Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: Adult Nostalgia and Book Buying Trends

Do you remember your favorite book from childhood? It could be Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf, or maybe it’s Miss Rumphius  by Barbara Cooney (that’s mine!). Thinking about that book probably makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You LOVED it! So, of course your son, daughter, granddaughter, grandson will love it too!

This holiday season I found a large percentage of customers making gift purchases based on these exact emotions. They’d ask for that treasured book (be it out of print or not) with hopes of sharing the feeling they had as a child. On Christmas Eve, I walked into our classics section and found it plucked bare. Little House on the Prairie, The Chronicles of Narnia, Charlotte’s Web, The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables – all had been purchased, wrapped, and now sat under trees with bright shinny bows.

I think there are two ways to look at this trend. On one side, these books DO stand up against the test of time. They’re classics, timeless, and just plain good! But on the other side of this discussion, I think some might argue that not all classics appeal to today’s kids. Some are slightly outdated and harder for today’s audience to relate to. In this second case, I think adults are buying classic books because they feel nostalgic about them. They hope their kids (or grandkids) will love the book as much as they did, and it’s that hope that gets them to take it home and put it under the tree. Ultimately, this comes down to why someone buys a gift (or any product). In this case its about the feelings and memories the gift-giver has about a book. There’s a ton of great new books on the shelves these days, but sometimes that can’t compete with the joy of sharing a loved classic.

This leads us (as writers) back to the age-old point that books need an emotional punch. Books we loved as kids stay with us because we are connected to them emotionally and something in them has resonated over the years. Look back at your favorite classic and see if it still holds up today. Why? Why not? What about the book makes it timeless? What makes it memorable and worth sharing?

Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: Hot YA and Holes in the Market

Continuing my review of popular children’s books this holiday season, today I’m gonna talk about YA. I’ll cover the individual titles that were really popular and mention a few common request that I had a hard time fulfilling (that’s right – holes in the market that need to be filled!!).

Hot YA Titles this Holiday Season:

• Legend by Marie Lu (this is a debut novel and it’s doing really well!)
• Blood Red Road by Moira Young
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
• The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
• The Hunger Games by Susan Collins
• Apothecary by Maile Meloy
• Inheretance by Christopher Paolini

Holes in the Market:

The following are common requests that I had a hard time fulfilling for customers (please write these books so we can sell them!!).

• Sport books for girls. Usually this is for a customer who has a daughter who isn’t into romance themed books. This reader plays sports herself and wants to see strong female characters!
• Dance books for girls. I did have Bunheads (Sophie Flack) and Audition (Stasia Ward Kehoe) on our shelves to recommend. However, some customers wanted dance books without too much romance, or dance books that were not about ballet.
• Books with Latino protagonists (this goes for both girl and boy books). We need more!! Please write them!

Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: Why publicity and NPR can change your life.

Everyone says that radio and newspapers are dead. But when it comes to getting the word out on your new book, it turns out that radio and newspapers can be your best friend!

On countless occasions this holiday I had requests for books that customers had heard about on an NPR interview or read about in the LA or NY Times. In fact, this was so common that we actually sold out of a few titles and had to disappoint some customers because books were back ordered and we couldn’t keep them on the shelves! So even if you’re a little microphone shy, or perhaps a bit nervous about that newspaper interview – do it anyway! Just keep telling yourself that it will help sell tons of your books!

Books with positive PR that we sold lots of, or sold out of completely:

• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente
• I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
• Down the Mysterly River by Bill Willingham
• The Dragon’s Tooth by N.D. Wilson
• Planesrunner by Ian McDonald

Be sure to check out other Holiday trends from this season here: Hot Kidz Books this Holiday (2011)

Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: Series Make Spectacular Gifts!

Earlier this week I talked about the hot picture books of this holiday season, and today I want to jump into the older age groups of Jr. Fiction, Middle Grade, and Young Adult. Although there were lots of spectacular individual books that sold well this holiday (and I’ll get into that in another post) I can’t help but deny the fact that the big sellers are the books that come in a series. Parents, Grandparents, kids, they all go crazy for __________ (insert child’s favorite book series here).

I have a few theories as to why series sell so well:

1) When a kid gets excited about a book, they don’t just have a passing interest. They are PASSIONATE! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: kids run, scream, and jump for joy when the next book in a favorite series hits the shelves. They’re ravenous! And any parent who sees a kid get this excited over a BOOK (rather than…say, um, Angry Birds) has the good sense to buy them the rest of the series for Christmas. And they do.

2) Book box-sets make great gifts! I found that many adults were looking to buy two or more books (per kid) for the holidays. Nothing makes shopping easier than the suggestion of a great new series that has a box set. In fact, most customers asked for box sets rather than the first book of a series. It’s the holidays, they want to splurge a little and get a nice gift!

3) Book series are a lot like your favorite TV show. After you’ve read the first book (or watched a few episodes of a TV show) you’re invested. You know the world. The characters feel like your best friends and you want to hang out with them. You already know what to expect and don’t have to start from scratch with a  book that could be good…or could be a total dud.

Okay so, here’s what was HOT in Series this holiday season:

• The new Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney.
• Susan Collin’s The Hunger Games is still selling like we are in the games and our lives depend on it.
• With the release of Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (the final installment of the Eragon Series) these books were a common request.
• The Lost Hero series by Rick Riordan.
• The Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz.
• Steampunk is gaining traction with both The Clockwork Prince by Casandra Clare and the Leviathan Series by Scott Westerfeld doing really well.
• The Rangers Apprentice series by John Flanagan.
• Origami Yoda and Darth Paper Strikes Back by Tom Angleberger
• As for in Early Series and Jr. Fiction, we are always (year round) selling tons of books in the Magic Tree House series (Mary Pope Osborne). Other popular series include The Rainbow Fairies (Daisy Meadows), Ivy and Bean (Annie Barrows), the Warriors series (Erin Hunter), and the Geronimo Stilton series (Geronimo Stilton).
• And of course, good old Harry Potter is always a common request!

If you’ve got an idea for a great series (particularly in Middle Grade), hop to it! I think this is a trend that will be around for awhile.

Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: What’s Hot in the Picture Book Market?

To start off my Book-seller’s sneak-peek into the trends of the 2011 holiday season I thought I’d begin with picture books. And I’m happy to report that picture books are not dead! In fact, picture books sold wonderfully this holiday. The following is a re-cap of some of the hot books, trends, and requests that I got this season:

The Big Books of 2011:

These are individual picture books that we sold stacks and stack and stacks of!

• I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
• Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
• The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmet
• Stars by Mary Lyn Rae (Illustrated by Marla Frazee. Marla is a bit of a local celebrity, therefore the sales of this book may be related to her local fan base. Not to say this book isn’t awesome, because it is. However, this is a great point  for authors and illustrators – get involved with your local bookstores. We love you and your community will too!)
• The Lego Ideas Book by Daniel Lipkowitz (This isn’t a picture book, it’s a non-fiction book of ideas of things to build with your left-over legos. It fit with this age-group which is why I’m mentioning it here, and it sold like crazy!!!)

And a few awesome honorable mentions that were also pretty popular:

• Pirate vs. Pirate by Mary Quattlebaum
• Llama Llama Home with Mama by Anna Dewdney
  
• Press Here by Hevee Tulette
• Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein
• Itsy Mitsy Runs Away by Elanna Allen

The Princess Trend

Princess books are still very popular! In fact, it’s the number one answer to “What does your three to six-year-old girl like?”  There are a lot of options already out there for princess (or very “girly” themed) picture books, including: Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor, Pinkalicious by Elizabeth and Victoria Kann, Lady-Bug Girl by Jackie Davis and David Soman, and The Very Fairy Princess by Julie Andrews. But it seems there’s always room for more. Plenty of parents needed NEW books as they already own the traditional go-to girly books mentioned above.

In contrast, there is also the “anti-princess” trend. This is when a parent comes in and wants to steer their daughter away from their obsession with princesses. In these cases they want a strong girl character who is independent, fun, and into things that are not pink, glittery, or covered in neon polka-dots.

Boys Love Trucks

The number one request for young boys (ages 2 to 6) are trains, planes, and automobiles. It’s so popular that we actually have an entire transportation section of the store. There are a lot of great classics in this category, from The Little Engine That Could to Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. But some new popular titles include Otis by Loren Long and Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Dusky Rinker. Also non-fiction automobile books are popular, particularly those with lifting flaps and sounds.

Boys also love dinosaurs, sports, astronomy, and science. These are popular requests as well (and we do have whole sections for them too). However, many of the books on these shelves are primarily non-fiction rather than a traditional picture book.

The Cute Cuddly Animal Phenomenon

In general the number one picture book request is phrased like this: “Show me all your books with ____________ (insert cute cuddly animal) in them.” Usually this will be something like owls, or puppy dogs, or monkeys. Occasionally they will be something odd like moose or lemurs. It seems that kids go through phases where they’re really into one animal. The other reason this question is so popular (particularly around the holidays) is that adults like to give the gift of a book AND a stuffed animal. Pretty much any animal is game, the requests for “insert cute cuddly animal” are pretty vast so have fun with your next picture book character.

There’s Something for Everyone

This is only a small glimpse into the number of books sold over the holidays. Most sales are highly individual, and I spend a lot of time walking through the store giving suggestions based on the customer’s idea of the type of book they want to give for the holidays. The above are a few examples of things I noticed selling particularly well, or questions I was asked over and over.

Lets not forget that trends are exactly that – trends. And just because it’s popular today doesn’t mean it will be popular next year, or even in another city or state. I work at one small independent bookstore, so of course my observations will be skewed by our customer base. Still, I think it’s fun to see what’s doing well!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Secrets of a Children’s Bookseller: What was HOT this Holiday Season?

Alas, as many of you have noticed, I’ve not been very active on the blog this past month. Despite my absence online, I swear it has all been for a good cause! For you see, I’ve just spent the last 6 weeks (of holiday shopping mania) selling children’s books! And I’ll tell you, there’s no better way to get a snippet of whats selling in the kidlit market than to work in the children’s department of a bookstore during the big holiday push.

Though I don’t have access to official book selling numbers, there are a number of ways to tell what books are selling like hot-cakes and which are floundering in the dust. For example:

• Take a look around the store and you can get a great idea of what’s doing well. Such as — that pile of display books that was towering yesterday and is gone today…yup, it’s pretty safe to say that’s selling well!
• Shelving books from receiving is another great way to see what needs re-stocking. Particularly with books we only have one or two copies of.
• And of course actual requests from customers helps you to get a sense of what they’ve heard about and want to buy.
• And lets not forget the hand selling. A book-sellers life is about lots and lots and lots of hand-selling!

I’ve decided to break down my observations from this holiday season into a few categories as to better organize what’s hot in which sections. I’ll be posting the following reports throughout the week:

• What was Hot in the Picture Book Market this Season
• Series Make Spectacular Gifts
• Hot YA and Holes in the Market
• Adult Nostalgia and Book-Buying Trends
• How Marketing and NPR Can Make You a Best-Seller
• Adults Buying for Kids They Don’t Really Know

I hope your holidays were spectacular and that the coming information helps inspire you for the New Year!

A Merry Twilight Christmas

It has become a tradition for my boyfriend and I to create outrageous and fun Christmas cards. In the past we’ve had cards with cupcake fights and hillbilly bad teeth, but this year we thought we’d use my love for young adult books as our inspiration. So here it is! Enjoy our Twilight-tastic holiday spoof-card:

Yup, that’s me dressed as Edward Cullen!

Here’s the two book covers we’re spoofing in the card:

As well as the two movie posters we based our Team Ingrid vs. Team Russell pictures on:

Be sure to vote for Team Ingrid or Team Russell here: www.bit.ly/teamsparkle

May your holidays sparkle and twinkle!

Ryan Gosling Reads Young Adult

This was just to fabulous and hilarious that I just had to share it! Two of my favorite things: Ryan Gosling and Young Adult Books! See all the images here.

 

How Writing About Terrible Things Makes the Reader a Better Person

Donna Jo Napoli spoke at the 2011 SCBWI LA Conference on why she writes books with difficult subject matter and how it is essential too creating empathy in readers. Here are my notes from her talk:

I’m Often Asked Why I Write the Books I Write:

• Napoli writes books with intense content like rape and slavery, and she is often asked why she writes these books.
• Napoli’s favorite book as a child was “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn”. It was a very freeing and eye-opening book for her.

Let’s Talk About Censorship:

• Napoli is very active in censorship issues.
• The 1993 Alan Review is dedicated entirely to the issue of censorship.
• Texas is the most frequent cite of censorship challenges.

Where Do these Attitudes Come From?

• Why do people think that not swearing in books will make the kids act and behave better?
• Napoli understands why a parent may not want a kid to encounter sexuality for the first time in a book, but she doesn’t necessarily agree with it.
• Napoli thinks it is “Wrong Minded” to keep kids away from difficult topics like sexism, morbid topics, racism, violence, rape, drugs, etc. Parents hiding these from their kids are thinking the wrong way.

The Protected Child VS. The Un-Protected Child

• In this context a “protected” child is one raised in a responsible caring culture, and an “unprotected” child is one that is abused by our society.
• When an unprotected child reads about another unprotected child it can be amazing. They no longer feel alone anymore. They are less isolated.
• Most children do not have the power to change their world.
• We need books without magic and “charmed” lives to see what is real. A child reading about another child in a difficult and possibly similar situation where they character is still able to find hope is very important. That can make a huge impact on the unprotected child.
• The protected child, however, may be even more important to talk to.
• Protected children can become intolerant and feel like they have a right to things. They become entitled. They look down on others. We want these children to learn empathy.  The safest way to do that is through a book.

Closing Note:

• Write from your places of joy, pain, and fear. If you need to write it, there’s someone out there who needs to read it.

Donna Jo Napoli is the author of many children’s books and young adult novels including: Alligator Bayou, The Smile, Hush, The Kings of Mulberry Street, and Bound. 

Got Gifts? My 2011 Picture Book Suggestions!

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed your turkey comas and tended to your Black Friday bruises and are ready for the big buying marathon of the weeks to come! Since I will be making quite a few holiday suggestions in the bookstore this season I thought I might share a few of my favorites with all of you as well! So here are my 2011, ready to be wrapped, picture book suggestions:

 

I Want My Hat Back

by Jon Klassen

A hilarious yet simple book about a bear who can’t seem to find his hat. It packs a final punch unlike any picture book I’ve seen before, and adults will love this book as much as kids (possibly more)! It has lovely illustrations and is fun to read out loud.

 

Grandpa Green by Lane Smith

A gorgeously illustrated book about the life and legacy of a grandfather as captured through the sculptures of his garden. A lovely book for grandparents to share with their grand-kids. This one will charm and tug on your heart strings at the same time.

Itsy Mitsy Runs Away by Elanna Allen

You will fall in love with the adorable illustrations and determined attitude of Itsy Mitsy, an idy-biddy-sized girl who decides she wants to run away. While she’s at it she realizes there might be a thing or two she needs to bring with her like her dinosaur, and her dog…and maybe even dad too. The whimsical and breezy illustrations sold me on this book, but the humor and charm of the storytelling makes the whole package a winner!

Pirate vs. Pirate

by Mary Quattlebaum and illustrated by Alexandra Boiger

Ahhhhrg Matey! Who be the greatest pirate in the world? In this fantastically fun read-aloud adventure Big Bad Bart and Mean Mad Mo battle to see who is brave enough to swim with sharks, juggle cannon balls, and hornswaggle their way up the tallest mast on this side of the Pacific! You won’t want to miss this swashbuckling adventure else it be you who’s left empty handed and walkin’ the plank!

 

Stars

by Mary Lyn Ryan and illustrated by Marla Frazee

A beautiful book about everything star. A lovely look at how stars are all around us: looking over us in the sky,  held in our pockets for good luck, found in forests, or given away for good deeds well done. This elegant book is both warm and musing and philosophical, and instant classic for your picture book treasury.