Middle Grade to dominate 'buzzy' Bologna Book Fair

Publishers are in the market for "funny" Middle Grade fiction and books with "pitchable" hooks and diverse voices, according to agents ahead of this year's Bologna Children's Book Fair. However, despite reports of a "busy" and "buzzy" mood ahead of the fair, there is caution, particularly surrounding teen YA, they said.

Middle Grade fiction is "really having a moment", according to Gemma Cooper of The Bent Agency, both in the UK and internationally. Illustrative of the trend, Nevermoor from her client Jessica Townsend has now sold in 34 countries, including Orion Children's in the UK. 

Hellie Ogden at Janklow & Nesbit UK said "it certainly feels like another year dominated by classic, heart-warming, well-written middle grade titles" - a sentiment echoed by Amber J. Caravéo, director of Skylark Literary, who said: "Middle Grade remains hugely popular. We are constantly asked for funny Middle Grade, in particular. Middle Grade is, I would say, the most sought after age-group in children’s/ YA publishing."

As well as humour in Middle Grade, publishers are also hankering for unique “pitchable” concepts with strong hooks and "empowering girl stories". There is also a receptiveness for books across all genres from underrepresented authors and illustrators, especially in the UK, a number of agents said. 

Picking out the feminist trend, Cooper said she had found publishers were “clamouring” for “inventive middle grade fantasy with strong female protagonists”, while agent Sallyanne Sweeney of MMB Creative said she expected to see "more empowering girl stories across picture books and fiction, and fantastic, beautifully illustrated non-fiction offerings”.

"Diversity" and #OwnVoices" are "key words" in the UK, according to Ogden, a demand that Sweeney said she hoped was "here to stay", particularly after the success of novels such as Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give (Walker).

Clark weighed in: “Diversity and feminism are important, not so much as subjects, more as questions to be asked of every new book, whatever its genre or audience. There's a receptive mood towards books which acknowledge the divisiveness of current world politics and offer children, from preschoolers onwards, something more hopeful.”

Several publishers said there was a “buzzy” mood ahead of Bologna, observing that presses seemed “very excited” amid the flurry of submissions, especially in relation to middle grade and younger fiction. 

“One [publisher] I spoke to last week said she’d had more good material coming in over the last few weeks than she’d had for years,” RCW's Claire Wilson said.

Madeleine Milburn and children’s and YA agent Alice Sutherland-Hawes said they were both seeing UK and US publishers pre-empting "large amounts for big ‘event’ debuts".

However many, including Sutherland-Hawes, noted a measure of caution from publishers particularly when considering YA projects.  

“YA needs to work extra hard these days unless there’s a film in place, so it needs to have a totally original voice, concept or twist or be told in a ground-breaking way,” agent Helen Boyle of of Pickled Ink said.

Anne Clark of Anne Clark literary agency said: “The mood is fairly cautious, especially around teen/ YA, but publishers are as keen as ever to invest in the right books and authors, where good writing is backed up by a cast-iron hook."

Caravéo agreed YA “still seems to be more of a struggle”, because publishers have been focused on middle-grade fiction over the last few years, so YA – “particularly top-end YA” – has been “a little trickier”. 

Other agents said YA fantasy was "still selling" despite the flood of new series hitting the market, often from the US, but conceded increased selectiveness from publishers had made the market tougher for authors to break into. 

 “YA [is] perhaps harder, and typically [it is] still coming more frequently from the States," said Ogden.

Bologna Children's Book Fair will take place from 26th-29th March.