Bologna 2024 opens with a Young Adult and graphic novel-fuelled bang

Publishers and agents have reported “brisk” trading on the first day of a packed 61st Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF), with Young Adult and rom-coms the hot titles, graphic novels on the rise and picture books holding steady, though middle-grade has been called “a tougher sell”.

BCBF organisers said the fair opened with 1,524 exhibitors, a jump of 5% on 2023’s final total, representing 82 more companies than the last pre-pandemic fair.

Pan Macmillan c.e.o. Joanna Prior said that there was a “clear level of optimism and excitement” at the 2024 BCBF. She added: “[Macmillan Children’s Books (MCB) rights director] Michele Young has said she has already seen a real interest, and definite appetite to buy, from our international customers; the fair has started really well.”

One of the hot properties for MCB internationally has been Pari Thomson and illustrator Elisa Paganelli’s middle-grade novel Greenwild, which a fortnight ago won the overall Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. But Prior concedes that middle-grade space has been more difficult to sell of late; where “it has been harder to break new voices”.  

Prior has attended Bologna in both years since she left Penguin General to run Pan Mac, and is one of several overall heads of houses at the Fiere this year, including her boss, Holtzbrinck global c.e.o. Stefan von Holtzbrinck, and Penguin Random House UK’s Tom Weldon. Prior said: “MCB is a third of our entire revenue; it just makes sense to come to Bologna. But apart from the business side, Macmillan’s overarching global culture is to get the world reading, because doing so is beneficial to people in terms of things like education, wellbeing and job prospects. And to do that well on the adult side, we have to start with children’s.”

As yet there is no standout contender to be an overall "book of the fair" but Young Adult fiction is still riding the BookTok wave and is clearly the hottest genre, with many of Bologna’s biggest titles coming from that space. These include Amber Hamilton’s romantasy Seven Deadly Thorns going to Bloomsbury in a “major” global deal and Penguin Random House Children’s six-figure pre-empt for Katja Kaine’s Blood of Gods and Girls. But illustration is strong, too, both in picture books⁠—such as Paper Chase, a new story by Julia Donaldson with illustrations by Victoria Sandøy, going to Alison Green⁠—and in comics, with Puffin announcing its new graphic novel imprint Puffin Graphics, and Piccadilly Press swooping for Jack Noel’s “side-splittingly funny” comic series Dadbot as the fair kicked off.

The Bent Agency m.d. Molly Ker Hawn said that while YA is hot, there may be a shift in the market: "Some publishers are still asking for romantasy, but more are saying they’ve read too much of it and fatigue has set in—though I think agents and publishers often hit a saturation point long before readers actually do. And a few publishers have mentioned that they have to wade through a lot of submissions to find the romantasy projects that are truly YA, because so much of it seems aimed at the more adult end of the crossover audience. We’re hearing requests for YA horror, and a few for funny, character-led middle-grade."

Claire Wilson, head of literary agency RCW’s children’s arm, echoed Ker Hawn’s point. She said: “YA is still really strong and there is a lot of horror⁠, which everyone is talking about. But we might be seeing a bit of a shift in that BookTok market, as I think there is a lot more contemporary romance this year.”

On the state of the middle-grade market, Wilson said: “It is, no question, a tougher sell at the moment. But as is always the case when trends change, the best books and the best talent will still rise to the top and find a home.”