Flying Point Targets Tween Boys

Steve Hill, former head of Houghton Mifflin's trade and reference division, has started a packaging company aimed at a slice of the market that has been notriously difficult to reach—boys between 11 and 15. Based in Boston, Flying Point Press will develop primarily nonfiction titles. "People laugh when I tell them that I started a packager for such a narrow niche," said Hill. "But when I headed the trade division of Houghton Mifflin, I was always bothered by the fact that we were way too eclectic. I always felt the only way to be successful is to be highly focused."

Hill, whose own reading tends toward history, adventure and travel, said that he was struck by how few narrative nonfiction books are published for kids. "I felt that this was an empty space," he said. "Nonfiction is so popular for adults, but adult books are a little too sophisticated and too long for 12-year-olds."

When Hill and cofounder and ex-HM marketer Peggy Hogan first drew up plans for Flying Point, they were planning to become publishers—until a buyer at Barnes & Noble suggested that they package their first list of books for Sterling instead. Sterling Point Books will launch in August with eight, 175-page reissued books on historical figures like Lawrence of Arabia and Geronimo, and on moments in history, such as the sinking of the Bismarck. Many were originally part of Random House's Landmark Books series started by Bennett Cerf 60 years ago, when he had trouble finding well-written histories for his son, and include some of the leading writers of the day, including William Shirer and John Gunther.

Sterling Point Books have been vetted by historians, said Hill, and have been repackaged with fresh, contemporary covers and newly drawn maps. "This isn't republishing the Bobbsey Twins just like they looked in the 1930s," he noted. However, getting the right look wasn't the hardest part in putting together the series. To track down copyright holders, at one point Hill had to hire a private eye.

In addition to reintroducing older titles long out of print, Flying Point will package new material. The second Sterling Point list, due out in spring 2007, includes a previously unpublished book by H.R. DeMallie on what it was like to be a bomber pilot and prisoner of war during WWII. Flying Point is currently shopping a second series of true adventure books. Going forward, Hill said, the company may add historical fiction.