A Closer Look at Two of Our Publishing Businesses in Emerging Markets
March 21, 2018
Who is the biggest English-language book publisher in the second-biggest English-language book market? Who among our divisions sold 3.75 million Peppa Pig book sets last year? Read on to find out.
expandIntroducing New Penguin Random House Imprints from Around the World
March 19, 2018
Over the last year our publishing groups worldwide announced or launched exciting new imprints. The imprints’ goals and mission range from giving more diverse voices a platform and publishing home to providing tailored content for digital devices and offering ancillary products that leverage the power and impact of our greatest authors. Here is a roundup of some of our new imprints:
expandLast year, Random House relaunched ONE WORLD under Chris Jackson as Publisher and Editor-in-Chief. His mandate is to revitalize and expand the historic publishing program—originally established in 1991 as the first multicultural imprint at a major publishing house.
According to Mr. Jackson, “The fundamental mission of One World is to provide a home for writers—including novelists, essayists, memoirists, journalists, and thinkers and writers unconstrained by genre—who want to tell stories and explore ideas that help us reimagine our politics, culture, and interior lives, without the filter of the dominant culture. Twenty-five years ago One World was launched as an imprint that would tell stories for and from and about all of us—and that kind of vision remains a radical and vital one today. I’m thrilled we’ll be reanimating that idea and expanding its possibilities to capture the world in its fullness for this moment.” The imprint’s first two titles, BONES by Joe Tone and WE WERE EIGHT YEARS IN POWER by Ta-Nehisi Coates, were published to much critical acclaim. POP PRESS Penguin Random House UK (Ebury) Ebury, one of the UK’s leading non-fiction publishers, launched a new imprint – Pop Press – dedicated to creative gift publishing last fall. Headed up by Laura Higginson, Editorial Director, and Elen Jones, Senior Commissioning Editor, Pop Press will publish 18 titles a year focused on trend-led, beautifully designed, impulse-price-point gift books. Recent and upcoming publications include: THE PERIODIC TABLE OF FEMINISM, which navigates the history of feminism through some of its most prominent advocates; HOW TO BE A PRINCESS, a collection of inspirational fairy tales for modern heroines to mark the upcoming Royal Wedding in May; STOP LOOKING AT YOUR PHONE, an illustrated manual that reminds us we can survive without our smartphones; and for some Christmas entertainment there's WHERE'S THE MERMAID?, a fun WHERE'S WALLY-style book for mermaid fans of all ages! With books increasingly sharing the same space in retailers as luxury greetings cards, mugs, t-shirts and stationery, Pop is Ebury’s way to focus its collective, creative energy to ensure its books are the gifts that shoppers choose. PENGUIN LIFE Penguin Random House Australia In January of this year, Penguin Random House Australia launched Penguin Life, an imprint focused on personal development and healthy living. Penguin Life will publish six books this year, debuting with THE LONGEVITY DIET by Valter Longo, director of the University of Southern California’s Longevity Institute. Longo’s book has sold more than 300,000 copies to date in Italy. Other authors on the list are The Body Image Movement founder Taryn Brumfitt, the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center director Martin Seligman, and founder of the SugarByHalf campaign and former team doctor for the Australian cricket team, Dr Peter Brukner. “Penguin Life enables us, as a business, to better connect with communities and social issues, and take more responsibility for how we influence and contribute to readers’ lives,” says Nikki Christer, PRH Australia’s group publishing director. PETIT Penguin Random House India Penguin Random House India will launch a digital imprint Penguin Petit. Featuring a carefully curated selection from Penguin Random House India’s extensive list of titles, Penguin Petits are short reads, approximately 50 pages each, designed for ease of reading across digital devices. Readers will now be able to enjoy the writings by some of their favourite authors in short, low priced and highly accessible digital formats, including works by Premchand, Gulzar, Devdutt Pattanaik, Ramachandra Guha, Sudha Murty and Anita Nair. Penguin Petits will provide great, quality content to suit a broad range of interests, from fiction, nonfiction, children’s literature, mythology to self-help, history and current affairs, and will be available in an e-book format. Rukun Kaul, Associate Vice President, Digital and Business Initiatives, Penguin Random House India, said “With Penguin Petit, Penguin Random House India makes a foray into the world of accessible short-form reading. It’s designed for an increasingly mobile India that might want to be able to read anywhere and at any time. With its easy downloadability, wide range of content and accessible pricing, Penguin Petit should appeal to many readers. Our books and authors will also benefit from the easy discoverability and increased visibility that comes with making great reads available in a shorter and more affordable format.” ORIGEN Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial USA launched Origen (Origin), a new religious imprint for Spanish-language books, which will feature titles on self-help, relationships, and a Christian-based lifestyle. The imprint will also publish titles for children and young adults under the Origen Kids label. “For many years, we have observed that a large number of Spanish-speaking readers are interested in religious books,” says Silvia Matute, president of PRHGE USA. “It just made sense for PRHGE to create a religious book imprint and start catering to the religious [Spanish-language] reader.” The new imprint will publish approximately 20 titles per year, among them works by prominent Hispanics, such as Pope Francis and evangelical pastor Samuel Rodriguez. The first four titles were released in October, including Pope Francis’s QUIÉN SOY YO PARA JUZGAR? Sister companies in Mexico, Colombia, and the rest of Latin America will publish additional titles that will be distributed as part of the Origen list.How Three Recently Acquired Businesses Made Us a Bigger Spanish-Language Powerhouse, More Health-Conscious, and More Stylish
March 15, 2018
Expanding the reach of our authors to their readers, building our business, and growing our market share are important objectives for Penguin Random House in all our markets. These objectives are achieved in many ways, among them through three singular, compelling business acquisitions over the past year: Ediciones B, Rodale Books, and Out of Print.
expandBeyond the Book: Captivating Existing Audiences and Capturing New Readers at Penguin Random House UK
October 31, 2017
Penguin Random House UK pushes the boundaries beyond the book and uses technology to give audiences a personalized experience with campaigns like Ask Penguin and the Pride Book Club.
expandGetting Personal
Through our Penguin Books UK channels, we are engaging with readers in a completely new way by focusing on personalization. Ask Penguin, our biweekly personal book recommendations, allows us to have direct conversations with our readers on Facebook and Twitter. Using #AskPenguin, our followers receive completely bespoke recommendations based on their mood, a theme they’re interested in, or other books they have enjoyed. [caption id="attachment_8413" align="alignright" width="295"] William Sieghart, founder of National Poetry Day and author of The Poetry Pharmacy, recommends poems to Twitter users based on their mood[/caption] For example, to mark National Poetry Day in September, William Sieghart, founder of the annual celebration of poetry and author of The Poetry Pharmacy, recommended poems to suit the mood of requesters, which ranged from tiredness to triumph. We are also experimenting with Twitter threads, creating themed reading lists and stories. To celebrate International Women’s Day 2017, for example, we used this feature to showcase a number of inspirational women who appear in our bestselling title The Female Lead - Women Who Shape Our World by Edwina Dunn, with original photography by Brigitte Lacombe. [caption id="attachment_8410" align="alignnone" width="600"] Caption: Our colleagues behind Ask Penguin, Savannah McGowan, Claire Davis, Zainab Juma and Indira Birnie, are brought to life for social media users[/caption]Penguin Platform
Our young adult community aimed at 16 to 19 year olds, Penguin Platform, is growing rapidly, as we drive discussion on issues this audience cares about through our online book clubs and targeted content. We recently ran a Pride Book Club, collaborating with well-known YouTubers and influencers, to encourage this digitally engaged audience to join a virtual book club and have conversations with us and our network of book bloggers. The online book club proved so popular with our young adult community that we launched a Black History Month edition in October featuring Yrsa Daley-Ward, Zadie Smith, Kayo Chingonyi, George the Poet, and many more inspirational authors. [caption id="attachment_8416" align="alignnone" width="600"] Pride Book Club packages were sent to influencers who have a total following of 1.4m[/caption] As a result of having direct conversations with our young adult community and using in-depth insights on the causes and issues this audience cares about, we are able to deliver a tailored, relevant offering to our Penguin Platform audience.By going beyond the book and using technology to directly engage with our audiences, we’re able to captivate both loyal readers and new audiences alike.
Our Black History Month Book Club features important backlist classics and new releases, including authors Nicola Yoon, Sam Selvon and George the Poet.
To stay up-to-date on UK news, visit: www.penguinrandomhouse.co.ukPenguin Random House U.S. Extends the Wonder Brand with Major Licensing Campaign
October 30, 2017
The international success of R.J. Palacio’s #1 bestselling book WONDER continues to expand in new and creative ways. The story of Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face, has been read by more than 6 million people worldwide since it was published by Knopf Books for Young Readers in 2012. The book has launched an inspiring movement to Choose Kind (#choosekind), the ever-important idea that choosing kindness inspires a chain reaction of good will toward others. Random House Children’s Books has implemented a unique cross-company licensing program partnering with Crown imprint Clarkson Potter and Out of Print Clothing along with outside companies that manufacture consumer products.
expandPenguin Random House Canada Partners with Toronto International Film Festival to Reach New Audiences
October 30, 2017
In 2010, Random House of Canada and the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) formed a partnership to produce an event series that would bring together book and film lovers, called Books on Film. The idea was conceived to give audiences an opportunity to examine great cinema that began as outstanding literature, with a behind-the-scenes look at some of their favorite book-to-film adaptations. Each spring, the Books on Film series includes six events, all of which feature the presentation of a film along with a special onstage interview with authors, filmmakers, and industry experts, and each event is hosted by CBC Radio personality Eleanor Wachtel.
expandBringing a New “Convention” Model to the Brazilian Young Adult Readership
October 30, 2017
Like many countries around the world, Brazil has seen a surge in young adult literature. Young readers flock to every book festival, treat their favorite authors like rock stars, and form huge communities online. It seemed like a missed opportunity that there wasn’t a festival focused on them in our country. Organizers that invited YA authors didn’t really know what to do with crowds that were willing to sleep overnight to secure a place in line to get an autograph.
expandPenguin Random House India Invites Audiences to Celebrate Its 30th Anniversary
October 30, 2017
Penguin Random House India turns 30 this year. As an ongoing anniversary-year celebration, the company is engaging readers in creative new ways, from sharing backlist classics to producing a phenomenally popular crowd-sourced Twitter campaign.
expandNo author? No Problem for Penguin Random House South Africa’s Promotion of Jamie Oliver’s New Book
October 30, 2017
How do you successfully publicize a cookbook whose author is unavailable in person? This was the challenge Penguin Random House South Africa faced this September in launching the internationally beloved Jamie Oliver’s new work, 5 Ingredients: Quick & Easy Food. Their solution: have Jamie appear virtually, while prominent members of his international culinary team came together onsite.
expandPenguin Random House Australia Engages Readers with Street Press–Style Magazine
October 25, 2017
Penguin Random House Australia is known for quality publishing when it comes to adult and young readers’ books, but its marketing team’s idea to engage with readers has opened the door to an entirely different kind of publishing. Their quarterly street-press-style magazine, Underline, not only showcases their talented published authors, but supports one of the publisher’s pillars for growth: discovering new audiences and readers.
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