Nigeria’s President launched a campaign to inspire reading that was part-election, part-Facebook festival and part-magical thinking. Editorial by Tolu Ogunlesi LAGOS: Nigeria has no national funding for the arts, no government-run grants-awarding body to support the production of books, and no National Book Policy. In place of a proper publishing industry, the country is awash with book printers, supporting a flourishing …
Is There a Global Market for Indian Comics and Children’s Books?
By Edward Nawotka The first annual Comic Con in India was held last weekend and, according to Andrew Dodd of Campfire Books, it was a runaway success. Homegrown stories from Indian publishers and featuring Indian heroes were especially popular. While Dodd acknowledges that the comics market in India is still “nascent,” there might be potential for Indian publishers to market …
What Can Schools Do to Inspire More Literary Creativity in Children?
By Edward Nawotka Over the last several years literary entrepreneurs, supported by A-list authors, have opened several imaginative creative writing centers and bookshops aimed a children and teens. Arguably, these institutions — from Dave Egger’s 826 Valencia in San Francisco, Roddy Doyle’s Fighting Words in Dublin, to Nick Hornby’s Ministry of Stories in London (as discussed in today’s lead story) …
Inside The Ministry of Stories, London’s Most Unusual New Literary Institution
By Roger Tagholm LONDON: A little girl grins as the man on the sidewalk wearing the wolf mask stops her and asks: “Have you been to a ‘monster supply shop’ before?” It’s not the sort of question you get asked every day, but it works and, looking a bit sheepish (never a good idea when a wolf is around), the …
Feeding the African Imagination: Nigeria’s Cassava Republic
By Belinda Otas and Tolu Ogunlesi ABUJA: Nigeria may not be the ideal place to start a publishing company, but Bibi Bakare-Yusuf and Jeremy Weate were crazy enough to take a chance. In 2006 the husband-and-wife team founded Cassava Republic, a publishing house with the goal of “feeding the African imagination” through stories taken from contemporary African life. When they …
Has Your Child Gone Digital?
By Edward Nawotka Today’s story by Kristen McLean of the Association of Booksellers for Children explains why she believes digitization and e-books are good for literacy. Of course, some parents are likely reluctant to put their child in front of any type of electronic gizmo — be it a computer, television or beeping toy. Some may also be reticent to give …
The Kids Are Alright! Why Digitization and E-books are Good for Literacy
By Kristen McLean, executive director of the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) After several hundred years with a stable model, some of our most basic ideas about books and reading are now under the microscope. The most pessimistic opinions tell us that the book as we know it is dead, but I don’t believe it. It is important to …
First Thoughts on the iPad
By Hannah Johnson The Apple iPad shipped in the United States over the weekend, and I’ve added my video review to the growing wave of iPad chatter. If you bought one and have thoughts about it, let Publishing Perspectives know in the comments or via Twitter @pubperspectives. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8mNu9CkpY4
Undead, Dystopias Popular at Bologna, says Droemer Knaur
By Siobhan O’Leary Last fall Droemer Knaur launched a new fantasy line called PAN, focusing on so-called “all-age books.” As part of its plan to start building a list that would speak to a broad range of age groups, the publishing house attended the Bologna Book Fair for the first time last year. In an interview with the Boersenblatt, Beate …
US E-book Sales top $30m in January, Matching Kids Hardcovers
By Edward Nawotka Perhaps fueled by people filling up the new e-readers they received over the holidays, e-book sales in January jumped a drastic 261.2% over the same period last year in the United States, according to the most recent statistics released by the AAP. As a category e-book sales equaled that of children’s/YA hardcover book sales, which fell 41.6%, …