S&S Reaches Out to Tweens

This story originally appeared in Children's Bookshelf on May 10, 2007 Sign up now!

by Joy Bean, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 5/10/2007

Children's publishers try to stay on top of each new industry trend as they unfold. Years ago when YA books became the new hot thing, publishers responded in kind with imprints dedicated to those readers, including Penguin's Razorbill and Abrams' Amulet lines. More recently, publishers have reacted quickly to the increased demand for graphic novels with Scholastic's Graphix line and Roaring Brook's First Second imprint, among others.

Now, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing is answering the call from tweens looking for books just for them, with the first branded tween imprint: Aladdin MIX. The line, which includes a mix of paperback originals and reprints, debuts this week with six titles: The Secret Identity of Devon Delaney by Lauren Barnholdt, The Melting of Maggie Bean by Tricia Rayburn, In the Cards: Love by Mariah Frederick, Totally Joe by James Howe, There's a Girl in My Hammerlock by Jerry Spinelli, and Just Another Day in My Insanely Real Life by Barbara Dee. Ellen Krieger, v-p and associate publisher of Aladdin,will head up the imprint.

Rubin Pfeffer, senior v-p and publisher at S&S Children's Publishing, says that there was a widely perceived need for this new line. "There are about 30 million kids between the ages of nine and 13," he says, "and we wanted to create a program of books that deal with this age group, who are coming of age in a contemporary way." Pfeffer points out that other industries are targeting this market, which has a lot of buying power, and figured S&S should try it as well. The books that will be included in the imprint are those he describes as "stories about self-identity and self-esteem, and books about being in that transition, with children on their way to being pre-teens."

The publisher has created two displays for the books, including one 18-copy mix floor display, which contains a free CD sampler with one chapter from each of the novels on the launch list, read by the authors.

The books will also be promoted through a road tour this fall, which will include Melissa de la Cruz (for her new The Ashleys series), Rachel Cohn (for her Two Steps Forward reprint) and Jenny Han (for her Shug reprint). Other authors will most likely join them, but details haven't been finalized yet.