Random House Children’s Acquires Figment, Online Teen Community for Readers and Writers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S BOOKS ACQUIRES FIGMENT, ONLINE TEEN COMMUNITY FOR READERS AND WRITERS
New York, NY, October 29, 2013—Random House Children’s Books has acquired Figment, an online teen community for readers and writers with over 300,000 registered users, it was announced today by Barbara Marcus, President & Publisher, Random House Children’s Books.
“Random House Children’s Books’ new relationship with Figment supports our ongoing strategy and increasingly important efforts to communicate and engage directly with our readers,” says Marcus. “The team that founded Figment created a dynamic community that we will continue to grow and expand, and we are so pleased to have the opportunity to continue the conversations with this audience of teens who love young adult books.”
The Figment community has become an online hub for teens passionate about creating, discovering, and sharing stories, with the majority of users between the ages of 13 and 18 years old. Among the site’s many features are book recommendations and spotlights from across publishers and over 20,000 different discussion groups and forums. The users of Figment have produced nearly three-quarters of a million stories, a library that is added to every day, and have shown incredible enthusiasm for connection and interaction with a range of books and authors.
“Figment members have a voracious appetite for reading and writing, and it has been truly gratifying watching this creative and dynamic community grow from day one,” says Jacob Lewis, former CEO of Figment, who co-founded the site with Dana Goodyear. “I am excited to now watch the community thrive in this new partnership with Random House Children’s Books.”
The acquisition represents an exceptional moment for Lewis, who is now the VP, Publishing Director of Crown/Broadway/Hogarth at Random House LLC. “It is quite special for me to see that Figment—an inspirational idea that turned into a viable and successful business—is now under the care of Random House Children’s Books. It validates our optimism about how important it is to give young readers a place to talk, share, and write. With their incredible digital curiosity and expertise, Random House is the perfect home.”
Effective immediately, the site will be managed by Random House Children’s Books, and it will operate under the same name and with a continued focus on curating content that covers the wide range of young adult titles published today.
Random House Children’s Books is the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, ebooks, and apps, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. The company’s website, Kids @ Random (www.randomhousekids.com), offers an array of activities, games, and resources for children, teens, parents, and educators. Random House Children’s Books is a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company.
