Liz Cross, head of Children's Fiction at Oxford University Press, delivered a vibrant and engaging talk on the OUP Children's Books list to a packed Galley room at Oxford University Press, revealing how in their centenary year OUP find their books and then make an impact in the large and vibrant children's book market.
Liz started with the fundamental question: 'how do you find the books?'. There are several ways that OUP undertake this:
* The 'old friend, the slush pile': some publishers have a policy of ignoring the slush pile, and in general this is sensible as most of it is unsuitable (poorly planned, written at the wrong level, requiring significant revision, covering wrong topics, etc) but, as Liz confirmed, at OUP 'we can't bear not to! There might be a jewel in there.' Indeed, this was the case with Philip Reeve's book, although his work was recommended through a personal contact (friends and other contacts are, after all, part of the wider slush-pile). An experienced colleague goes through the OUP children's slush pile once a week, judging fairly quickly whether or not a manuscript merits further investigation.
* Agent submissions. This is becoming an increasingly mainstream route for the department to receive ideas and submissions. As recently as 6 or 7 years ago most authors did not have an agent; the reverse is now the case, and those authors without an agent are now in the minority. An important part of Liz's job is 'wooing' the agent. This, Liz feels, is quite a challenge as more agents are taking children's titles after the Harry Potter phenomenon, and 'agents of course like auctions, I don't!' Liz went on to describe several bids and the successful strategies OUP employed: one title being obtained as the whole department, from MD down, wrote why the title meant so much to them and why they liked it. The author was won over by their enthusiasm, and illustrated that it is not always the highest amount that succeeds. Commissioning editors will also approach favoured agents and ask if they know of a suitable writer for a project.
* Brainstorming. The Oxford Book of Children's Poetry was devised at one ideas meeting, and it was instantly recognised as a book which would fit in nicely with the OUP brand; they then went out and sourced the right author to write it. Another brainstorming session centred around boys' obsession with dinosaurs: Dinosaur Cove sprang from this, despite it being 'very un-OUP' (a fiction book for young children). This process is becoming increasingly popular with publishers; Egmont have recently produced an imprint developed completely from focus groups.
* The backlist. OUP has a very strong, varied backlist with a literary heritage including great names from J M Barrie to Astrid Lindgren, and its anniversary party earlier this month was attended by current writers including Brian Wildsmith, Geraldine McCaughrean and Tim Bowler. Liz said a successful tactic has been to stick with authors through thick and thin, and nurture their talent: 'it's important you never overestimate the importance of authors, and it's important you feel your way when handling each of them. Some are very secretive, some want their hand held every step of the way'. Whichever category they fall into, most of them need to be given advice on the market and to target their output.
Liz covered the concept of when to choose a book,
'When you fall in love with it. If you as the editor don't love the book, nobody will. You have to make everyone in the company love that book too. If the sales and marketing team aren't inspired about it, it won't sell'.
Finding the right hook or pitch is now more important than it was in the last 6 or 7 years. So many books are published in this market that your book has to stand out. Liz described a 'gatekeeper' existing between the publisher and the child -- this could be a parent, a bookseller, or a librarian -- so they have to appeal to them as well as the child. Booksellers are very important; if they can't get titles on tables and in displays then the effect on sales is dramatic.
A hook sums up a book piffily, and a good example is Artemis Fowl' 'Die Hard with Fairies'! Positioning a book is also a key consideration; for example, magical fantasies are now kept alongside Harry Potter. My So-called Life by Joanna Nadin has been so successful owing to its careful positioning in the market.
One book disliked by OUP was Shadowmancer, which Liz felt didn't sit well with the OUP brand but went on to be a great success with Faber. The author really capitalised on his ex-vicar status for maximum PR Similarly, Ricky Gervais' Flanimals has been a success on the back of the author's celebrity status in the UK and US.
Opportunities for selecting a book can also arise from unexpected quarters. Geraldine McCaughrean's Peter Pan in Scarlet has been very successful. The copyright for the original Peter Pan was given by J M Barrie exclusively to Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital. This expires this year and the hospital will inevitably lose much-needed funding; as a result the hospital wanted to publish an official sequel to retain the copyright on this, and OUP were happy to oblige.
Liz insisted that certain questions have to be addressed on whether to publish a book. Will it fit on the OUP list? OUP has changed dramatically over the last few years and now publishes books it would not have contemplated in the past: 'Good authors are always at the heart of this list. We've done a lot of work in broadening things out. We used to publish for the 10 years plus age group but we now have a wider audience. For example, one of our chick lit books could be regarded as rude, but it does have boundaries.'
Can we do the book justice? The market is very 'best-seller' focused and it is rare for a book to be successful without a huge marketing push. OUP has clearly defined limits and budgets, and the marketing plan is now an important factor at sourcing stage in deciding whether or not to go ahead with a title. If a budget is not available, it might be best to publish it the following year.
Will it make us money? This is, unsurprisingly, often the clincher. One important factor is the size of the advance, and Liz says this is difficult to weigh up and causes much debate in editorial meetings. She believes agents fighting for the highest amount are often not acting in the author's best interests: if it does not sell, publishers will be very reluctant to touch the next one. Often it would have been better for the author to accept a lower fee and steadily evolve their career from there.
Keeping the list alive and fresh is also important in the children's market. The colour picture book list changes very little: books such as The Hungry Caterpillar and the Gruffalo will probably be in the top ten many years from now. Winnie the Witch is important for OUP as half of all picture book revenues come from this title. Cold Tom was published by OUP five years ago, and they have now put on a new cover: a simple solution to combat dwindling sales and giving it a new lease of life. OUP has also just launched the Oxford Children's Classics, a fortuitous decision as no commissioning or copyright fees had to be paid.
OUP will also work with outside agencies to produce a title. They have worked with Working Partners, who have a team of writers, to 'put flesh on the bones' of an OUP commission, and this has worked well. Liz rounded off a robust welcome insight into this important sector of the industry with the subject of rights; the most important co-edition publisher is the US, with the other main markets being Europe (France and Germany in particular), followed by the Far East and Asia.
Liz started with the fundamental question: 'how do you find the books?'. There are several ways that OUP undertake this:
* The 'old friend, the slush pile': some publishers have a policy of ignoring the slush pile, and in general this is sensible as most of it is unsuitable (poorly planned, written at the wrong level, requiring significant revision, covering wrong topics, etc) but, as Liz confirmed, at OUP 'we can't bear not to! There might be a jewel in there.' Indeed, this was the case with Philip Reeve's book, although his work was recommended through a personal contact (friends and other contacts are, after all, part of the wider slush-pile). An experienced colleague goes through the OUP children's slush pile once a week, judging fairly quickly whether or not a manuscript merits further investigation.
* Agent submissions. This is becoming an increasingly mainstream route for the department to receive ideas and submissions. As recently as 6 or 7 years ago most authors did not have an agent; the reverse is now the case, and those authors without an agent are now in the minority. An important part of Liz's job is 'wooing' the agent. This, Liz feels, is quite a challenge as more agents are taking children's titles after the Harry Potter phenomenon, and 'agents of course like auctions, I don't!' Liz went on to describe several bids and the successful strategies OUP employed: one title being obtained as the whole department, from MD down, wrote why the title meant so much to them and why they liked it. The author was won over by their enthusiasm, and illustrated that it is not always the highest amount that succeeds. Commissioning editors will also approach favoured agents and ask if they know of a suitable writer for a project.
* Brainstorming. The Oxford Book of Children's Poetry was devised at one ideas meeting, and it was instantly recognised as a book which would fit in nicely with the OUP brand; they then went out and sourced the right author to write it. Another brainstorming session centred around boys' obsession with dinosaurs: Dinosaur Cove sprang from this, despite it being 'very un-OUP' (a fiction book for young children). This process is becoming increasingly popular with publishers; Egmont have recently produced an imprint developed completely from focus groups.
* The backlist. OUP has a very strong, varied backlist with a literary heritage including great names from J M Barrie to Astrid Lindgren, and its anniversary party earlier this month was attended by current writers including Brian Wildsmith, Geraldine McCaughrean and Tim Bowler. Liz said a successful tactic has been to stick with authors through thick and thin, and nurture their talent: 'it's important you never overestimate the importance of authors, and it's important you feel your way when handling each of them. Some are very secretive, some want their hand held every step of the way'. Whichever category they fall into, most of them need to be given advice on the market and to target their output.
Liz covered the concept of when to choose a book,
'When you fall in love with it. If you as the editor don't love the book, nobody will. You have to make everyone in the company love that book too. If the sales and marketing team aren't inspired about it, it won't sell'.
Finding the right hook or pitch is now more important than it was in the last 6 or 7 years. So many books are published in this market that your book has to stand out. Liz described a 'gatekeeper' existing between the publisher and the child -- this could be a parent, a bookseller, or a librarian -- so they have to appeal to them as well as the child. Booksellers are very important; if they can't get titles on tables and in displays then the effect on sales is dramatic.
A hook sums up a book piffily, and a good example is Artemis Fowl' 'Die Hard with Fairies'! Positioning a book is also a key consideration; for example, magical fantasies are now kept alongside Harry Potter. My So-called Life by Joanna Nadin has been so successful owing to its careful positioning in the market.
One book disliked by OUP was Shadowmancer, which Liz felt didn't sit well with the OUP brand but went on to be a great success with Faber. The author really capitalised on his ex-vicar status for maximum PR Similarly, Ricky Gervais' Flanimals has been a success on the back of the author's celebrity status in the UK and US.
Opportunities for selecting a book can also arise from unexpected quarters. Geraldine McCaughrean's Peter Pan in Scarlet has been very successful. The copyright for the original Peter Pan was given by J M Barrie exclusively to Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital. This expires this year and the hospital will inevitably lose much-needed funding; as a result the hospital wanted to publish an official sequel to retain the copyright on this, and OUP were happy to oblige.
Liz insisted that certain questions have to be addressed on whether to publish a book. Will it fit on the OUP list? OUP has changed dramatically over the last few years and now publishes books it would not have contemplated in the past: 'Good authors are always at the heart of this list. We've done a lot of work in broadening things out. We used to publish for the 10 years plus age group but we now have a wider audience. For example, one of our chick lit books could be regarded as rude, but it does have boundaries.'
Can we do the book justice? The market is very 'best-seller' focused and it is rare for a book to be successful without a huge marketing push. OUP has clearly defined limits and budgets, and the marketing plan is now an important factor at sourcing stage in deciding whether or not to go ahead with a title. If a budget is not available, it might be best to publish it the following year.
Will it make us money? This is, unsurprisingly, often the clincher. One important factor is the size of the advance, and Liz says this is difficult to weigh up and causes much debate in editorial meetings. She believes agents fighting for the highest amount are often not acting in the author's best interests: if it does not sell, publishers will be very reluctant to touch the next one. Often it would have been better for the author to accept a lower fee and steadily evolve their career from there.
Keeping the list alive and fresh is also important in the children's market. The colour picture book list changes very little: books such as The Hungry Caterpillar and the Gruffalo will probably be in the top ten many years from now. Winnie the Witch is important for OUP as half of all picture book revenues come from this title. Cold Tom was published by OUP five years ago, and they have now put on a new cover: a simple solution to combat dwindling sales and giving it a new lease of life. OUP has also just launched the Oxford Children's Classics, a fortuitous decision as no commissioning or copyright fees had to be paid.
OUP will also work with outside agencies to produce a title. They have worked with Working Partners, who have a team of writers, to 'put flesh on the bones' of an OUP commission, and this has worked well. Liz rounded off a robust welcome insight into this important sector of the industry with the subject of rights; the most important co-edition publisher is the US, with the other main markets being Europe (France and Germany in particular), followed by the Far East and Asia.
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