Jon Anderson, President and Publisher of the S&S Children's Division, has been at his job for seven years, but in the book business since high school—as a B Dalton bookseller!
At Simon & Schuster Jon presides over the nine different children's imprints, which publish for toddlers to teens: There is Little Simon, which is predominantly preschool/boardbooks, all the way up to Simon Pulse, which is the S&S teen imprint.
Jon says S&S has five publishers who oversee the nine children's imprints. Each imprint reflects the tastes of their individual editorial directors. The nine editorial directors also share a sales force and two marketing teams. The editorial directors are nine, living/normal human beings, not to be confused with any other famous group of nine, they are absolutely not Tolkienian ring-wraiths—could a person as delightful as someone like
Justin Chanda ever be allied with something as evil as Mordor? I don't think so.
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| Justin Chanda works for Jon, this is how he greets Jon at the office every day. |
Lin asks about the health of the market:
Jon says his adult colleagues are very jealous of the never-ending revenue stream that is a children's book publisher's backlist.
Lin asks for Jon's interpretation of the S&S mission statement and it is:
Do good books.
"We always look for quality first. We have a huge commitment to cover diversity with our books, cover all age ranges with our books."
All of the presidents/publishers on the panel ask for authors and illustrators to have realistic expectations in all areas of publishing: advance amounts, marketing, potential sales...
Jon mentions a surprise success story, a book that everyone on the publishing team loved, but was bought for not too much money (a realistic amount) as it was considered a bit of a niche book that would only reach a certain sales level. But
that book—look at all the awards it's got on its cover(!)—has gone on to sell over 200,000 copies.
How do you break in and/or succeed in a children's book career? Jon says attending events like this can help, not only because there are opportunities to learn about the craft and the competition, but to be in proximity to the industry professionals and gatekeepers. And at events like this, you are much more likely to meet those people in person in organic ways (unlike the less organic way of accosting an editor in a bathroom at a tradeshow like BEA).
Maybe, if there is time for Q&A, Jon will finally clear up the age-old riddle: Is this a picture of Simon? OR SCHUSTER?
From Left to right, SCBWI's Lin Oliver (at podium), Megan Tingley (Executive Vice President and Publisher, Little Brown Books for Young Readers), Andrea Pappenheimer (Senior Vice President, Director of Sales/Associate Publisher HarperCollins Publishers), next at the table and shown on screen is Mallory Loehr (Vice President, Publishing Director, Random House/Golden/Doubleday Books for Young Readers), Jean Feiwel (Senior Vice President and Director, Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan Children's Publishing Group), and Jon Anderson (President and Publisher, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division.)
Simon & Schuster plans to create a new imprint specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and horror books “for readers of all ages.”
Jon Anderson, executive vice president and publisher of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, will oversee the not-yet-named imprint. In an interview with Publishers Weekly, he revealed that this imprint will acquire books for readers of “YA and above.”
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Grammy-nominated singer Jewel has inked a deal to publish her first picture book. Paula Wiseman Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, will release That’s What I’d Do and its companion CD on September 18th.
Publisher Jon Anderson negotiated the deal with Williams & Connolly’s Robert Barnett. Paula Wiseman will edit this project. Artist Amy June Bates will serve as the illustrator.
Jewel drew inspiration for this work from a song she wrote/recorded that shares the same name as her forthcoming book. She explained in the release: “I love to sing to my son, Kase, and I hope my first children’s book, That’s What I’d Do, will be shared with new babies in the same way. All children need the joy of music in their lives.”
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Astronaut Mark Kelly has inked a deal with with Paula Wiseman Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, for a picture book called Mousetronaut. Publication is set for October 9th.
Artist C. F. Payne will illustrate the book. Publisher Paula Wiseman will edit the book. Executive vice president Jon Anderson negotiated the deal with Williams & Connolly LLP attorney Robert B. Barnett.
Here’s more from the release: “Mousetronaut tells the story of a small mouse that wants nothing more than to travel to outer space. The little mouse works as hard as the bigger mice to show readiness for the mission . . . and is chosen for the flight! While in space, the astronauts are busy with their mission when only the smallest member of the crew can save the day.”
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Philippa Gregory (pictured, via), author of The Other Boleyn Girl, will publish four young adult historical romance books with Simon & Schuster. The first title is slated for a summer 2012 release.
Children’s publishing director Ingrid Selberg (Simon & Schuster UK) and publisher Jon Anderson (Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing) negotiated the deal. Fiction editorial director Venetia Gosling will edit.
Anderson had this statement in the release: “Gregory is the gold standard for historical fiction. These books are an irresistible combination that will introduce a whole new group of readers to Philippa Gregory, and we look forward to working closely with Philippa to make this new venture a great success.”
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Today Simon & Schuster named Paul Crichton vice president, director of publicity for the Children’s Publishing Division.
Crichton joined the division in 2006, handling campaigns for authors ranging from Sarah Ferguson (Duchess of York) to Lynne Cheney. In a memo about the promotion, Children’s Publishing Division publisher Jon Anderson praised Crichton and his team for 179 New York Times bestsellers, seven New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Books, four National Book Award nominees, and a Newbery Medal winner.
Anderson explained: “the week Paul arrived at Simon & Schuster the Children’s Division had no titles on The New York Times bestseller list, a drought that lasted three months until Scott Westerfeld’s Specials landed on the Paperback list. Since then, there has been only one week that we have not been represented (I’m guessing Paul was on vacation). Coincidence? I think not.”
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