Publishing Challenging Picturebooks

Academic studies have explored international picturebooks from pedagogic, literary, and art and design perspectives. However, fewer look at the role of the publisher from a practicebased perspective. This chapter seeks to explore some of the roles played by the publisher in the creation and distribution of picturebooks, and attempts to articulate some of the thought processes behind the commissioning editor’s decision-making. Commissioning is a subjective process and successful commissioning editors bring together a nuanced range of skills and creative approaches: “editors who have the right combination of judgement, taste, social flair and financial nous are highly valued assets” (Thompson, 2012: 7). This chapter will attempt to unpack some of these elements by considering the challenges that commissioning editors working in the children’s category face in the UK market, and to explore how a publisher might begin to learn the skills they need to thrive in this environment. The examples include a publisher’s reflections on buying the rights for a Canadian picturebook on mental health for the UK market, and an undergraduate Publishing student’s response to depictions of gender in a cautionary tale from the 1930s. They explore different, specific aspects of the publishers’ role, and are intended to exemplify some of the choices a publisher considers during the creation of a book. The second section considers how a publishing student might begin to understand what these choices are, and their possible implications.