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Independent publisher Canongate has teamed up with children’s specialist Walker Books to create a young adult imprint, packaging the Scottish firm's books for a younger audience.
The imprint, Walker Canongate, launches in July, with four titles - Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Niccolo Ammaniti's I’m Not Scared, Kelly Link's Pretty Monsters and Matt Haig's The Radleys, all of which are books that have been, or will be, published on the Canongate adult list.
A further unnamed title is due out in the same year. All of the titles will have different jacket designs, and some will be "abridged for the YA market", or have additional content, such as teaching aids, for schools. The books will be marketed and represented by the Walker sales team, and distributed through MDL.
Jamie Byng, managing director of Canongate, said he had "long admired the Walker list", and that it was "thrilling" to launch a joint venture with the team. He added: "Not only do I think it is tremendously exciting for our two companies but also for those writers involved, their books and most importantly, young readers. I am confident it will be a long and fruitful partnership."
Helen McAleer, managing director of Walker Books, added: "Walker has a reputation for being one of the most innovative and creative independent publishers of high quality books for children - a reputation Canongate shares for its adult publishing programme.
"Our expertise in the children’s marketplace combined with our existing contacts with schools, libraries and the children’s retail sector place us in a very strong position to bring these excellent books to a new audience."
The companies said the partnership could also open doors to "other future publishing projects".