Don't always take the safe bet, Denwood urges publishers

Publishers should "resharpen" their skills and not become risk-averse to working with unknown talent, m.d. of Simon & Schuster Children's Books Rachel Denwood has said.

At The Bookseller's Children's Conference, Denwood warned publishers of the "real risk of leaving untapped huge potential bestsellers" if safer bets, such as "doubling down on enduring backlist bestsellers" and platform-led publishing, are taken instead of investing in a broader range of authors and illustrators.

She said publishers should try to apply the same energy and focus to marketing an emerging writer. 

Denwood described the booming success of They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera, a book that went viral on BookTok, as an opportunity siezed upon by the "fast and smart" campaign team. This type of marketing would be essential for future book publicity and campaigns, she added.

"The publisher will need to get it more right than ever," she said. "If we're serious about breaking new voices, delivering mainstream sales success for underrepresented authors and illustrators, about publishing the best books, this feels like an important moment to pause and think about what is driving growth of the children's market and whether our publishing activity matches our intent."

Denwood said S&S has become the fastest-growing children's publisher this year. It was up 47% in the year to date compared to the same period in 2019, with category growth outpacing a market which has seen impressive growth. YA books were up 85.5%, children's fiction up 26.5% and picture books up 35%.

The publisher has also invested significantly in publishing UK talent, with 80% of its fiction list set to come from homegrown authors in 2022, compared to 39% in 2020. S&S will continue with  its strategy of "joyful growth" by investing across both backlist and frontlist titles.

The backlist traditionally dominates children's publishing but Denwood is encouraging publishers to interrogate what expertise is needed "to break the frontlist", develop more diverse and dynamic children's literature, resharpen skillsets and not rely on platform publishing.

Acknowledging the conversation around celebrity publishing, she said: "Platform can obviously convert fantastically well." She cited the success of Ben Miller, an actor with a large social media following. However, she urged publishers to continually seek and spotlight new talent, and to carefully examine the choices readers make.

She said: "Ambition and long-term planning around new authors is critical - we need to invest in that. And do we really talk enough about readers and purchasers? What's the opportunity of the book, the author, the story, the voice to connect?

"If we recognise and crystalise that and publish to the reader, the purchaser, the retail support should follow. We can't rely on it being the other way around."