Some Points To Mull Over On Childrens Book Publishing
There are many, many kinds of book publishing. From romance novels, to fantasy, to sci-fi, to everything in between, there are publishing houses that make it their business to publish that genre. Why? Because readers are among the diverse people you could market to. Readers are so diverse, in fact, that the term "reading market" is almost meaningless. Everyone reads- even children. Childrens book publishing has arisen to fill the need of children to read and the needs of parents who want their children to read. And if you will forgive the awful rhyme I am about to inflict on you, it is a very big need, indeed.
Childrens book publishing is one of the biggest subsets of the book publishing industry. It is certainly among the most diverse and among the most interesting barometers of culture since it began its existence after the birth of modern publishing itself. From public domain works to celebrity authors, from coloring books to epic fantasy, from cook books to comedy- childrens book publishing is certainly in a league of its own. And what a big league it is.
It is certainly the most colorful of the leagues. From woodcuts to hand colored drawings and eventually to computer generated designs, books made for children are practically a gauge of the technology and culture of a certain period.
The humble beginnings of childrens book publishing began some time after the invention of the first movable press by Johann Gutenberg. The expense involved with early printing in medieval Europe meant however, that only truly important things were put to print, mainly religious texts and Bibles. For the time being, stories for children were mostly passed down through oral tradition. As time went on however, the process became cheaper and more accessible and almost anything of interest was printed. And thus, childrens book publishing came to be. The first books childrens book publishing printed were mostly the old folk tales that were passed down by word of mouth. Very notably, the stories were often very dark and violent, as the prudishness of the Victorian era had yet to take hold. It might surprise many that sex was actually discussed quite freely in many circles before the 19th century, and true enough, even books for children had a disturbing (to many modern sensibilities) amount of it. Stories for children were often also very bleak and violent. By the Victorian era however, values had changed towards conservatism and as a result, childrens book publishing often changed the old stories into something more palatable to most readers. Many authors who would become mainstays of childrens book publishing, wrote in a more realistic and often satirical style came to prominence during this time, among them Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, and many, many more. Very notably, since their works are now public domain, childrens book publishers can print them whenever they please without paying royalties, resulting in classic works by these authors to be easily accessible through childrens book publishers. Notably, technologies developed in this time, like color printing and typesetting kept on continually being improved throughout the next century and into our times, with most of the drudgery of old processes being done with computers. Some current trends in this kind of publishing include serials, and ever more ingenious ways to increase interactivity of books for very young readers. But seeing the billions the book publishers for children make, and without the end of the money making being clearly in sight despite the emergence of computers, it is safe to say the industry would probably live happily ever after.
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