From: Norma Jean Sawicki <nsawicki_at_nyc.rr.com>
Date: Thu, 04 Nov 2010 14:08:49 -0400

Those who know the history of children's book publishing, know the business is cyclical. One goes through periods in which all of the different genres have stopped selling well at one time or another. Sometimes the market is over saturated with a particular genre, sometimes the demographics have changed, etc. In the 70s and even 80s, YA did not sell well...especially in book stores where picture books reigned supreme, especially in the 80s.

And...."don't sell", "stopped selling," are relative. One may sell fewer copies of picture book than one did in the 80s but they certainly have not stopped selling. When the market for a particular kind of book tightens, publishers become more selective so these days there is less fluff in picture book publishing than there is in YA which includes an abundance of novels about vampires, etc.

The library market is dependent on funding and is not subjected to hype, or to "trends." Norma Jean
Received on Thu 04 Nov 2010 02:08:49 PM CDT