Nelson Tries a Younger Look
By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 4/17/2006
Hoping to reach a generation of readers seeking "imaginative, honest and relevant information" through entertainment- and pop-culture–driven products, Thomas Nelson has launched a new imprint for the 18–35 "psychographic" with the eyebrow-raising name Naked Ink. Clothes are required, but a same-old approach to such traditional subjects as motherhood is not—witness the group's first offering, The Hot Mom's Handbook.
Naked Ink will publish five hardcovers in its first year, all nonfiction. The imprint's creator and acquisitions editor, Rebekah Whitlock, 26, agreed that the imprint's name may make heads turn, but said she chose the word "naked" because it's synonymous with "authenticity, not a sense of being manufactured... [a sense] of what's real"—characteristics she intends her books to exemplify.
Naked Ink falls under the supervision of David Dunham, senior v-p and group publisher for Thomas Nelson, whose other imprints include Rutledge Hill, Cool Springs and Nelson Current. Because they're part of Nelson's general trade book group, Naked Ink books won't have a Christian angle. Thus far, though, they seem to be somewhat less bold than the offerings from Simon Spotlight Entertainment. The books, said Dunham, will appeal to a younger audience while staying true to Nelson's vision. Still, Whitlock, who has worked for Nelson since 2004, admits, "Simon Spotlight validated the viability of building a business that targets this psychographic."
The imprint's first title is a saucy number by a woman who once worked as a nanny for Pierce Brosnan's son and now runs an online magazine for "hot moms." The Hot Mom's Handbook: Blondes Moms Have More Fun! by Jessica Denay is part self-help missive, part diary. Its advice covers both parenting and a mother's personal life. The $16.99 hardcover went on sale April 11, with a 20,000 first printing. Other Naked Ink titles include The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder & Other Mountains by Skip Yowell, cofounder of JanSport, and Love Letters to the South, a photographic tribute to victims of Hurricane Katrina, with contributions from Kevin Bacon, Johnny Depp and others. Both books pub in August.
Future Naked Ink books won't necessarily fall into the self-help/inspirational genre; Dunham said the imprint is considering cookbooks and books with music groups. Titles will be "fairly eclectic" and will not conform to one price point or format. While Dunham and Whitlock expect Naked Ink books to appeal to all ages, the imprint's spirit is young, as illustrated in its Web site, www.nakedink.net. Dunham also said the house is planning to draw on alternative marketing, using MySpace and other blog sites to attract younger readers.
