Lizzie Skurnick Books
Many adult readers of YA fiction have favorite authors whose books were popular back when we were teens but aren't to be found at all now, except in dusty used book shops and thrift stores (both excellent places for booklovers to haunt, incidentally). Years ago, I tracked down many of my old favorites second hand to give my niece and nephew, but some of them I never could find. Those people who loved the YA books of the 1970s and 1980s may not have as much difficulty finding the titles they once loved, thanks to an imprint of Ig Publishing.
The imprint, called Lizzie Skurnick Books, is headed up by freelance journalist Lizzie Skurnick, who has specialized in writing about publishing and culture. She's also the author of Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading (read my review), and clearly has a deep love for the books of her own formative years.
The initial batch of books is made up of forgotten classics from the 1970s, with one from the 1980s and one from the 1950s.
Here's the lineup (all for 2013, I think):
I must confess, none of these are familiar to me, though I'm just a little too young to have been the target audience when they came out, which could explain it. It also looks like they're all aimed at girls, which would further explain why I wouldn't have read them -- while I am female, I tend to gravitate to books not aimed at a specific gender, and anyway as I teen I read mostly fantasy and SF, which don't seem to be represented in this lineup.
In addition to re-printing older books, Skurnick also plans to publish brand new titles. In keeping with the purpose of the imprint, though, these will not be books by new writers. Instead, they'll be new books by writers best known for their novels of the 1970s and 1980s. The first of these brand-new tales is Isabel's War, scheduled for 2014. It's by Lila Perl, author of Me and Fat Glenda, one of the imprint's launch titles.
While I'm all for seeing older books brought back into print, none of these really look that interesting to me. Perhaps it's the old-fashioned-looking covers which seem to be intended to appeal to adults feeling nostalgic rather than to contemporary teens (you can see the covers in the Publishers Weekly article, my primary source). On the other hand, I do try to keep an open mind, and if I have the chance to review any of the titles, I'll certainly take it. Sometimes I like to be proven wrong.
Lizzie Skurnick Books will be available in relatively small print runs in trade paper format (presumably if demand is high, the books will have additional printings). They'll also be issued as e-books.
And there's certainly nothing wrong with aiming to appeal to adult readers wanting to re-experience their old favorites. Still, I'd rather see older books re-printed to appeal to a new audience. If only someone would give me my own imprint...
Lizzie Skurnick Books
The imprint, called Lizzie Skurnick Books, is headed up by freelance journalist Lizzie Skurnick, who has specialized in writing about publishing and culture. She's also the author of Shelf Discovery: The Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading (read my review), and clearly has a deep love for the books of her own formative years.
The initial batch of books is made up of forgotten classics from the 1970s, with one from the 1980s and one from the 1950s.
Here's the lineup (all for 2013, I think):
- Debutante Hill by Lois Duncan
- A Long Day in November by Ernest J. Gaines
- Happy Endings Are All Alike by Sandra Scoppettone
- I'll Love You When You're More Like Me by M.E. Kerr
- Secret Lives by Berthe Amoss
- To All My Fans, With Love, From Sylvie by Ellen Conford
- Me and Fat Glenda by Lila Perl
I must confess, none of these are familiar to me, though I'm just a little too young to have been the target audience when they came out, which could explain it. It also looks like they're all aimed at girls, which would further explain why I wouldn't have read them -- while I am female, I tend to gravitate to books not aimed at a specific gender, and anyway as I teen I read mostly fantasy and SF, which don't seem to be represented in this lineup.
New Books By Classic Authors
In addition to re-printing older books, Skurnick also plans to publish brand new titles. In keeping with the purpose of the imprint, though, these will not be books by new writers. Instead, they'll be new books by writers best known for their novels of the 1970s and 1980s. The first of these brand-new tales is Isabel's War, scheduled for 2014. It's by Lila Perl, author of Me and Fat Glenda, one of the imprint's launch titles.
While I'm all for seeing older books brought back into print, none of these really look that interesting to me. Perhaps it's the old-fashioned-looking covers which seem to be intended to appeal to adults feeling nostalgic rather than to contemporary teens (you can see the covers in the Publishers Weekly article, my primary source). On the other hand, I do try to keep an open mind, and if I have the chance to review any of the titles, I'll certainly take it. Sometimes I like to be proven wrong.
Lizzie Skurnick Books will be available in relatively small print runs in trade paper format (presumably if demand is high, the books will have additional printings). They'll also be issued as e-books.
And there's certainly nothing wrong with aiming to appeal to adult readers wanting to re-experience their old favorites. Still, I'd rather see older books re-printed to appeal to a new audience. If only someone would give me my own imprint...
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