Monday, August 2, 2010

Stephanie Owens Lurie: A View from the Top

Stephanie Owens Lurie is Editorial Director of Disney Hyperion.



In an entertaining talk, Stephanie mentioned that she got her start in publishing when she was very young--ten years-old. After the formative years with Harriet the Spy, Stephanie wrote her own book at the age of ten about worms and love. :-)

When she got a bit older, she thought a job helping people with their ideas sounded like a dream. After interning, Stephanie has worked with many fabulous houses, and currently is the Editorial Director of Disney Hyperion.

There are two imprints at Disney--Disney Press: tie ins with Disney movies, TV and characters. And then Disney Hyperion: non-Disney related content from Preschool to YA. At Hyperion they are very author focused. Melissa De la Cruz, Ally Carter, Rick Riordan and Mo Willems are among their writers and illustrators.

Publishing about 100 books a year, at least 75 % are original content and 25% are reprints. 80% is commercial.

What would you say to a martian about the climate of the children book market? Big books are bigger than ever.Harry Potter and Twilight have opened doors. So many levels of books are doing really well, especially in YA. She has theories as to what shrunk the picture book market. But she thinks that the digital book could possibly mean the rebirth of the picture book.

-Suzanne

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