Agents’ Hotlists Bologna Children’s Book Fair
Agents’ Hotlists Rights Key
United Kingdom United States
France Germany
Italy Spain
UK & Commonwealth UK & Translation
World English-language Australia & New Zealand
socio-economic currents and policy issues – a growing disparity between rich and poor, a shaky global economy, swingeing cuts to school and library budgets, to name a few. And wider behavioural trends – first and foremost is the far greater amount of time children now spend looking at screens. The problem the industry faces
Rights
Reading crisis must be high on Bologna’s agenda
I
n the run-up to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, The Bookseller has been canvassing members of the kids’ publishing commu-
nity who will descend upon the Fiere about the main issue that needs to be tackled with their international colleagues, and almost every interviewee swiftly responded with: “The reading crisis.” Most used that precise terminology – not “the decline in reading for pleasure” – an acknowl- edgment we are indeed in a full- blown crisis and the trade needs a punchier way to underscore that fact, similar to environmental activists’ adoption of “climate emergency” over “climate change”.
A ratcheting up to the reading
crisis is undoubtedly needed as, though this is hardly a new issue, the statistics are becoming starker. In the National Literacy Trust’s most recent report, 34.6% of eight to 18-year-olds said they enjoy reading in their spare time: the lowest level since the NLT began its annual survey two decades ago. Reading frequency is at an all-time low, with just 29% of primary school age children (five to 10-year-olds) reporting they read in their free time; that drops to fewer than 20% in early secondary (11 to 14). Study after international study
sees this downward trend reflected across the globe. Obviously, the overall crisis is part of broader
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in winning the hearts and minds of the public, and particularly politicians, is that this is a very long-term issue. Mountains of nigh-incontrovertible research demonstrate that the more chil- dren read for pleasure, the better their performance at school, combined with improved mental health and (this part should inter- est any government that taxes its citizens) enhanced job prospects and eventual higher median income. These studies, with almost heartbreaking irony, can even be found on the Department for Education’s own website. The UK children’s laureate
Frank Cottrell-Boyce hit the nail on the head last year, when the NLT survey came out, in describing the benefits of reading for pleasure as an “invisible privilege”. But to reverse the slide requires invest- ments from policymakers from which the positive outcomes may not be visible for a generation. It
Agents’ Hotlists About
The Bookseller’s Hotlists are literary agencies’ top manuscripts out on submission with UK and international publishers, compiled by Tom Tivnan for the London, Bologna and Frankfurt book fairs. Each agency selects
their own titles, limited to a maximum of five. Rights deals listed are
confirmed deals, unless noted as being on offer or with option publishers; for entries with no rights flagged, the title has yet to be acquired in any territory. Eight global markets (UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and New Zealand) have been denoted with flags (see
Rights Key, above) and list the acquiring imprint. Agents noted are primary, not translation, agents, barring a select number of instances, such as firms that specialise in foreign rights. To participate in
upcoming hotlists, please email tom.tivnan@
thebookseller.com.
More pan-industry projects are needed, or direct-to-consumer campaigns, a sort of ‘Got Milk?’ for reading
is a rare politician who has the courage to look beyond the next election cycle – or even the next 24-hour news cycle. Short-termism is the order of the day. No doubt plans will be hatched
on the stands of BCBF and in the restaurants of “La Grassa” to sway governments, such as last autumn’s commendable open letter from the trade to Keir Starmer urging cross- party action on reading for pleas- ure. But more pan-industry projects are needed – like the NLT and Penguin Random House’s Libraries for Primaries initiative – or direct-to-consumer campaigns, a sort of “Got Milk?” for reading. Who could pony up the dough is the big sticking point, but with governments’ shameful, ongoing relative inaction, the trade must find the funding somewhere.
REPORTING Tom Tivnan
SHUTTERSTOCK
Bologna Children’s Book Fair Agents’ Hotlists
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