For Summer Publishing Institute students, reading is a given, like breathing. They are obsessed with books, so we oblige by sending them around the city each summer for visits to publishing houses to meet key executives and hear all about books, audio books, and podcasts. Read on, as they say, for an inside look at SPI student visits to Penguin Young Readers and Blackstone Audio.
young adult
The Soul of a Writer: Challenges and Controversy at NYU Media Talk
It’s a tumultuous time in publishing. Authors seem to feel a deep need to address serious topics of social importance and impact, and the current political atmosphere has an effect on everyone writing for all formats and media. Recently, the NYUSPS Center for Publishing hosted an NYU Media Talk, Challenging Topics, Challenging Times, to address some of these questions. For those of us looking for answers, a stage composed of four bestselling authors and an accomplished moderator offered the optimal source of expert opinion.
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Report from Shanghai: Kids’ Books Go Global
Visiting Shanghai bookstores big and small, touring publishing houses, volunteering for two days at a vibrant book fair and, yes, a fourteen hour flight (each way). The China Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair and accompanying VIP program was a whirlwind for our four NYU SPS M.S. in Publishing: Digital and Print Media students selected to participate in this amazing global opportunity. This was the first year that the NYU Center for Publishing sent students to the children’s book fair in Shanghai, giving them the unique opportunity to observe the publishing industry on a global scale. (Graduate students in the Center for Publishing also volunteer at the Frankfurt, London, and Sharjah book fairs.) Understanding the children’s market in China, networking with 11 leading international publishers, and helping out at conferences and events at the fair, the four students in China had the experience of a lifetime.
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Children’s Publishing: Alive and Thriving
Touching on everything from Clifford the Big Red Dog to Gossip Girl, the amazing conversation at the annual children’s publishing panel captivated the NYU Summer Publishing Institute (SPI) students. Every detail counted for the audience that was quick to clap and gasp at the mention of a cherished series, an interesting fact, or an upcoming new release from authors like Matthew Quick and Cassandra Clare. We were so fortunate to listen to a lineup of children’s publishing rock stars. Jonathan Yaged, President, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, moderated. The panel consisted of Megan Tingley, Senior Vice President, Hachette Book Group USA and Publisher, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Deborah Forte, President, Scholastic Media and Executive Vice President, Scholastic, Inc.; Judith Haut, Senior Vice President and Associate Publisher, Random House Children’s Books; Jennifer Loja, Vice President and Associate Publisher, Penguin Young Readers Group; Sara Shandler, Senior Vice President for Editorial, Alloy Entertainment; and Justin Chanda, Vice President and Publisher, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, and Margaret K. McElderry Books. Each panelist presented us with five slides in five minutes about their surprise successes, challenges, and strategies.
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Pop Culture Publishing: Liars, Werewolves, and Mockingjays
A sea of familiar faces greeted attendees of the thirteenth NYU Media Talk, sponsored by the NYU-SCPS Center for Publishing Digital & Print Media. Sure, students and faculty filled a jam-packed Rosenthal Pavilion at the Kimmel Center, but what instantly got the crowd buzzing were the displays of book cover blow-ups featuring today’s most beloved characters of young adult fiction, including Bella Swan, Sebastian Verlac, and Emily Fields. The latest NYU Media Talk was titled “Pop Culture Publishing: Young Adult Megahits,” and everyone in attendance wanted the answer to one particular question: “What is the secret sauce to producing hits like Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments, or Pretty Little Liars?” Indeed, as young adult books continue to transcend their traditional audience and shape a new generation of readers (including plenty of adults!), the publishing industry is actively trying to understand how and why children’s books succeed in acquiring their blockbuster-level status. [Read more…] about Pop Culture Publishing: Liars, Werewolves, and Mockingjays
Digital Book World Day Two: Catering to Kids
As a lover of children’s books, I was pleased to find that there were three panels on day two of Digital Book World devoted to this segment of the marketplace. So, once my volunteering duties at the coat check were over, I made a beeline for the first kids’ book panel of the day. (As my fellow NYU Publishing student Thea James noted in her post about day one, hanging up wet and snowy coats wasn’t a bad trade off for the chance to sit in on a conference where registration costs upwards of one thousand dollars!)
Kristen McLean of the Association of Booksellers for Children moderated a presentation of findings from the 2010 ABC/Bowker Pubtrack Consumer Study: Understanding the Children’s Book Consumer in the Digital Age. The study provided many insights into the children’s market and debunked two prevailing myths surrounding teenagers. The first myth is that teenagers are universal adopters of technology and a ready-made market for ebooks. In fact, the study demonstrated that no segment in the teen market shows significant ebook sales (5-6% average adoption compared to about 30% in adult trade). The panelists attributed this to the fact that teenagers tend to adopt technologies that are sharing in nature like texting and social networking. Ebooks with limited sharing capabilities are actually less social than print books, which are readily passed around friendship circles or classrooms. Furthermore, many teens still don’t have access to e-readers, and because not all have credit cards, they rarely shop online for books. [Read more…] about Digital Book World Day Two: Catering to Kids