Seo joined Atheneum in 2000 as v-p and associate publisher and launched her eponymous imprint in 2005 with Totally Joe by James Howe and Inexcusable by Chris Lynch, a National Book Award finalist. More recent titles from Ginee Seo Books include the Bob Dylan picture book Forever Young, illustrated by Paul Rogers; and Nic Sheff’s bestselling memoir Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines.  

Jamie Lee Curtis, signing her new picture book at SCIBA. Photo: Guinevere Platt.

Once the roar of the laughter died down Curtis entertained the crowd of 162 booksellers, teachers and librarians with the tale of the unlikely and circuitous journey she took from being a poor student (“I scored 860 on my SATs. Combined.”) to a bikini-clad movie star to her current status as bestselling children’s book author. It wasn’t until her children were born that Curtis had the inkling she might be able to turn their whimsical pronouncements into books that kids might learn and realize their potential from. With illustrator Laura Cornell, Curtis now has eight books in print from HarperCollins. “I’ve been with them since they were Harper & Row,” she said with affection.  

The crowded aisles of Frankfurt. Photo: Frankfurt Book Fair/Hirth.

Yes, it is huge (10,000 steps by lunchtime!) and lacks a bit of the joie de vivre and camaraderie of Bologna, but no doubt, Frankfurt is exciting and vital—acres of passionate people from all over the world talking about books. I attended my first Bologna back in 1998 but this was my first Frankfurt. I thought children’s books would seem lost in the sea of adult titles but really didn’t find that at all, as I saw them prominently represented throughout.

It is a pretty amazing experience to walk through the endless halls, the German one seeming the most interesting with the best architecture, fanciest booths with full bars, and seemingly random celebrations with beer and wine flowing at all times of the day. As in Bologna, I loved scanning the shelves of publishers in different countries as I ran to my next appointment, stopping when a piece of art or unusual format caught my eye. Because Frankfurt is so sprawling, there were halls I didn’t even make it into, so I missed that sense of being able to see what the whole world is doing, which you can actually do in Bologna if you try hard enough.   

One of library media specialist Rose Brock's five student book clubs, at Coppell Middle School West in Coppell, Tex.

Getting publishers and librarians connected is a two-way street. Publishing staffers arrive at ALA conventions and educational conferences laden with ARCs of upcoming releases, which school librarians happily lug home. Librarians also reach out to publishers, requesting ARCs or galleys of forthcoming titles after scouring catalogues, or ask to be placed on mailing lists to receive galleys.

And school librarians are starting to use ARCs in creative ways.   

Hip Hop Speaks to Children, Sourcebooks’ second poetry anthology for young readers, was inspired by the publisher’s first such anthology, Poetry Speaks to Children (2005), edited by Elise Paschen. Giovanni, one of three consulting editors for Poetry Speaks to Children, persuaded Sourcebooks publisher Dominique Raccah to publish the book during a joint appearance at the 2006 Printers Row Book Fair, at which she led the audience in chanting, “Hip hop, hip hop.”   

“Based on the popularity of certain themes—vampires, sci-fi, fantasy—we thought, ‘How can we make a little more noise in the teen space?’ which is sometimes challenging to do,” says Diane Naughton, v-p of marketing at HarperCollins Children’s Books. “The idea of touring a group of teen authors was something we talked to the chains about and they seemed interested in pursuing. And we have great independents that we know hold terrific events and get teens out.”