Bloomsbury to reveal secrets to Middle Grade success at Children's Conference

Rebecca McNally, publishing director of children's books at Bloomsbury, will reveal her insights into publishing middle grade fiction at this year’s The Bookseller Children’s Conference, which is taking place at County Hall on 24th September.

“Middle grade is one of the most important areas of the market because it’s where we make readers for life and build brands that last,” McNally told The Bookseller. “In recent years the market has shifted from high-concept, ‘noisy’ books and there has been a resurgence of beautifully illustrated, world-class fiction.”

McNally’s talk is entitled ‘How Middle Grade Got its Mojo Back’ and will cover why the market for middle grade fiction has changed, how retail support has encouraged middle grade sales, as well as the successes and mistakes Bloomsbury has made when publishing in this area.

Other speakers at this year’s children’s conference include Hannah Otero, publisher at Lonely Planet, Nicola and Peter Usborne, Philip Pullman, David Fickling, Lupus Films and CBBC.

This year for the first time the conference is split into two streams, one focusing on publishing and the other on the wider children’s entertainment world. The first stream will tackle subjects such as operating in a global market, publishing diversely and helping school libraries, whilst the second stream will host speakers from TV, film, theatre and gaming.

The full programme and tickets are available via the conference website.