassinelli
I TRE PORCELLINI; TOPO DI CAMPAGNA E TOPO DI CITTÀ; EDUCATION: Montessori Preschool
RICCIOLI D’ORO; I MUSICANTI DI BREMA; CAPPUCCETTO Edoki Academy (France)
ROSSO; IL PRINCIPE RANOCCHIO; IL LEONE E IL TOPO
Lapis Edizioni CONTENT LIBRARIES: Bayam
(Italy) Bayard (France)
20
APRIL 2019 BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY
✰ ✰
BEST CHILDREN’S PUBLISHER AWARD
This award, according to the organizers, “highlights the editorial projects,
professional skills, and intellectual qualities of works produced by
publishing houses all over the world” that “foster a mutual exchange of
knowledge and ideas among different nations and myriad areas of the
world’s cultural heritage.”
The prize is offered in six geographic categories; there is a shortlist of
five publishers for each category. The winners will be announced at the
Bologna Book Fair on Monday, April 1.
21
BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY APRIL 2019
© lima andruška
hen the Swedish Booksellers
Association and the Swedish
Publishers Association released
their annual market report for 2018 in
February, one figure stood out: children’s
and YA books’ sales grew 8.3% in the year
over 2017, making it the fastest-growing
segment in an industry whose overall retail
sales grew only 0.9% in 2018. The report,
titled “Bokförsäljningsstatistiken 2018,”
covers three-quarters of Swedish retail and
includes bricks-and-mortar chains such
as Akademibokhandeln and Pocketshop,
as well as large online retailers such as
Adlibris and Bokus. The figures presented
cover all book sales, print and digital,
exclusive of subscription revenue.
According to the research, children’s and Caroline Gezelius of Stockholm’s BokBok bookstore.
YA generated $73 million in revenue and
sold 7.4 million copies. Caroline Gezelius, an elementary school teacher and
The 8.3% gain in children’s book sales last year is signifi- co-owner of Stockholm’s BokBok bookstore, concurs
cantly more robust than in 2017, when the segment grew with Luovio in seeing parents as having an impact on sales.
3.6%, and 2016, which saw 2.9% growth. Further back, “Five to 10 years ago, people worried that Swedish kids
the segment’s sales increased 5.9% in 2015 and skyrock- were less interested in books and more interested in their
eted 11.5% in 2014. Cumulative growth for the past five digital devices,” she says. “I believe this new generation of
years is an impressive 36.3%. parents saw this problem and took some action. It is a reac-
Why is this happening? Sakari Luovio, B2C sales manager tion, and [now] these parents buy lots of books.” But, she
at Adlibris, believes Swedish parents are responsible. “Our added, “I honestly don’t know if their kids read that much.”
main consumers are mothers and women over 40,” he says. Gezelius believes BokBok is only sustainable and success-
“They want to give their children something more [to play ful because it is in Södermalm, a neighborhood populated
with] than an iPhone.” with families who are culturally aware and financially
As for what is selling, Luovio observes, “The bestseller stable, which in turn allows the store to offer a diverse
charts are a reflection of the society, and six out of the 20 catalogue.
children’s and YA bestsellers in Sweden in 2018 had strong One major change to the Swedish industry in 2018 was
female characters, and mothers want to grow strong women— the switch to routing sales of books to libraries through
modern Pippi Longstockings.” The bestsellers for the year online retailers Adlibris and Bokus—a change that may
were Handbok för Superhjältar (Handbook for superhe- have contributed to the jump in sales figures for the year.
roes) by Elias and Agnes Våhlund, trailed by the Swedish Still, Luovio noted, children’s sales to consumers had
edition of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena double-digit growth at the retailer.
Favilli and Francesca Cavallo. Handbok för Superhjältar is Looking ahead, Luovio is optimistic. “The top titles
part of the Superhjältar series, which revolves around a drive the category, so if we have a new Handbok för
superhero named Lisa, and three other titles in the series Hjälterna in the series—and I am confident we will—we
landed in fourth, sixth, and eighth places. The series, pub- will have another good year,” he says. ■
lished by the Norstedts division Rabén & Sjögren, has sold
more 350,000 copies since the first title was published in Carlo Carrenho is a publishing consultant based in Sweden and the
founder of PublishNews in Brazil and Spain.
2017.
22
B O O K FA I R 2 01 9
BOLOGNA
All NEW
Can
penguins
Illustrated Titles!
fly?
By Aoife Lennon-Ritchie
Aoife Lennon-Ritchie
O
ne may presume that South African publishers and bookshops), an astonishing majority of whom don’t
of children’s books travel to Bologna to acquire own a single book themselves. It’s not always an easy
international titles for the local market. Increas- thing, hearing the local voice above the proliferation of
ingly, they are also keen to find export markets and sell the international competition, but when you do, it can
rights to their homegrown works. In an import-heavy really pay dividends.
market where margins are tiny, there is an enduring Michelle Cooper, children’s publisher at NB Publishers’
commitment to publishing local voices, and to getting imprints Tafelberg and Human & Rousseau, is focused
innovative local books into the hands of the almost 19 on local writers and illustrators and endeavors to publish
million children in South Africa (via libraries, schools, in all 11 South African national languages when possi-
ble. “We want to find a balance between content that is
uniquely South African yet universally appealing in theme,
the artistry of the writing, and the aesthetics of design and
production,” she says. “We have published classics in
Afrikaans and English that many a South African child
remembers, but we have also in the years since our first
democratic elections published picture books and young
Laced with Javanese mythology, a timely adult novels in all 11 of our official languages.”
story of a young Indonesian girl’s Of course, that may not have been possible without the
determination to fight for an education success of the imported list. “It is important for us to
expose our readers to the best international writing,”
Written by
Michelle
Cooper notes. “We have translated some worthwhile
works from the international arena into Afrikaans over
Kadarusman the years: from Spot, Dr. Seuss, The Gruffalo, and Pippi
Longstocking to Harry Potter and most recently Jessica
Townsend’s Nevermoor and Wundersmith.”
Andrea Nattrass, publisher at Pan Macmillan South
Visit Catherine Mitchell at Africa, says that “in order to succeed locally, the children’s
CANADA STAND publishing effort needs support from all stakeholders, includ-
HALL 26 STAND A178 ing government, the educational sector, as well as publish-
to preview this highly- ers and retailers.” She praises organizations such as Book
anticipated novel! Dash and Nal’ibali and other, smaller independent pub-
Contact: rights@pajamapress.ca lishers who are doing groundbreaking work in the field of
children’s literature and literacy in South Africa. Like other
big-name local publishers, Nattrass believes it is “import-
ant to publish local children’s books, as there is a relative
lack of locally relevant titles compared to the volume of
books emanating from overseas.” She adds, “Pan Macmil-
www.pajamapress.ca lan publishes picture book translations, such as The Gruff-
alo, which we have released in Xhosa, Zulu, Sesotho, and
24
APRIL 2019 BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY
25
BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY APRIL 2019
Africa there are incredible opportunities and initiatives writers find their own voices.”
for writers, not only to be published but to give back. It And a lot of those voices will be shouting above the crowds
is a vibrant and electric environment full of passionate, at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Stop, listen, and you
energetic people who are driven by their passion for South might just hear something you like! ■
African youth literature and local readers. Personally, the
feeling of being published is nothing compared to the joy Aoife Lennon-Ritchie is a literary agent with the
of meeting and engaging with readers and helping young Lennon-Ritchie Agency in Cape Town.
Kids Announces
the globe.”
Amazon Publishing already offers an extensive list of
children’s books that covers everything from books for
Initial Titles toddlers to young adult titles. Among its most successful
titles are those in the Turkey Trouble series by Wendi Sil-
vano, illustrated by Lee Harper, which have sold more
than 100,000 copies. ■
The U.S. publisher is looking for
children’s books to translate
My Bologna Favorites
By Ed Nawotka
PENNY
HUESTON
A
mazon Crossing is the most prolific publisher of
translated fiction in the U.S., and in January the Senior editor,
Text Publishing, Melbourne,
company announced it is moving into publishing Australia
translations of children’s books. Its first three children’s
titles are now being readied for bookstores: Spikey, by
Italian author Ilaria Guarducciand, translated by Laura Since coming to Bologna for the fabulous book fair, I now
Watkinson, will be published in June; A Tiger Like Me, by rate it as my favorite European city. Gastronomic delights
German writer Michael Engler, illustrated by Joëlle Tour- are, of course, a major attraction: the risotto served from
lonias, and translated by Laura Watkinson, arrives in the Parmesan wheel at il Tartufo, to name but one—no, I
August; and Along the Tapajós, by Brazilian author Fer- have to mention the gelati, too; the museum devoted to
nando Vilela, translated by Daniel Hahn, will go on sale the sublime still life painter Giorgio Morandi, who lived
in October. with his three sisters on Via Fondazza until he died; my
Marilyn Brigham, editor of Amazon Crossing Kids, is in annual pilgrimage to a favorite hilltop church and park
Bologna actively searching for new material; books can be on the outskirts of town. On the way to the fair, I like to
submitted through Amazon Publishing’s online submissions stop off for a coffee with the university students, who
portal. have often stayed up all night after their graduation
“Amazon parties and are still in costume, crowned with their laurel
Crossing Kids wreaths. But the highlight is catching up with all the
is building a wonderful publishers, agents, and scouts. The camara-
diverse list of derie of the fair was never more appreciated than when
titles highlight- my luggage didn’t arrive with me the year of a cold snap
ing stories of in Bologna. The night before the fair, only H&M was
local cultures, open, stocking exclusively their new spring stock. The
as well as uni- pair of light cotton Capri pants (ugly print) that I wore
versal stories every day of the fair became quite a feature at my meet-
that enrich and ings that year—before I made a bonfire of them on my
inspire young return home.
readers every-
where,” Brigham
26
MAY 29 - 31, 2019
JAVITS CENTER, NYC
BOOKEXPOAMERICA.COM
BOLOGNA SHOW DAILY APRIL 2019
E
xactly 30 years ago, the world was bracing itself for This explosion was followed by the inevitable implosion,
one of the most eagerly anticipated comic book but the seeds had been sown.
movies in over a decade: Tim Burton’s Batman. Back Fantagraphics Books had been pushing for a “new
then, films based on comics were few and far between, and mainstream” since its foundation in 1976 by Gary Groth
there had been virtually nothing new to excite fans in and Mike Catron. Fantagraphics was always ardently anti–
America and most other Western countries. The Superman caped crusader, paving the way with social realist tales
franchise ended with a whimper, 1987’s Superman IV: The such as Love & Rockets by Jaime and Gilbert Hernadez.
Quest for Peace, and Marvel wasn’t having much luck with They, and others, resolutely stuck to their guns, waiting
it strictly low-rent, made-for-TV movies, like 1988’s The for the rest of the world to catch up with them—which it
Incredible Hulk Returns. did, as comics slowly wound their way into bookstores.
The problem was that movie and television screens simply Jump to today, when 22 major superhero feature films are
couldn’t compete with comics’ unlimited special effects slated for the next two years. How can comics combat this
budget. For the price of a pencil, pen, paper, and some color lure for readers’ attention?
ink, comics could depict any scene—from a quiet discus- Undoubtedly it’s a fool’s errand to try to out-pizzazz the
sion between two people to an epic intergalactic battle—at moving picture, so comics have been looking inward to
virtually no cost, save for the creator’s time. In a movie, a their core strength: telling smaller, quieter stories that delve
major scene would cost a fortune, so for those truly mag- into the interior world of characters. Comics are excellent
nificent battles, fans would need to keep returning to the at exploring first-person narratives, particularly when those
comics. narrators are unreliable, with the captions deliberately
Then in the 1990s special effects went digital. Relatively contradicting the visuals.
economical CGI completely revolutionized the need for Another of comics’ strengths is conveying complex con-
physical effects’ expensive sets, dangerous pyrotechnics, cepts in very simple, economical, graphical ways. This has
and time-consuming prosthetics. All bets were off. Comics’ led to a sharp rise in nonfiction graphic “novels.” Daryl
static, silent images paled in comparison to the cacopho- Cunningham’s critically acclaimed Supercrash and Science
nous Technicolor big screen spectacles. Tales, for Myriad Editions, explore the events leading up
Reading comics for pure spectacle became redundant, to the financial collapse in 2008 and “lies, hoaxes, and
and both Marvel and DC soon realized that their role as scams” in science, respectively. Another publisher that moved
publishers was no longer to produce comics and graphic into nonfiction is the U.K.’s SelfMadeHero, which pub-
novels but rather to maintain the profile of their intellec- lished Edward Ross’s Filmish and last year’s exploration of
tual properties and to feed their cinematic brethren with the Moon landings Apollo by Matt Fitch, Chris Baker, and
new story ideas to be developed into films: Batman v. Mike Collins. Autobiographies and biographies are also
Superman, Captain America: Civil War, and X-Men, all of currently very popular.
which owe their origins to classic comic book story lines. And if the French and Japanese markets continue to fore-
Superhero comics themselves had almost become irrele- shadow the English graphic novel market, look for titles
vant, merely flashy storyboards for cinematographers to on cooking, wine tasting, business studies, and pretty much
lift from. So where did this leave comics as a medium? any topic you can imagine. My own publishing house,
Well, fortunately, since the 1960s there has been a strong Soaring Penguin Press, even produced a successful biogra-
underground comics movement that rejected the mainstream phy-cum-history graphic novel about Hornsey Town Hall
superhero output that accounted for about 90% of titles in London titled The Voice of the Hall, by Sean Azzopardi.
published in North America. Creators and publishers So cinema can keep its capes, while the new mainstream
interested in pushing the medium realized that focusing on of graphic novels looks set not only to stay but to thrive.
a single genre was a dead end. This movement truly started After all, success relies on the diversity of readers’ tastes
to find its audience in the mid-1980s when hundreds of inde- for a multitude of genres, and some comics publishers
pendent publishers started releasing their comics through have always known this. It’s just that it took the rest of
the growing direct market of comic shops. This meant the world a while to catch up. ■
diverse, quirky titles such as Flaming Carrot, Cerebus the
Aardvark, Reid Fleming, World’s Toughest Milkman, and Tim Pilcher is an Eisner-nominated writer, editor, and publisher and is the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles all became financially viable. co-owner of the U.K.’s Soaring Penguin Press.
28
THE SPANISH MARKET MADE EASY WITH
AT THE GUADALAJARA
INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR
Trade Days: December 2-4, 2019
For more information, stop by the USA Pavilion in Hall 26, Aisle B, Stand #50,
or contact us after the fair
Janet@americancollectivestand.com Jon@combinedbook.com
734-677-0955 914-739-7500 ext. 6
A
n Irish prime minister (it was Garrett Fitzgerald) picture book, also from Germany Siobhán
Parkinson
was famously credited with the immortal line, “Well, (about a tractor—there’s univer-
I can see that it works in practice, but will it work sal appeal!); and a book of rhymes for very young children
in theory?” Ireland’s Little Island is a bit like that. A tiny about illness and recovery, from Latvia. In the past we have
children’s publishing company that specializes in translated published books translated from Brazilian Portuguese,
titles and debut authors should definitely not work in theory. Finnish, French, and Swedish. And Irish.
In practice, however, Little Island is still afloat after nearly We do, of course, find translated books harder to sell.
10 years in business. Thing is, every culture is constantly telling itself a narrative
Like most publishers, we are creative in our thinking and about itself, and what’s going on in other, non-English-speaking
passionate about our vision, and because we are small, we countries simply doesn’t fit into that rolling cultural narra-
have more scope to be creative and to take risks on books tive. So it’s harder to interest readers in translated titles. But
that we love. And we are daring: we make publishing deci- for too long Ireland was an inward-looking nation. That’s no
sions that larger and more commercially oriented companies longer the case. We are pleased and proud to be part of that
can’t or won’t—because they generally don’t like publishing cultural shift, and we are committed to providing interna-
books in translation. We don’t do this because we think it’s tional books for our readers—so we just do it. We have to
a great commercial proposition. We do it because we have think creatively about it. We have to source titles that have
always worked on the principle that our first some kind of unusual appeal in order to overcome the resis-
commitment is to our readers, tance to translation. That’s a chal-
our books, and their authors. lenge, of course, but it is also a
We have always put literary pleasure.
and aesthetic values, along There are advantages too. For
with our political, cultural, years, we felt we could not afford
and social vision, at the heart to publish picture books. Then
of our business, way ahead of we found that copublishing or
that very wavy-looking thing buying rights put the publishing
we have been told is called the of picture books within our
bottom line. reach. That is the kind of dis-
The impetus for Little Island covery you can only make if
was own interest in translation. I you do the countercultural thing
went to see Edwin Higel of New Island in the first place and take the risk of publishing in
Books in Dublin. He sensibly pointed translation.
out that we couldn’t publish only trans- As well as translations, we also specialize in debut
lations—that we needed to have a chil- novels by Irish writers. This year, for example, we are
dren’s list in general, and that we could bringing out a riot of a mock detective story by a first-
do translations as part of that. I went time Irish writer. (The turkey does it—not the crime,
into that meeting with Edwin to discuss the investigating.) Like translations, debuts are a risk.
translation and came out as commission- But this year’s new novelist is next year’s award-winning
ing editor of a new children’s list called author with an even better book to offer us. Star authors
Little Island Books. (Edwin invented the name.) Serendip- start out as debut novelists. For instance, our bestselling
ity rules! Deirdre Sullivan (author of Tangleweed and Brine), whose
Before long, for purely practical reasons, Little Island reputation has gone stratospheric, appeared as a new writer
became (amicably) independent of New Island, set up as a on Little Island’s first list.
completely separate children’s publishing house—but we So we seem to be doing something right, some of the
kept our name, because we love it. time. That’s all in practice, of course. In theory it really
We publish between seven and 10 books a year, and this shouldn’t work. ■
year three of those are translations: a novel from Germany
(with gorgeous illustrations by David Roberts); a stunning Siobhán Parkinson is an author and the publisher of Little Island.
30
NEW YORK
&
RIGHTS FAIR
Ma y 29-3 1, 2019 | NY C
NewYorkRightsFair.com
56th edition 1-4 April
Staging 2019
children’s Bologna
content Italy
an event by
BCBF FLAGSHIP
EVENTS
MONDAY 1 APRIL TUESDAY 2 APRIL THURSDAY 4 APRIL
1-2.30 pm 10.30 am – 1 pm 9.30 am – 1 pm
Sala Concerto, Services Centre Wing D Sala Concerto, Services Centre Wing D Sala Notturno, Services Centre Wing D
WELCOME TO THE CHINESE MARKET. A TODDLERS. THE VERY FIRST BOOKS CHILDREN’S BOOKSELLERS
GREAT HOME FOR CHILDREN’S CONTENT FOR ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS ON STAGE. INTERNATIONAL
CHILDREN’S BOOKSELLERS
2.30–5.30 pm 2.30–5.30 pm CONFERENCE
Sala Notturno, Services Centre Wing D Sala Notturno, Services Centre Wing D
HANDWRITING IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS LISTEN UP! AUDIOBOOKS
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
3.00–5.30 pm
Sala Concerto, Services Centre Wing D 3.00–5.30 pm
BLACK BOOKS MATTER. Sala Concerto, Services Centre Wing D
AFRICAN AMERICAN WORDS TIME IS ON THEIR SIDE.
AND COLORS WOMEN IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS