PUBLISHING SINCE 1947
A children’s book can have a long shelf life for any number of reasons: for one,
parents love to share childhood favorites with their kids. (What’s up, Dr. Seuss?)
Attracting teachers can be another surefire way to keep sales going. The Dot by
Peter H. Reynolds, a book that encourages kids to embrace their creative side, has
been popular among educators since it was published in 2003. In 2009, Terry
Shay, an elementary school teacher in Iowa who is a fan of the book, dreamed up
International Dot Day in order to bring more creativity-related activities to the
classroom.
The event, celebrated annually on or near
September 15, gained traction on social media,
and Candlewick, the book’s publisher, seized on the
interest. Since 2012, Candlewick has been
promoting the event to teachers at conferences and
via email and postcards. The publisher also produces
and distributes supporting materials, such as
classroom guides and temporary tattoos. In 2016,
seven million participants in 165 countries signed up
to participate.
“Teachers love to teach this book,” says Phoebe
Kosman, assistant director of marketing at Candlewick;
many blog their lesson plans. The title has sold more
than half a million copies in the U.S. and Canada,
Kosman says.
Educators have also been integral to the success
of 2007’s The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), about a brother and
sister who run dueling lemonade stands. The middle
grade novel became popular in classrooms as a way
to teach business concepts. “When a book makes it
to the level of being taught in schools, it helps continue
the momentum,” says Linda Magram, v-p, marketing
and publicity, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for
Young Readers. The Lemonade War has sold one million copies in print and
e-book, according to the publisher, and spawned four sequels.
In 2012, Tracy Weniger, the school programs manager at Alex’s Lemonade Stand
Foundation, a pediatric cancer charity, contacted Davies about a partnership. As
part of the Great Lemonade War Contest, schoolchildren around the country host
lemonade stands to raise money for the charity. HMH donates copies of the title to
participating schools, and provides other resources along the way, further raising
the book’s profile. This year, The Lemonade War is featured as the annual pick for
Texas Reads One Book, with more than 60,000 families participating.
Simon & Schuster, to promote its YA backlist, uses its online platform Riveted.
The social community for teens started out as a physical mailing list about a decade
ago and has been through several iterations, most recently operating under the
name Pulse It.
The site’s frequent giveaways often are timed to coincide with a new release
by an author. For instance, to promote the December 2016 publication of Neal
Shusterman’s UnBound, S&S gave away e-book copies of the first title in the
series, 2009’s Unwind. Riveted also features author guest posts and publishes
deleted scenes from books. “Ideally, we’re building new fans by showing off the
They Grow Up So Quickly
continued on p. 30
