How did you get your start in children's book publishing?
Editing and writing were always part of the equation. I first published a poem in my elementary school newsletter! After college, I started out in magazines and, through a series of fortunate events, made my way into children's books.
Tell us a little about your path to Macmillan. Was it a long and winding road or a super-highway? How did it come about?
Almost every job I've held in publishing offered an experience that led to the next one. At Time Inc. Custom Publishing, I learned to be flexible, to create work for a variety of audiences, and to work within a brand's framework. I translated that skill set into creating licensed graphic novels at Tokyopop. Getting to know every licensor in town led to my next job at HarperCollins Children's Books when they were looking for someone with good contacts. My experience there, working on a wide variety of titles, programs and brand extensions, was essential to my move to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. LBYR wanted to build a licensed publishing business. In many ways, building that program was like running a start-up within the company. I also worked with some fantastic authors and illustrators, developing a taste for doing more original publishing... and the whole enchilada gave me the education I needed to start Imprint!
Is it a dream come true to have your own imprint, or something you never imagined?
Probably both! I don't remember ever considering the specific possibility of my own imprint, but being master of my own creative playground is definitely a dream come true.
How do you think children's & YA publishing is different now from when you started your career?
I started my career before Harry Potter, before Twilight, before the YA market exploded, before adults started buying themselves "children's" books for their own enjoyment. It's expanded and grown in such interesting ways, and we now see success coming from unexpected places.
Do you have a vision for its future?
I think the future is very bright--one thing that doesn't seem to change (thankfully) is the opinion that it's a good idea to give a book to a child.
How did you decide on the name for your imprint--IMPRINT? Bold choice! Were any other ideas left on the cutting-room floor?
It feels like I considered every word in the English language, and a few French ones, too. I have a ton of names I came up with and then rejected.
It was always the idea of putting my stamp on something, and of our creators making their mark on the world. (And I also knew Hallmark and Maker's Mark were already taken.) So when it came down to it, there was really only one word to choose!
How do you hope to make Imprint stand out? Do you have a mission statement?
Imprint is bold, creative, and breaks the rules. We definitely ask, "Why not?" We are collaborators, and we only take on projects if we have a clear vision for their future. Our first picture book, Babies Ruin Everything, is from husband/wife author/illustrator team Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr. We're building from this first hilarious book to their next picture book, Everywhere, Wonder, to their debut middle-grade series, The Real McCoys. They happen to be prolific, but we've been thinking three years ahead almost from the beginning!
We are taking some risks. There are some acquisitions announcements coming that will be surprises, I think. And yet, they will make perfect sense.
Tell us about the logo.
A very good friend of mine, who also designed my wedding invitation years ago, designed the logo. Five rounds and we had it. She had the idea of using the brackets and I came up with the design for them. I like that when you put the brackets together it makes an "I" shape--but there's some other symbolism behind it as well.
I read that "Imprint publishes commercial fiction for ages 0 to 18, develops new intellectual property, and partners with existing brands to create quality, original content." How do you personally define "commercial fiction?"
Honestly, I don't like categorizing books as literary or commercial because it's come to imply a value judgment that I find invalid. But it's common terminology that's hard to get away from. To me it simply means intended for a broad audience and wide distribution.
What draws you to "commercial fiction?" Cross-platform storytelling? Licensing potential?
Cross-platform is about the potential to build connections between media; planting discoveries for fans to make if they put it all together. With SPACEPOP, we get to tell the origin story in the book series--but you also get to read a scene about the girls writing the song you then hear and see them sing in the music video.
When I consider a license, first it's about the message, the product and the plans. I have to be on board myself as a fan. Then, will this make a great book? Will the books add to the brand, and vice versa? Project Mc2 makes science and technology fun for girls. They can be super spies, save a prince, and still have fun with their outfits and accessories. It's breaking down that brainy girl stereotype.
Sometimes a license is just for my own selfish reasons--I wasn't about to let anyone else on the planet publish The X-Files Origins YA novels we have coming in January from Kami Garcia and Jonathan Maberry. It's quite literally a dream come true for me to get to help create character mythology for one of the best television shows ever.
Who is the first author you signed?
Kami Garcia! I edited her more recent novels while I was still at LBYR, and we really enjoy working together. I'm very excited to be taking her in a new direction with her first contemporary romance The Lovely Reckless.
How many titles do you plan to publish per year? What's your picture book/middle-grade/YA mix?
We have 12 titles in 2016, and we're currently at about 35 titles for 2017. We'll probably top out at 40-something titles per year and try to maintain that for a while. Unless some big opportunity comes along and we grow!
We're trying to keep it fairly balanced across the three age ranges each season. We're also balancing acquisitions with original IP development and licensing. The Super Happy Party Bears chapter book series is our first property that we developed in-house. Then we brought on author Marcie Colleen and illustrator Steve James to bring our vision to life--and they are really making it their own. Marcie wrote dance moves into every book!
Any nonfiction?
We have acquired only one so far. We're not actively planning for it, but we are still keeping open minds to all formats and genres. Eventually, I'm sure we'll have a few novelty titles and graphic novels, also.
Kids "saving the day" looks to be a theme of Imprint's SpacePop series ("rebellion through the power of music"); the Disaster Diaries series ("It's up to three ordinary kids to save the day" in the town of Sitting Duck); and the Super Happy Party Bears series (animals who "can solve any problem with a party"). Do you have some sort of Batman complex?
Ha! Well, I think part of why I'm in this business is that I can still empathize with being a kid who's pretty sure she knows better than the adults around her. I think the protagonist of most books is saving the day somehow. In the case of the Super Happy Party Bears, however, they just like to have parties.
What advice would you give authors and illustrators who want to wow you?
Show me work that comes from a genuine place, show me something I haven't seen before, show me something that kids need today--and be open to collaborating with my team to make it even better.
Were you a reader as a child?
Oh, yes. At the age of five I was walking around saying, "Beatrix Potter is my favorite author." I was either adorable or obnoxious.
Any childhood favorites?
So many! A sampling--
Mercer Mayer's How the Trollusk Got His Hat probably foretells some of my weird sense of humor.
Beatrix Potter's The Tail of Squirrel Nutkin and The Tale of Two Bad Mice are evidence of my affinity for naughty animals.
Nancy Drew in all versions, all the time. She was probably my first strong female role model in books. I watched Wonder Woman on TV, but I read Nancy Drew. (Note: she was smarter than all the adults around her.)
The Chronicles of Narnia were mystical tomes of truth, as far as I was concerned. (Note: these kids were also saving the day.)
Then I read Jane Eyre in the fourth grade. Who reads Jane Eyre in the fourth grade?
What are you reading right now?
I am reading submissions right now! But I recently read Ruthless: Scientology, My Son David Miscavige, and Me by Ron Miscavige; Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton; and I finally read the Cormoran Strike novels by "Robert Galbraith." My taste is pretty varied. I also live for the next book from Diana Gabaldon.
Is there anything else you'd like to tell the readers of Shelf Awareness?
I think I've told you far too much already!