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Books about mental health, the environment and space look set to dominate the children’s non-fiction landscape this year, according to publishers, who predict that the non-fiction sector is in line for growth in 2019.
Sharon Hutton, Bloomsbury’s publishing director for children’s non-fiction, said that there will be a lot of books about the planet and conservation this year, while Debbie Foy, publishing director for Wren & Rook, part of the Hachette Children’s Group, thinks mental health will be a hot topic. "It’s nothing new but I think it will expand and diversify.
"We’re looking at neurodiversity: how our brains work and how they respond in different ways, so that includes dyspraxia, ADHD, Tourettes, autism."
Rachel Kellehar, senior commissioning editor at Nosy Crow, pointed out the importance of event-based publishing, saying she expected a proliferation of books about space this year—the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing—along with more titles about sport in the lead up to the Olympics and the Paralympics in 2020.
Meanwhile Jenny Tyler, publishing director at Usborne, said she had noticed a continued interest in STEM subjects as well as "anything to do with looking after the planet, such as reusing, recycling, reducing consumption and waste and, in particular, what children can do about plastics".
For Belinda Rasmussen, publisher at Macmillan Children’s Books, illustration is key and she predicts that illustrators who create beautiful books will be key to growing the market for non- fiction. She also believes trends in licensing, like Fortnite or slime, could also generate a lot of sales, even if the licensing category is struggling over all.
Jonny Marx, senior editor at 360 Degrees, an imprint of Little Tiger, stressed the importance of representation in non-fiction and thought there will be more books featuring people with disabilities, while Kellehar said it will be increasingly important to find authentic voices. "With our books we are looking at publishing ‘own voices’ or working with specialists and we will be reaching out to organisations that specialise in the topics we are writing about."
Marx also thought that producing books about the environment would help publishers to focus on their own ecological footprint. "We want to be more environmentally friendly and we don’t want to use, for example, inks or plastic coatings that damage the environment. It will be interesting to see how that plays out across the industry."
Most publishers expect books about inspirational women to proliferate too. Foy thinks publishers will move away from the "spread by spread" model, used in (and then copied from) the Rebel Girls series, and that narrative non-fiction would become increasingly popular. Kellehar doesn’t think that there will be any big female anthology books this year; feminist themes will be instead more ingrained in non-fiction books overall, she said.
Most publishers agreed that there would be a greater range of formats, saying that big, expensive titles, which were very popular a few years ago, would still be produced but only for the right project. "We have everything from a £25 book to £4.99 sticker books and publishers want to cater for everyone’s pockets," said Kellehar. "We make decisions based on who we think the book is for. Is it a gift book? A Christmas book? Is it something parents will put in their rucksacks on a day out to keep their children entertained?"
Across the ages
Publishers also agreed that non-fiction would see growth across all age groups, although some were more enthusiastic about non-fiction YA than others. Foy said editors would have to be "judicious" when publishing non-fiction for teenagers because of the difficulty in attracting the attention of readers. But, according to Rasmussen, teens are "politically engaged" and want "facts over fiction". "In the US market there are non-fiction titles about sexism, racism, gun control, periods... and we are actively looking at acquiring in all these areas," she said.
Last year the children’s non-fiction market, excluding study guides, grew by 10.4% to £49.9m and all of the publishers who spoke to The Bookseller said the industry could again achieve growth in 2019.
"I think there is significant growth to be had," said Rasmussen. "A third of the adult market is non-fiction and only about 15% of the children’s market is non-fiction. Non-fiction publishing is moving out of the academic and reference space and becoming mainstream. A few years ago people thought non-fiction was over because of Google but now they are realising the value of creation."