November 30, 2017-Well, it took me long enough! After visiting the London Book Fair, the largest book fair in the world, in March of this year, I’ve finally decided to share a few of my notes. The presenters were phenomenal, and I learned so much. I’m happy to say that at Pandamonium Publishing House, we are constantly trying to implement these ideas in our works. Here’s just a taste of a seminar I attended titled, Children’s Picture Books, Today and Tomorrow which was presented by Christine Baker…she’s the person who introduced Harry Potter to France!
- Visual and aesthetic changes based on what is coming out of Europe
- Core is sharing a story between kids and adults
- Globalization of illustrative talent
- Smaller publishers=different esthetics, different graphic styles, RETRO styling and online media influence of graphic styles
- The changes currently are in regards to children’s books polarization in how to sell to people in the market. Books about food (donut on the front or about a shopping trolley sell insane amounts of books in supermarkets)
- There is a large spectrum of illustrations, and a slightly alternative style is forthcoming
- DIVERSITY IS HUGE. Be willing to take risks and be experimental, this will open a lot of doors. It’s good to see things from other countries because that itself lends to diversity. The Gruffalo is a great example of this.
- Rhyming books can be hard to translate, and books for kids don’t always need to rhyme, but rhyming is fun if you do it right!
- Non-Fiction Narrative is up and coming in this market
- Unusual measurements-BIG HUGE books are popular
- Push the boundaries of art
- The scale is almost furniture size for up and coming picture books. A couple of kids gathered around a huge book as they read it in front of the fireplace on the floor.
- Digital content-This is not so important to have books in an app because there isn’t really a demand for it.
- Non-fiction books can have illustrations rather than photographs. Eg. Great White Shark
- Screens and tablets can never replace books
- Physical touching of a book is best, kids with their parents turning the pages, sitting on laps
- Apps are only good if what you’re doing is interactive. It must be intelligent because apps are difficult to sell.
- Heavily illustrated early reader novels (5-8 years) are here to stay!
- Kids always read up!
- Cross over books are books between picture books and middle-grade novels
- Tons of writing is told in the imagery
- Be untraditional, non-traditional, odd, with a different style. Don’t look like everything else in the market! Stand out!
- Define and describe new categories illustratively
- Your book is a work of art, be unique and interesting.
- It’s all about fantastic stories, adventure, characters kids care about that they want to share with their parents, intriguing covers make you want to know what the book is about.
- The US is the biggest market for books right now, but the UK is the biggest market for picture books.
