Sourcebooks Expands Children’s Publishing Division
Sourcebooks, Inc., a leading independent publisher, is pleased to announce that Nicky Benson, former director of product management at Readerlink, joins Karen Shapiro, publishing manager of the Sourcebooks entertainment group and creator of the national bestselling How to Catch series of books, in launching a new children’s imprint, Sourcebooks Wonderland.
Sourcebooks Wonderland will comprise existing products and forthcoming acquisitions and publications of proprietary, customized, and regional books. Among the notable books and series Sourcebooks has published in these categories are the aforementioned How to Catch books (more than 2. 5 million units sold with five New York Times and USA Today bestsellers), Welcome Little One by Sandra Magsamen (more than 200,000 copies sold in 2018, according to NPD), and a bestselling regional publishing program that includes Santa Is Coming to [Chicago], Halloween Scare in [Chicago], and Tiny the [Chicago] Easter Bunny, among others.
“Our goal is to delight, entertain, and inform kids and parents, and it’s incredible to have been able to publish so many bestsellers in such a short period of time,” said Todd Stocke, senior vice president and editorial director at Sourcebooks. “Nicky has a remarkable eye for writing and design that connects with a wide audience, and we’re thrilled to add her to our growing team.”
In further expansion, Sourcebooks is adding a dedicated middle-grade imprint, Sourcebooks Young Readers, and a children’s nonfiction line, Sourcebooks eXplore. These imprints, helmed by editorial directors Steve Geck and Kelly Barrales-Saylor, respectively, will slot in alongside the flagship children’s picture book and board book imprint, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, and the Little Pickle Press line of books. Together with Sourcebooks Wonderland, all will live under the umbrella of Sourcebooks Kids.
“Our children’s business has grown immensely over the past several years,” said Dominique Raccah, CEO and publisher of Sourcebooks. “Twelve years ago, we published our first children’s book, and today we are the twelfth largest children’s publisher in the country. This expansion is a result of the extraordinary books our authors create, and the amazing opportunities we have with so many partners.”
Sourcebooks established the Jabberwocky imprint in 2007. Today, Sourcebooks publishes about sixty-five new children’s books each year and, in 2018, celebrated six New York Times, USA Today, and national Indie bestsellers. In one week, the publisher had four books on the New York Times Children’s Book Best Seller lists, two of which hit #1 multiple weeks: P Is for Pterodactyl by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter and illustrated by Maria Tina Beddia, and The Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs by America’s Test Kitchen. In addition, with more than 850,000 copies sold of Baby University, the breakout series of science books for kids, Sourcebooks Kids has quickly established itself as a leader in the preschool category.
“This has been a really pivotal year for us, and I’m incredibly excited to build on the success we’ve already created,” said Heather Moore, director of marketing for Sourcebooks Kids. “Bringing these new and established imprints under the cohesive umbrella of Sourcebooks Kids will create even more synergy to our editorial, sales, and marketing teams. It will also allow us to focus on the most dynamic and effective marketing strategies for each of our imprints.”
Benson joins Sourcebooks in the newly created role of publishing manager, customized & proprietary. Sourcebooks also recently announced two new hires in the children’s and teen marketing group: Mallory Hyde as marketing specialist for children’s books, and Jaclyn Puccini as social media specialist for Sourcebooks Fire, the publisher’s fast-growing young adult imprint.
