After a hiatus of nearly seven years, artist and author William Wegman is returning to children’s books. Nancy Conescu at Dial Books for Young Readers has acquired North American rights at auction to a new publishing program from Wegman, who is widely known for his photography of dogs, specifically weimaraners, which he personally owns.
The program launches in fall 2013 with a hardcover picture book and one leveled reader, and will continue in spring 2014 with two board books. Both print and web components will be part of the program, and the books will feature Wegman’s illustrations in tandem with his photography. The series of original picture books and board books star the youngest member of Wegman’s canine family, Flo, alongside a cast of puppies; the leveled readers are inspired by Wegman’s backlist titles. Dorian Karchmar at WME negotiated the deal.
Wegman’s first book for children, Little Red Riding Hood was published in 1993 by Hyperion, with which he had a longtime publishing relationship. In all, he published 18 books for children with the company. The last, Dress Up Batty, came out in 2004. In the intervening years, Wegman has focused on other media, including, video, painting, drawing, and photography. The cover of the current issue of National Geographic features a typical Wegman photo to accompany its story, "What Dogs Tell Us."
Prior to WME’s auction, editors were invited to come to Wegman’s home and studio in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood to meet his team and his four dogs, including Flo, his 70-pound, 10-month-old puppy, who joins Candy, Penny and Bobbin. Wegman works collaboratively with his wife, Christine Burgin; his longtime photography assistant, Jason Burch; and Emily Helck, who handles a lot of the online operations; he was seeking the same collaborative effort for his new children’s book venture. Conescu said that it was important for Wegman to see how publishers interacted with both his teams – human and canine – but it was equally important for publishers to see how Wegman and his teams worked together.
According to Conescu her first interaction with the team went well. "I was delighted to receive a two-footed, hands-up greeting from Flo when she pounced on me," she recalls.
For Conescu, the acquisition of the program is "a dream project." Not only is she an avowed "dog person," but a longtime Wegman fan. While still in high school, Conescu heard Wegman speak at the New Orleans Museum of Contemporary Art and waited in line to meet him and get her book signed. Now Conescu is at the helm of a Wegman publishing project, but, because of the unique nature of Wegman’s work, she can’t completely envisage what the specific content of the books will ultimately be, since it’s dependent on what the puppies can and can’t do – something that Wegman and his team know better than Conescu. Of the first book, she says, "We’re still developing the story, but it will be about Flo exploring what she’d like to be when she grows up."
Conescu explained that she and her team at Dial are taking a fresh approach to Wegman’s books, which will "be true to his signature style but immediately recognizable as the new Wegman. We’re really excited about this direction. He’ll be using less complicated sets than he has in the past and adding drawn elements to his photographs. I think this technique, which captures the transformative nature of his work, will give him a lot of freedom."
