When you think of licensed publishing for children, what comes to mind is likely traditional formats such as storybooks, board books, coloring and activity books, and the like. These continue to be the keystones of most licensed kids’ publishing programs, especially when based on entertainment/character properties.
But as property owners and publishers look for ways to innovate and differentiate, they are increasingly focusing on formats that fall outside of these core licensed categories. Some have been on an upward trajectory for several years but have intensified of late, while others are relatively new to the licensing world, taking off within the last year or so.
Examples include:
- Educational nonfiction, such as Scholastic’s history book based on Assassin’s Creed or Penguin’s Gumball’s Guide to Science.
- Middle grade and young adult novels written by noted literary authors, such as Switch Press’s Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond and Disney Publishing’s Black Widow: Forever Red by Margaret Stohl, based on characters from DC Comics and Marvel Comics, respectively.
- Augmented-reality coloring and storybooks, such as Painting Lulu’s My Little Pony and Carlton Books’ Transformers: Robots in Disguise titles.
- Kids’ comic books, especially for girls, such as Papercutz’ new Barbie line or Action Lab Entertainment’s Zag Heroez: Miraculous series.
- In-world books—which mimic titles that characters in a TV show or film would write and read—such as Insight Editions’ Hidden Universe Travel Guide: Star Trek: Vulcan.
- Cookbooks, such as Viz’s Easy Eats: A Bee and PuppyCat Cookbook, licensed on behalf of creator Natasha Allegri by Frederator Studios.
If you’re interested in licensed publishing, check out Karen Raugust’s Publishers Weekly coverage, which has recently included features on licensed nonfiction and licensed young adult books, as well as the other trends noted here.
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