Children's Publishing: Article Will Cover All Books
Children's Publishing: Article Will Cover All Books
Children's Publishing: Article Will Cover All Books
RACHAEL W. DEANGELO
THISA R T I C L E W I L L C O V E R A L L B O O K S exclusive
of textbooks and paperback books published for children from pre-
school through junior high school. It is based on data secured from
existing literature and research in the field, forty returns from a
questionnaire sent to children's book editors and/or persons re-
sponsible for the juvenile list in publishing houses, interviews with
selected editors and other authorities on the subject, and personal
study and research.
Year
Juvenile Books Published
New Titles New Editions Total 1 All Books Published
Total
The main reasons for this tremendous output are the greatly ex-
panded public and school library market, the varied outlets for many
categories of books, and the new publishers attracted to this lucrative
field. Mary K. Eakiqs William Jovanovich,l0 F. G. Melcher,ll and
Lillian H. Smith express grave concern over the relationship of the
flood of children's books to their quality. Time indicates that over 350
million copies of children's books, including approximately two thou-
sand new titles, came from the presses in 1957-about one in three
of the total books published. Children's books comprise two-thirds
of Grosset and Dunlap's output, 35 per cent of Random House's
sales volume, and $13 million of Simon and Schuster's $18 million
gross in 1956.12Viking's juvenile department's business represents one
third of the company's total.13 An established juvenile title continues
to sell anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 copies a year over a long life
span, while the profitable life expectancy of an adult best seller may
be no more than six months.
RACHAEL W. DE ANGEL0
Juvenile book sales fall into two main categories: books that sell
for one dollar and over retail, and those that sell for less than one
dollar retail. The main outlets for the first group are book sections
of department stores, bookstores, and school and public libraries.
Schools and school and public libraries comprise the largest market.
Fifty per cent of Houghton Mifflin's juveniles were sold to these
institutions in 1945, and in 1953 it was safe to assume that 85 per cent
of the juveniles of all publishers were bought by librarians and
teachers.14
Books in the second group are available in supermarkets, drug
stores, newsstands, variety stores, candy and stationery stores, through
mail order houses, and the regular book channels. One publisher of
inexpensive juveniles estimated that between twenty and twenty-five
million copies were sold through super markets alone in 1957. Inex-
pensive books fill a real need. In 1942 Simon and Schuster in co-
operation with the Artists and Writers Guild began to publish the
Little Golden Books for children, which sold for twenty-five cents
and had remarkable success. They have been followed by the more
expensive Giant Golden Books and other titles designed for different
age groups.
C. B. Grannis estimates that juveniles accounted for close to
120,000,000 copies of the 760,000,000 books sold annually between
1953-55.15 In 1956, there were 26,546,000 juveniles sold which re-
tailed at one dollar and over, an increase of 38 per cent over 1954. In
the same year, 118,386,000 copies which retailed under one dollar
were sold, an increase of only 12 per cent, making a 50 per cent in-
crease in total juvenile sales-the highest increase in all categories
except paperbound books. Total dollar value of juvenile books sold
in 1956 was $45,244,000, an increase of 38 per cent over 1954. These
figures include only 71 per cent of all general publishers and omit
sales of textbooks and encyclopedias.16
Reasons for the increased sale of children's books which began in
the middle forties include increase in child population; growth of
school libraries; increased use of trade books in the expanded school
curriculum; improved quality and attractiveness of books; increased
number and greater variety of books; greater awareness and apprecia-
tion on the part of parents and the public of the need and value of
books for children; increased prosperity; better advertising, pro-
motion, and publicity; awakened interest in reading during the war-
time shortage of toys; greater emphasis on increased service to
Children's Book Publishing
children in public libraries; television creating interests in new fields
and expanding children's horizons; mass production and distribution
of attractive and inexpensive books; and more research in children's
preferences in books and greater skill in using the findings.
The juvenile department of a publishing house may be integrated
with other departments using all company facilities and services, or
it may be a relatively separate unit, depending on the size of the
firm.179Is The organization of juvenile departments, methods of func-
tioning and backgrounds of editors vary from one publisher to another.
The majority of departments as reported by twenty-two houses on
the questionnaires sent to juvenile editors have an editorial assistant
or associate editor and secretary. Juvenile editors have varied back-
grounds. They were previously teachers, librarians, authors, book-
store clerks, and employees of publishing houses.
The main considerations in planning a juvenile list are the literary,
artistic and useful quality of the material to give the book permanent
interest and value; variety and balance in types of books for all age
groups; current needs and existing vacuums in the market; and sales
potential. Most editors stress quality with less concern for balance.
Since schools and public libraries comprise the overwhelming market
for children's books, they have a direct effect on publishers' lists.
Librarians and/or teachers guide the present and future reading of
most of America's children and thus influence the policies of children's
book publishing.
The number of manuscripts received yearly by the juvenile editors
ranges from one hundred to over one thousand. Between 80 to
85 per cent of these are unsolicited, and the rest come from
agents and previously published authors-about equally divided.
Eighteen juvenile editors reported that their departments attempted
to specialize in either books for particular age groups or types of books
such as activity books, picture books, short books and books for pri-
mary grades, and information books about other countries.
Authors of children's books may receive outright payments or a
lump sum ranging from $100 to $500 for a manuscript instead of the
customary royalty.lg This is common practice among publishers of
inexpensive books retailing up to one dollar. Royalties differ according
to the publisher's practices, the individual book, the author's previous
sales record, market possibilities, and the author's future potential in
supplying good manuscripts. Ten per cent of the retail price is a
customary royalty. Usually illustrators of books for older boys and
RACHAEL W . DE A N G E L 0
girls are paid an outright fee. When text and illustrations are equally
important in a picture book, author and artist share evenly in royalty
arrangements.
There is a decided increase in the number of American children's
books printed abroad. Both Europe and Asia are good markets. From
data supplied by twenty-six juvenile editors, the four countries pub-
lishing the largest number of titles in rank order are Germany, France,
Sweden, and Britain. R. G. Lynip's Democracy (Harcourt, 1940) has
been published in twelve languages, among them Bengali, Burmese,
Hindi, and Tagalog. One publisher reported that 260 foreign per-
missions had been given since 1946. Foreign children's books are trans-
lated in the United States less frequently. Juvenile imports reached
116 titles in 1956 and 128 in 1957, an increase of 10 per cente20
The channels for promoting and distributing children's books have
expanded and increased in importance during the past decade. Special
school and public library service consultants or directors have been
added to juvenile departments to work with key librarians and edu-
cators. Review copies are distributed more liberally to school and
public libraries for the purpose of centralized reviewing and ordering.
Promotional devices and activities, such as Children's Book Week,
book fairs, book awards, book clubs, special radio and television pro-
grams based on books, displays and special exhibits, book reviews, and
approved lists prepared by educational and library agencies, have
focused increased attention on children's books.
Children's Book Week has had a far reaching effect on the pub-
lishing and distribution of children's books.21 It motivates extensive
book reviewing in newspapers, stimulates articles in magazines gen-
erally on children's books and reading, and encourages book fairs
and book programs in schools and communities. The Children's Book
C o u n ~ i l ,a~ ~nonprofit organization composed of children's book
editors, was established in 1945 as national headquarters for Book
Week and as the information and promotion center for children's
books. The Council has built up a mailing list from 11,000 in 1948 to
32,000 in 1957 to receive free its quarterly Calendar. The Children's
Book Council joined with the American Museum of Natural History
and the New York Times in sponsoring the first Annual Boys' and
Girls' Book Fair in 1947. Since then the book fair movement has spread
rapidly, and the co-sponsoring and encouraging of book fairs has
become one of the major activities of the Council. For the past three
years books provided for exhibit by member publishers have been
Children's Book Publishing
made available for loan to teacher-education institutions and univer-
sity education departments. Ultimately the books are donated to
charitable organizations.
Commercial or publisher sponsored exhibits include the Children's
Book Caravan, Evanston, Illinois, directed by Ruth Tooze who takes
her exhibit to small places from Maine to California and lectures to
children and parents on books and reading; the Combined Book
Exhibit displayed by its director, T. J. McLaughlin, at library and
educational meetings; and E. G. Wood's Books on Exhibit, loaned to
large city school systems. Some state library commissions or de-
partments of education exhibit books supplied by publishers. Travel-
ing Book Exhibits, under the directorship of Ruth Gagliardo, of the
Kansas State Teachers Association, is one of the most successful of
these.
There are at present twenty-nine children's book awards. The
prizes most coveted which have stimulated greatest effort and interest
in the children's book field are the Caldecott and Newbery Awards
and the New York Herald Tribune Children's Spring Book Festival
Awards. Juvenile book clubs which began with the Junior Literary
Guild have grown to fifteen and are supplying books on a large scale
distribution. Most of these make provision for various age groups and
some of them distribute paperbound editions. There are twenty-four
established radio and television juvenile book programs covering all
age levels. Through book discussions and reviews, author interviews,
dramatizations, and story hours they create and deepen interest in
children's books and reading.
Awakened interest on the part of educators in trade books for
schools has resulted in exhibits and programs related to books at
educational meetings. Publication of books written especially for
parents and teachers on children's books and reading has increased.
Among these are Ruth Tooze's Your Children W a n t t o Read (Pren-
tice-Hall, 1957), Phyllis Fenner's Proof of the Pudding (Day, 1957),
Annis Duff's Longer Flight (Viking, 1955), and Josette Frank's Your
Child's Reading Today (Doubleday, 1954). Children's book review-
ing has a special and recognized place today, and is doing much for
the children's book field. More serious reviewing of children's books
is being done in a variety of places and greater space is given to
reviews in literary and educational journals.
In evaluating the effectiveness of all promotional devices, juvenile
editors rated highly the following: appearance of titles on approved
C 227 1
RACHAEL W. D E A N G E L 0
References
1. Smith, Lillian H.: The Unreluctant Years; a Critical Approach to Children's
Literature. Chicago, American Library Association, 1953, p. 34.
2. Arbuthnot, May H.: Children and Books. Rev. ed. Chicago, Scott, Fores-
man, 1957, p. 52.
3. Jordan, Alice M.: Magazines for Children, In: Spain, Frances L., ed.:
Reading Without Boundaries; Essays P~esentedto Anne Carroll Moore on the
Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Inauguration of Libray Service to
Children at the New York Public Library. New York, New York Public Library,
1956, p. 65.
4. Massee, May: Children's Books on Demand. Ibid., p. 47.
5. Smith, Dora V.: Children's Books-Yesterday and Today. A.L.A. Bulletin,
51:254-259, April 1957.
RACHAEL W . D E A N G E L 0
6. Daugherty, James: Illustrating for Children. In: Spain, op. cit., ref. 3, p. 35.
7. Grannis, C. B., ed.: What Happens in Book Publishing. New York, CO-
lumbia University Press, 1957, p. 394.
8. Eakin, Mary K.: Trends in Children's Literature. Libray Quarterly, 25:
47-57, Jan. 1955.
9. Literary Market Place, 1957/58. New York, R. R. Bowker Company, 1957,
pp. 1-64.
10. Jovanovich, William: The Structure of Publishing. New York, American
Book Publishers Council, 1957, p. 15.
11. Melcher, F. G.: What's Ahead for Children's Books. A.L.A. Bulletin, 34:
189-191, Aug. 1940.
12. The Grinch & Co.: Time, 70:74-76, Dec. 23, 1957.
13. Meet the Publishers-IV: The Viking Ship. A.L.A. Bulletin, 50:493-497,
Sept. 1956.
14. Colby, Jean P.: The Children's Book Business Comes of Age. Junior Re-
viewers, 12:l-2, July-August 1954.
15. Grannis, op. cit., p. 8.
16. American Book Publishers Council. Statistics Committee: 1956 Annual
Survey of the General Book Publishing Industry. Prepared by S. B. Hunt & ASSO-
ciates. New York, The Council, May 1957.
17. Blake, Eunice: Children's Book Publishing. In: Grannis, op. cit., pp. 299-
306.
18. Colby, Jean P.: The Children's Book Field. New York, Pellegrini and
Cudahy, 1952, pp. 162-167.
19. Ibid., pp. 44-60.
20. Annual Trade Statistics Issue: Publishers' Weekly, Jan. 20, 1958.
21. Children's Book Council. The World of Children's Books. New York, The
Council, 1952, pp. 108-113.
22. Fish, Helen D.: What Is This Association of Children's Book Editors?
Library Journal, 7:544-546, April 15, 1946.
23. Andrews, Siri: Publishing Books for Youth. In: Henne, Frances, et al.,
eds. : Youth, Communication and Libraries. ( University of Chicago Studies in
Library Science) Chicago, American Library Association, 1949, pp. 93-104.
24. Ives, Vernon: New Look at Children's Books. Library Journal, 72:1730-
1733, Dec. 15, 1947.
25. Massee, May: Publishing Children's Books Today. Horn Book, 25:396-400,
Sept.-Oct. 1949.
26. Spring and Fall Children's Book Issues. Library Journal, 1947, 1953, 1957.
27. Eakin, op. cit., ref. 8.
28. Eakin, Mary K., and Janecek, Blanche: Reprints of Children's Books in
Series and Editions. Library Journal, 73:624-639, April 15, 1948.
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES
Blake. Eunice: Why Do They Cost So Much? In: Children's Book Council,
op. cit., pp. 24-27.
Bonino, Louise: The Landmark Story. Publishers' Weekly, 170:461-463, July
30, 1956.
Children's Book Publishing
Jordan, Alice M.: From Rollo to Tom Sawyer. Boston, Horn Book, 1948.
Massee, May: Publishing the Children's Books the Public Wants. Publishers'
Weekly, 166:308-310, July 24, 1954.
Meigs, Cornelia L., et al.: Critical History of Children's Literature. New York,
Macmillan, 1953.
Miller, Bertha E., and Field, Elinor W., eds.: Newbery Medal Books, 1922-
1955, With Their Authors' Acceptance Papers and Related Material Chiefly from
the Horn Book Magazine. (Horn Book Papers, Vol. 1) Boston, Horn Book, 1955.
Miller, Bertha E., and Field, Elinor W., eds.: Caldecott Medal Books, 1938-
1957, With the ATtists' Acceptance Papers and Related Material Chiefly from the
Horn Book Magazine. (Horn Book Papers, Vol. 2) Boston, Horn Book, 1957.
Miller, Bertha E., comp.: lllustrators of Children's Books, 1744-1945. Boston,
Horn Book, 1947.
Annual Trade Statistics Issue (January), Spring Juveniles Issue (February),
Fall Juveniles Issue (July ) , Publishers' Weekly.