Puffin to launch teen fiction list under Razorbill name
18.01.10 | Caroline Horn
Puffin Books is to launch a new teen fiction list, Razorbill, in response to the growth in sales of commercial teen fiction triggered by Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, Puffin m.d. Francesca Dow has confirmed.
The Razorbill imprint is already established at Penguin in the US and some of its titles will be included in the UK list. The companies will also seek joint acquisitions. However, Dow said that Razorbill UK would be a distinctive list in its own right. The first three titles, all debuts, will launch this summer, including The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han in June.
“Retailers are interested in teenagers and we want to develop Razorbill UK as the ‘Michael Joseph’ (the Penguin commercial fiction imprint) for teenagers,” Dow said. The list will be headed by current editorial director Amanda Punter as publisher.
Puffin also announced that it would be launching ‘Puffin Baby’, a new list for baby and toddlers that will focus on exploiting its classic brands with formats for babies. This will launch with a new Moomin range, which includes baby formats, this summer.
The plans were unveiled at a media presentation held today (18th Jan) that included details of Puffin's 70th birthday celebrations this year. These will include the rebranding Puffin Modern Classics with a special launch of seven titles in June to mark each decade of Puffin publishing, and a range of 'Pocket Money Puffins'; stories by contemporary Puffin authors that will retail at £3.99 each.
A range of Puffin merchandise will also be launched in May, managed by ArtMeetsMatter.com, which handles Penguin's merchandising programme.
