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Children's Publishers Hope for Good Finish
After a slow start to 2010, Canadian children's publishers began to see a shift in business in the summer and now share guarded optimism that the year will finish on a good note. Despite an improved outlook for the fall, children's publishers are still exploring ways to spur growth throughout the year.
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Food for Thought at the CBC's Annual Meeting
This past Tuesday afternoon, children’s book publishers convened at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City for its annual meeting. Executive director Robin Adelson provided updates on some ongoing efforts as well as a new national public awareness campaign for reading aloud.
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Farley Stepping Down as Head of Macmillan Children's
In a memo to his staff Monday afternoon, Dan Farley, president and publisher of Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, said he will step down from those posts sometime in the next few months.
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Fire Petal Opens Its Doors
With a $5,000 boost from an online auction, former Gibbs Smith associate editor Michelle Witte opened Fire Petal Books, a children's bookstore in Centerville, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, at the end of July. The 1,400 sq. ft.-multi-room store is looking to social media like Groupon and Facebook to spread the word, along with some old-fashioned face-to-face events.
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Slattery to Become Agent with Pippin
Joan Slattery will join Pippin Properties as literary agent and contracts manager, as of November 1. She has spent nearly 20 years at Random House, most recently as senior executive editor at Knopf Books for Young Readers.
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Lewis Joins Disney-Hyperion
Starting September 20, Kevin Lewis will join Disney-Hyperion Books as executive editor, where he will acquire and edit picture books, as well as middle-grade and young adult novels. He will report to Stephanie Owens Lurie, editorial director at Disney-Hyperion.
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Richter Launches Ruckus Media, a Kids' Digital Publishing Venture
Rick Richter, former president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, is returning as the head of a new media company, Ruckus Media, a global family entertainment company that will specialize in creating high-definition animation apps for children aimed at the mobile computing market. Ruckus Media has more than 80 original and licensed animated titles under contract, with plans to price titles at $3.99, and the company will begin releasing an app each week starting September 28.
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Random Inks Digital Pact with Smashing Ideas
Random House Children’s Books has entered into a partnership with digital developer Smashing Ideas to create book-based children's apps for mobile devices. Based in Seattle, Smashing Ideas has worked with companies like Mattel and PBS Kids and is a developer of digital products and interactive experiences aimed at the youth market.
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Points of Sale: Tips for Children's Booksellers
Our new column grew from first-hand experience that many of the best bookselling ideas come from other booksellers. Each tip offers an inventive way to solve problems that you may not have even been aware of in your store: like doing even more good with recycling, finding a less time-consuming way to participate in book fairs, or doing a better job marketing quirky, fun books that don’t always fit a traditional category.
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Despite Dip, Scholastic Moves Forward on Paper Front
A decline in the total use of paper plus the loss of a Forest Stewardship Council supplier resulted in a decline in FSC-certified paper used by Scholastic in 2009, but the company said it remains committed to getting to the 30% FSC-certified level by 2012.
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Team Monotreme: Walden Nabs an Unusual Cop Series
Having unveiled its first list this past spring, HarperCollins's Walden Pond Press imprint is making a push into Wimpy Kid territory with the acquisition of four books in a heavily illustrated middle-grade series from author/illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka.
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HEB Grocery Chain's Push for Reading
It may come as no surprise, given the HE Butt Grocery chain’s emphasis on literacy, but its HEB Plus Store in Laredo, Tex., had the biggest turnout at any stop on the route of this summer’s 17-city Junie B. Jones Stupid Smelly Bus Tour.
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Lerner's Graphic Universe Keeps Growing
Despite the economic downturn and declines in some sectors of the graphic novel market, Lerner Graphic Universe, the comics division of Lerner Publishing Group, has continued to grow and continues to expand its list of graphic novels aimed at the trade, school, and library markets.
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Adams Media to Publish Kidz Bop Book Series
Avon, Mass.-based Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, will introduce a new line of print and e-books with Kidz Bop, the popular children's music brand, a division of Razor & Tie Entertainment, which has sold over 11 million CDs of kids singing popular songs for kids over the past decade.
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Licensing Hotline: August 2010
HarperCollins has secured publishing rights to the Twentieth Century Fox feature film Rio, a 3D-animated flick about a rare bird named Blu who flies from Minnesota to Rio de Janeiro — which is scheduled for a February 2011 release. Emily Brenner, v-p and editorial director of HarperFestival, says Harper is more selective about movie properties than it was several years ago, but this one stood out.
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Drinks, Community, and 'Mockingjay'
Every so often the children's editors at Chronicle Books organize a Bay Area Children's Literature Drinks Night. Since we are so far from the New York hub of children's publishing, it is a nice way for us to create a sense of community. This time we coordinated Drinks Night with the release of Mockingjay, and the Mockingjay release party at Mrs. Dalloway's in Berkeley.
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Digital 'Firsts' from Random House and HarperCollins
Both HarperCollins and Random House revealed new e-products earlier this week. Random House Children's Books is publishing its first e-book original, a tie-in to Michael Scott's Nicholas Flamel series. Also on Tuesday, HarperCollins Children'ss Books announced the launch of its ABC Song and 123: Ants Go Marching iPhone and iPad apps.
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Montana Author Launches Publishing House
After his latest book, The World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale, was turned down by 15 publishers, Sneed Collard III, the author of 50 books for children, decided to take matters into his own hands. Collard, who lives in Missoula, Mont., has formed his own publishing company, Bucking Horse Books, and is publishing the 64-page picture book himself this fall.
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Movie Alert: 'Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole'
Fans still mourning the end of Kathryn Lasky’s 15-book Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, which came to a close in 2008, will have a chance to reunite with Soren the barn owl when Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (Warner Bros.) arrives in theaters on September 24.
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Random House Revamps Seussville.com
A new spotlight is cast on the timeless books, characters, and life of Dr. Seuss with Random House's launch this week of an enhanced, interactive Web site.
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