Creative Goes Global

by Claire Kirch -- Publishers Weekly, 10/17/2005

A new children's book from Creative Company that was developed in the halls of Frankfurt and Bologna hit store shelves last month. The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, illustrated by Italian artist Roberto Innocenti, was published by Creative in September as part of a 10-country coproduction that is a collaboration with some of the most respected book publishers in the world: Gallimard Jeunesse (France), Random House (U.K.), Patmos Verlaghaus (Germany), LaMargherita-Ellebi (Italy), Kalendraka Editora (Spain), Ambar (Portugal), Nishimura (Japan), Minumsa (Korea), Host and Son (Denmark) and Bokadeildin Faroya (Faroe Islands).

Creative president Tom Peterson said the deal took about two years to put together, with lots of e-mails among Creative's partners. Coproductions are a regular part of Creative's publishing plan, though the scope of Pinocchio is larger than most other efforts. In 1990, Creative did its first significant coproduction: Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, also illustrated by Innocenti. A Christmas Carol was a 15-country coproduction, with a 150,000-copy first printing. Since then, it's sold 550,000 copies worldwide.

According to Peterson, more than one million copies of the approximately 70 Creative Editions titles that have been published over the past 15 years have been coproduced, in nearly 25 languages. This fall, four of the five titles being issued under the Creative Editions imprint are coproductions. "In fact, it is unusual for us to publish a picture book with an international subject matter that's not part of a coproduction," Peterson said.

Coproductions lower costs while expanding the market, an essential consideration for a company the size of Creative, a 40-person publisher based in Mankato, Minn. If Creative can maintain its international publishing relationships, Peterson expects coproductions to remain an integral part of Creative's publishing program.

In addition to the children's illustrated editions released under its Creative Editions imprint, Creative publishes 75 titles per year under its Creative Education imprint, mainly targeted at the school and library market. Another four or five trade paper originals and reprints are published under a third imprint, Creative Paperbacks.