HCG to publish more Pokémon titles

Hachette Children’s Group (HCG) will publish two more Pokémon titles next year following the “huge” success of the first three books.

HCG has struck a deal with The Pokémon Company International to publish two books, Pokémon: Legendary 1001 Stickers on 9th February and Pokémon: Sticker Activity Book on 9th March.

The publisher has released three Pokémon books so far this year - Pokémon Creative Colouring, The Pokémon Encyclopedia and The Pokémon Sticker Book. The encyclopedia achieved sales of 5,413 copies in its first week of release and sales are now averaging at around 1,000 copies per day, according to HCG.

Licensing director Katie Price said: “We are thrilled with the initial sales of the first three titles. With a new Pokémon video game out this November, the momentum behind Pokémon continues and we believe there is huge demand for a broader range of publishing under this license.”

Publishers’ interest in Pokémon surged last year because of the popularity of the mobile game. Scholastic sold almost 500,000 copies between The Official Pokemon Handbook and The Official Pokemon Collector’s Sticker Book after the game’s release, and Century acquired the rights to publish The Pokémon Book of Joy.