Making a Mark: A New Imprint Called Imprint

im • print
noun

1 a mark created by pressing against a surface
2 to fix indelibly or permanently (as on the memory)
3 a publisher's name on the title page of a book
--Merriam-Webster, 2015

Erin Stein (r.) with author Kami Garcia

Now there's a fourth meaning: Erin Stein's new imprint at Macmillan Children's Publishing Group. Imprint launches with 12 titles this year, a mix of picture books such as Babies Ruin Everything, chapter book series like Super Happy Party Bears, and young adult novels such as Kami Garcia's The Lovely Reckless. About 35 titles are planned for 2017.

"The emphasis is on stories with entertainment value," says Stein, who joined Macmillan on December 1, 2014. She explains: "I want to get sucked in to a story and be unable to put it down. I want to laugh, I want to cry, I want to get obsessed. Also, is there a universal message or emotion in the story that everyone can relate to on some level?"


Her team is small but mighty. Imprint's creative director is Natalie Sousa, Stein's "partner in crime," who's "helping me stay on mission, guiding the development of our visual style, and definitely has a role in selecting our picture book titles. I am a very visual person, so I throw a lot of crazy ideas at her and our senior designer Ellen Duda. Thanks to them, and a few other freelance friends in the earliest days, all of our books look amazing and I really think reflect our collective sensibility." On the editorial side, Stein works with editor Rhoda Belleza and editorial assistant Nicole Otto: "It's regularly all five of us discussing a title, a cover design, or looking at picture book sketches," says Stein. "It's really important to me to foster a collaborative environment in the office as well as with our creators." 

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