Publishers Weekly - August 4, 2014

blogger Tilly Walnes offers Love at First Stitch, a dressmaking how-to.

At STC Craft, an Abrams imprint, publishing director Melanie Falick also sees nostalgia as a driving force in the market. “In an era when the speed of communication is breakneck and access to just about anything we want to buy is at our fingertips,” she says, “it’s not surprising that an appreciation of the slow pace and quiet of many crafts is being celebrated.” This theme shows up in different guises on STC Craft’s upcoming slate, in titles like Handcrafted Christmas by Susan Waggoner (Oct.) and Gertie Sews Vintage Casual (Sept.), Gretchen “Gertie” Hirsch’s guide to techniques for constructing wardrobe staples of the 1940s and ’50s. Unconventional & Unexpected: American Quilts Below the Radar 1950–2000 by Roderick Kiracofe (Sept.) offers a glimpse into the history of the craft via the author’s extensive private collection. And Artist Lisa Occhipinti’s

Novel Living: Collecting, Decorating, and Crafting with Books (Nov.) celebrates the physical book.

Crown’s Potter Craft imprint also has a title for bibliophiles. From Charlotte Rivers, a design author and the blogger behind Lottie Loves, comes Little Book of Book Making: Timeless Techniques and Fresh Ideas for Beautiful Handmade Books (Aug.), which profiles 30 bookbinders and offers tutorials for those who want to learn the craft. Among Potter Craft’s other forthcoming books are A Beautiful Mess: Happy Handmade Home by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman (Aug.), the bloggers behind the site A Beautiful Mess, and Candy Aisle Crafts by Jodi Levine (Aug.), a longtime staffer on various Martha Stewart projects.

Tailored to Fit

Many publishers have enjoyed success
offering titles to both beginner and sea-
soned crafters. “DK has always published
a large range of hobby and craft titles,”
says Mary Ling, publisher of DK craft,
gardening, and children’s books. “It’s our
primary goal [not only] to continue pub-
lishing new trendy titles in the tradi-
tional disciplines, but also to spot emerg-
ing trends with longevity and pick up on
those.” The publisher recently launched
DKinVideo, a You Tube channel featur-
ing crafting and how-to videos.

Fall titles include Winter Knits Made Easy by Jane Bull (Aug.) and Quilting by DK Publishing (Oct.). Ling says Quilting appeals more to those who want to learn techniques related to a reemerging trend, while Bull’s book is aimed at readers in search of specific projects. The publisher is reaching out to library accounts and craft and hobby stores to build British author Bull’s profile in the U.S., having already worked with her on titles Crafty Creatures (2013) and Crafty Dolls (July).