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Latino Picture Books
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From: Jason Low <jlow_at_leeandlow.com>
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:09:20 -0500
I have been following this thread with interest and noticed Jason Wells of Abrams has been the only publisher to comment. As we celebrate our 20th year of publishing this year, I do have some good news to offer in regards to new Latino picture books in the pipeline.
We will be publishing a few Latino themed titles from our main LEE & LOW line and recently acquired Children's Book Press imprint this year. Note: A couple of the tiles while Latino themed will not be eligible under current guidelines for the Belpre because the creators are not of Latino/Hispanic background. If the Belpre committee is finding a lack of titles to choose from it might consider revisiting the rule regarding the ethnic background of the book's creators. Of course if this rule were relaxed it would be a given that all titles would be held to the high standards of authenticity to insure quality and culture sensitivity. There is also the option of going back to a bi-annual award.
I completely agree with what Lulu Delacre's comments about the shifting tide of public opinion and politics. Decision makers and editors read the papers and the volatility around Latino civil rights in our country is unsettled and does not bode well for acquisitions.
For LEE & LOW our commitment to multicultural publishing runs deep. Providing multicultural themed books for children is our mission. But as an independent publisher our output has been and will continue to be small, focused, and steady. The question keeps coming up of why larger houses do not increase their offerings to the Latino market and I can only surmise that part of the answer has to do with what internal measuring stick is being used to define how many books sold equals a successful book. Our benchmarks for what we deem to be a strong selling title may be another houses cut off point for putting a book out of print. The decisions that drive this issue boils down to pure mathematics.
The only viable solution to preventing the offerings from eroding further is to support the houses that are publishing Latino books now. Presses like Cinco Punto and LEE & LOW do not have to be convinced that these books are important, we already believe it. When we acquired Children's Book Press it insured that a powerful bilingual backlist would live on. Without real financial support, our publishing program will not grow. While this conclusion may come off as obvious or at worst self serving it is a fact.
Date: Thu, 07 Feb 2013 11:09:20 -0500
I have been following this thread with interest and noticed Jason Wells of Abrams has been the only publisher to comment. As we celebrate our 20th year of publishing this year, I do have some good news to offer in regards to new Latino picture books in the pipeline.
We will be publishing a few Latino themed titles from our main LEE & LOW line and recently acquired Children's Book Press imprint this year. Note: A couple of the tiles while Latino themed will not be eligible under current guidelines for the Belpre because the creators are not of Latino/Hispanic background. If the Belpre committee is finding a lack of titles to choose from it might consider revisiting the rule regarding the ethnic background of the book's creators. Of course if this rule were relaxed it would be a given that all titles would be held to the high standards of authenticity to insure quality and culture sensitivity. There is also the option of going back to a bi-annual award.
I completely agree with what Lulu Delacre's comments about the shifting tide of public opinion and politics. Decision makers and editors read the papers and the volatility around Latino civil rights in our country is unsettled and does not bode well for acquisitions.
For LEE & LOW our commitment to multicultural publishing runs deep. Providing multicultural themed books for children is our mission. But as an independent publisher our output has been and will continue to be small, focused, and steady. The question keeps coming up of why larger houses do not increase their offerings to the Latino market and I can only surmise that part of the answer has to do with what internal measuring stick is being used to define how many books sold equals a successful book. Our benchmarks for what we deem to be a strong selling title may be another houses cut off point for putting a book out of print. The decisions that drive this issue boils down to pure mathematics.
The only viable solution to preventing the offerings from eroding further is to support the houses that are publishing Latino books now. Presses like Cinco Punto and LEE & LOW do not have to be convinced that these books are important, we already believe it. When we acquired Children's Book Press it insured that a powerful bilingual backlist would live on. Without real financial support, our publishing program will not grow. While this conclusion may come off as obvious or at worst self serving it is a fact.
--- Jason Low Publisher LEE & LOW BOOKS 95 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 t. 212-779-4400 x. 27 f. 212-683-1894 e. jlow_at_leeandlow.com Learn more at leeandlow.com. Please consider the environment before printing this emailReceived on Thu 07 Feb 2013 11:09:20 AM CST
