Every year the Society of Chldren's Book Writers and Illustrators in the British Isles stages a panel focused on gauging the State of the Nation - the children's book industry. This year I was honoured to compere the panel at our yearly conference in Winchester. It seems the Children's Book Nation has become a world of huge commercial debuts. But are we kidding ourselves? Will publishers continue to support the authors if the books do not succeed as wildly as they hope? The bottom line features largely in decision making - no longer can an author or artist expect nurturing from their publishers and editors, in the name of enriching literature and culture. And this is the year libraries and booksellers are under siege as never before. The dominance of Amazon threatens the structures that hold up our book culture. What to do? What does the future hold? PANEL: Hodder Senior Commissioning Editor Beverley Birch Waterstone's Children's New Titles Buyer Melissa Cox Carnegie Panel member and Chair of Youth Library Group Matt Imrie Literary agent Claire Wilson from Rogers, Coleridge and White US Author and founder of SCBWI Lin Oliver Compere: Candy Gourlay, author of Tall Story CREDITS Thanks to Digital Book World and artists who created Penguin/Random House Logos http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/what-the-new-penguin-random-house-logo-might-look-like/ Thanks to photographers of UK Library Closures and Demonstrations Quotes from Nathan Bransford, Sara Odedina, Chris Riddell, Rachelle Gardner, Marjorie Scardino and the New York Times. Screen grab from The Guardian article by Alison Flood http://candygourlay.com

1. STATE OF THE NATION
One Night Stand
vs.
PARTNERS for LIFE

2. It’s not you.
It’s the
bottom line.
High stakes publishing means love’s labour is
often lost for the writer

3. “
The Spaghetti
NATHAN BRANSFORD
AGENT TURNED
CHILDREN’S AUTHOR
Agent signs up
writers even when
they’re unsure about a
project, then throws the
manuscripts at publishers
to see what sticks.

4. “ SARAH ODEDINA
HOT KEY BOOKS
Publishing houses often
lose their nerve …
if authors haven’t got to a
certain point, it can be hard
to stick by them.

5. “
At acquisitions,
SARAH ODEDINA
HOT KEY BOOKS
publishers have to
decide which titles they
are prepared to throw
marketing money
behind.

6. The Relentless
Revolution
How is everyone coping with digital and ebooks?

7. “
CHRIS RIDDELL
ILLUSTRATOR
In the late 20th century
illustration went into
decline … children’s books
that in Shepard’s day would
have been automatically
illustrated were deemed no
longer to require an
illustrator’s input.

8. “
CHRIS RIDDELL
ILLUSTRATOR
Today the need for
illustration is growing …
In the digital future text
will be annotated visually,
animated and illustrated
like never before.

9. “
RACHELLE GARDENER
LITERARY AGENT
You’ll never go to the dark
side and buy an e-reader?
E-books ARE real books …
there is NO dark side.

12. ENDANGERED
Public libraries and school libraries are closing
across the UK. Is the problem purely economic
or is there a need for change?

13. PRESTON LIBRARY,
WEMBLEY

14. LEEDS LIBRARY

15. SYDENHAM LIBRARY

16. BARHAM LIBRARY, BRENT

17. HANWELL LIBRARY, EALING

18. PLECK LIBRARY, WALSALL

19. IRCHESTER LIBRARY,
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE

20. EASTFIELD LIBRARY, SCARBOROUGH

21. LEWISHAM LIBRARY, LONDON

22. AINTREE LIBRARY, SEFTON

23. KENSAL RISE LIBRARY, LONDON

26. The
Merging of
Giants
Random House and Penguin get it together

31. “ MARJORIE SCARDINO
PEARSON CHIEF EXEC
Together, they
will be able to share
costs, invest more in
authors and readers,
and be more
adventurous in the
world of digital.

32. “ ADAM DAVIDSON
THE NEW YORK TIMES
When you see a merger
between two giants in a
declining industry, it can
look like the financial
version of a couple having
a baby to save a
marriage.

33. STATE OF THE NATION
One Night Stand
vs.
PARTNERS for LIFE