2015


Children’s Publisher of the Year SPONSORED BY: BOOKTRUST


09


[ TH E


S HORTLI ST ]


Chicken House built James Dashner’s Maze Runner series and fostered more new talent in children’s writing


DK celebrated its 40th birthday in 2014 and thrived on major properties such as Lego and the inescapable “Frozen”


Egmont Publishing rode the wave of Minecraft popularity to take four of the top eight spots in 2014’s end-of-year bestseller list


WINNER: HARPERCOLLINS CHILDREN’S BOOKS


Providing 19 of the TCM’s 50 top-selling books, the children’s sector was publishing’s hotspot in 2014—and, contributing six of them, HarperCollins Children’s Books was its standout publisher. There was no doubting the star of


HarperCollins’ show. David Walliams (pictured) had four of the top 50 sellers and the biggest 2014-published title of all in Awful Auntie (illustrated by Tony Ross), print sales of which now stand at well over half a million units. He is rising fast into the top tier of the biggest children’s fiction authors of all time. But HarperCollins had huge strength in depth


beyond Walliams. Veronica Roth’s Divergent series yielded another two spots in the top 50 and Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant franchise hit record highs—and Holly Smale’s


KEY STRENGTHS


Geek Girl is developing into a series to rival them both in sales terms. There was more success further down the age range, not least with Michael Bond’s Paddington books on the back of the film adaptation’s release. HC was energetic internationally too, with


Walliams’ books now sold into dozens of territories. E-book sales rose at market-leading rates, while it brought its big authors into multimedia channels and involved them in imaginative live events. “HarperCollins was a massive contributor to children’s reading in 2014,” said the judges. “It brings on its authors strategically, realistically and with the long term in mind—a textbook example of how to build big book brands . . . [But] it is powerful across the board. Even after the Walliams effect, it was a terrific year for HarperCollins Children’s.”


 Built David Walliams into the second biggest-selling author of 2014  Nurtured other author brands, including Derek Landy and Holly Smale  Exploited backlist riches such as Paddington Bear and Judith Kerr  Contributed to campaigns aimed at boosting literacy levels


Hachette Children’s Books, a newly formed children’s powerhouse, smartly leveraged the wealth of backlist at its disposal


Nosy Crow is a shooting star of children’s books; in 2014 it made further TCM market share gains and added acclaimed new apps


Simon & Schuster Children’s Books gained market share last year, with its diverse publishing and fiction hits proving particularly fruitful


Usborne Publishing, one of children’s publishing’s biggest independents, is now in its fifth decade under Peter Usborne. It posted yet another year of growth in 2014


Booktrust is a national charity dedicated to ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to enjoy books. Reading changes lives: a child growing up in a book-rich environment is likely to do better at school, as well as being more socially, culturally and emotionally prepared for life. And that’s just the start.


www.booktrust.org.uk


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