The schools market, events and consumer loyalty are all helping protect the children’s independent sector from the economic downturn. While the BA recently reported a fall in the number of independent booksellers overall during 2012, down to 1,094 from 1,159 in 2011, children’s specialists are more confident about the future....

Authors and illustrators have pointed to a fall in the number of school events they are being asked to attend, largely as a result of school budget cuts. An author or illustrator event will cost schools around £350.

Author Alan Gibbons said: “There is definitely a tail-off in school events, I am still being booked up but...

Bloomsbury Children’s Books is expanding its children’s list with the development of its colour publishing output, including picture books and gift books, which will grow from a “handful” of titles to 15 to 20 books a year, said m.d. Emma Hopkin.

Bloomsbury will launch an activity books imprint in October,...

Phoenix Yard Books, which launched in 2011, is to expand its fiction publishing in 2013 with three new fiction series, including early readers and middle grade fiction.

The company published nine books this year, focusing on picture books. Next year, half of the 18 titles it publishes will be fiction.

Publisher Emma Langley...