Book Swag

Swag

• Standard Definition: plunder, booty; money, valuables.
• Recent Definition: confidence, style, carriage; related to swagger.

There's a saying going around the internet that “swag doesn’t pay the bills.” In Children’s Marketing, that is patently not true.  Swag totally pays the bills—or, at least it helps sell books, which is what keeps the lights (and air conditioning) on in this funky-shaped building. [Note: Much of Macmillan is housed in New York City’s Flatiron Building, an angular architectural wonder that is on the National Register of Historic Places and has a perfect five-star rating on Yelp. Swag.]

Kids book swag is kind of like a party favor—if your book had a birthday bash or a wedding, it would thank you for coming and hand you a little gift on your way out that looked like one of the following:

Bookmarks: Classic swag! A bookmark doesn’t stray too far from the world of ink and paper. Almost anything can be a bookmark, including smaller books—but do this too much and you get a Matryoshka doll effect with a couple of broken bindings. Better to pick up the real deal!

Poster: When you’re not reading your book, it can still beautify your world. A children’s book poster usually consists of a spread from the book with a tagline that is funny, telling or inspiring. Since they are often displayed in libraries and bookstores, these posters may have messages which encourage you to read. Consider yourself warned.

Class Activities: Sometimes class activities are on the back of a poster; sometimes they’re on their own. You can check out book pages on the Macmillan website to see if there are bonus activities! Is this type of swag a little like the carrot sticks that one of your neighbors gives out on Halloween instead of candy? Maybe. Did that person know what was best for you? Definitely. Some of these activities were created by interns, specifically this intern, and they are FUN—and good for you.

Buttons, Tote Bags, Pencils: This genre of swag is my favorite, as it’s a killer combination of practical and expressive. Plus, sometimes tote bags contain… more swag. And books.

Alternative Swag: Here’s where things get really creative. Did you know that Shadow and Bone has its own nail polish? And that the upcoming Crewel has its own swanky purple wristband? 52 Reasons to Hate My Father had a giveaway that included heiress sunglasses like the one in the book. Step aside, Duane Reade, because Mackids has this covered. These novelty items are a ton of fun to come up with in marketing meetings—it’s an interesting challenge to design a small object that both conveys something about a whole book and is useful or cool on its own.

Now you might be asking yourself: Where can I get my hands on some swag? Easy! To get a party favor, go to a party. Check out author signings and book festivals. Buddy up with your local librarian. Consider working in publishing! The whole floor may or may not have sampled custom Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group cookies to make sure they were OK for ALA. (They were, but it’s always good to check.) Turn your swag on, and happy reading!

 -Katherine

Trends in Children's Books

Trends in Children’s Literature (and some suggested variations)

Interning at MacKids has given me the opportunity to check out a lot of children’s books, and a few patterns have emerged. Here are some thoughts on what’s in! - Katherine Damm

Trend: Bears

Suggested Reading: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?; Bear Has A Story To Tell (September 2012); The Bear in the Book (October 2012) 

What is it about bears that make them such lovable children’s book characters? Is it their adorably awkward gait, fuzzy exterior, or just that “bear” rhymes with a lot of words? Whatever it is, I am a fan of this theme. I want to live in a world where bears are not dangerous wild animals, but are instead cuddly creatures who like to hang out with their forest friends—friends that they definitely don’t want to eat.

Variations I’d like to see: huggable sharks, whimsical scorpions, mischievous man o’ wars.

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Trend: Bedtime

Suggested Reading: Bedtime for Monsters (July 2012), Lucy Can’t Sleep (August 2012)

This totally makes sense. Bedtime is contagious, like yawns. If a child sees a well-behaved peer getting down with sleepytimes, they’re much more likely to go to bed without a fuss. But books aren’t just for bedtime. They’re for all day, every day! That’s why I propose…

Variation I’d like to see: Wake up, surprise story-time! (This is best done between the hours of 12am and 4am.)

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Trend: Grandparents

Suggested Reading: Grandpa Green, Grammy Lamby and the Secret Handshake

There are some great picture books about children and grandparents. The kids are sweet, the grandparents are role-models, and nobody ever says anything that has become politically incorrect within the past twenty years just a little too loudly for comfort while you’re out and about.

Variation I’d like to see: A picture book about my grandmother specifically. We call her Mimi, and she is a witty southern lady who pointedly compliments my “lingerie” when I wear shirts without sleeves.

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Trend: Dystopian Fiction

Suggested Reading: Struck, Monument 14, Birthmarked, After the Snow, and more…

This trend is really strong in Young Adult literature right now. High school is pretty dystopian as it is—amiright?? But it can help put acne, gossip and boy/girl problems into perspective when you see powerful role models fighting to survive in their messed-up world who also struggle with acne, gossip and boy/girl problems.

Variation I’d like to see: Utopian fiction. (Sure, dystopian fiction can teach you to look at today’s society through a critical lens, but that can be a total bummer.)

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Trend: Friendship

Suggested Reading: Pretty much any book

This trend spans all age ranges, from baby books to the big, bad world of adult literature.  Friends do everything together. They support each other, bicker, go on adventures, fight demons, and sometimes realize their feelings for one another and smooch. (Those last two are much more common in YA than other genres.)

Variation I’d like to see: Acquaintanceship. (Friendship is easy. Acquaintanceship is complicated. Do you say hi and chat? Just say hi? Wave? Avoid eye contact until the last possible second and then make a weird sound? I wish these questions had been addressed a long time ago.)

Any trends you’ve noticed?

It's A Book!

Hello, all! My name is Katherine and I’m the Marketing intern at Mackids for the summer. A bit about me: I’m entering my senior year at college. I like writing and singing and comedy, and I major in the wonderfully dense discipline of Comparative Literature. Sometimes when I talk about what I study, I see people’s eyes glaze over and I know all they’re hearing is, “Blah, blah, blah.” Other times, I meet someone who is excited to discuss literary theory with me in an intelligent manner. Unfortunately, when that happens, my eyes tend to glaze over and all I hear is “Blah, blah, blah.” Theory is funny like that.

So enough about that…. Let’s talk about books!

I was delighted the other day to read the super-talented Lane Smith’s It’s A Book, which shows a conversation between a bibliophile monkey and a techie jackass. The monkey explains again and again that what he’s reading is a book while the jackass bombards him with questions: does it have Wi-Fi? Can it text? Tweet?

Sadly, I found myself identifying with the jackass. As a Comp Lit student, you’d think I’d spend more time with books than I do — but I often use websites and printouts, photocopies and sometimes even audiobooks (set to 3x speed so I feel like I’m being serenaded by chipmunks).

When you do use a book in college, you get the least expensive version you can find. (If you’re lucky, you pick up a used copy from a slacker. Those are always in perfect condition.) Then you spend the money you saved on pizza and deodorant. The truth is, schoolbooks are often a means to an end. You get the information in whatever form is cheapest and easiest, because you cover it up in your own highlights and annotations anyway. (My annotations are usually along the lines of “?????”)

So one of the things I’ve loved most about this internship is getting back to real, honest-to-goodness books. And if there’s one type of book that is lovely and cannot be photocopied or texted or tweeted or annotated, it’s a children’s book. Here’s a secret I learned this summer that they don’t teach you in school: books without pictures are overrated. Here, I’m surrounded by children’s books with gorgeous artwork. There are some for an older crowd over at the graphic novel imprint, First Second, too. They’re the kind of books that make you want to read and keep and display them, and then find a kid so you can show them what’s up. If you ever forget why you love books, see if you can get your hands on a really beautiful one. (Don’t get me wrong, though—books without pictures are also great. And we have those, too!)

So that’s something of me and what I’m interested in! (You know, the objectified book as it fits into modern materialist theory and the complications which Derrida brings up regarding blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…) See you next week!

A Fond Farewell by Rachael Stein (The Last of the Intern Chronicles)

By the time you read this, I may no longer be here¹.

Okay, let’s cut the dramatics. But it’s true. Even as I write this blog post, the end of my internship looms ever closer. This will be the last time I ever write The Intern Chronicles. Soon, I will no longer be doing mailings on a daily basis, stealing borrowing ARCs from shelves, or squinting at the bright computer screen as I copy and paste and repeat.

But I don’t want to leave!

I think we all know from my penultimate Intern Chronicles post, which was a progress report or rather love letter to MacKids, how much I’ve enjoyed this internship. It’s been phenomenal and much more than I ever hoped for when I started. This experience makes me impatient for the day I graduate college and get a real job in children’s publishing—who wants to go to class when you can work with children’s books all day?!

DON’T MAKE ME LEAVE!

Someone may have to drag me away from my desk on my last day, because I seriously do not want to go. I wish I could stay, but I’ve got classes to attend, people to meet, publishing houses to infiltrate… I’m going to have to work very hard if I’m going to take over the world of children’s publishing one day²!

But the time has come…

The time has come to say my goodbyes and bid farewell. Goodbye MacKids marketing department. Goodbye beautiful view from the 10^th floor conference room. Goodbye to the architectural wonder of the Flatiron Building.

Farewell to my first internship in a major publishing house³.

Though I will be moving on to intern elsewhere, Macmillan will always hold a special place in my heart. I’ve got to say, thank goodness I go to school in NYC! At least I know I’ll probably run into the fabulous people I’ve gotten to work with again.

Footnotes

¹no, not as in permanently not here!

²look out! no seriously!

³cue the weeping and tears

A Progress Report by Rachael Stein (The Intern Chronicles, Part VII)

Read Rachael's previous posts!

I get asked one question a lot when the topic of my seasonal employment at Macmillan comes up: How is your internship going so far? Whenever I’m asked that, I’m a little stumped at how to answer. I mean, for the most part, it’s been really fantastic. But it gets a little more difficult when I’m asked to elaborate, because my lingering awe of MacKids seriously impedes my ability to articulate how exactly my internship is so fantastic.

But now, the halfway mark in the duration of my internship at Macmillan has come and passed, and I thought it’d be an appropriate time to pause, take a good look at what’s happened thus far, and really try to answer that question everyone wants answered.

How is my internship fantastic? Let me count the ways…

1. The books – A+

Okay, so this seems kind of obvious. MacKids produces a decent quantity¹ of great children’s books every year. Like the next person, I enjoy a fun picture book to read and smile over, especially if it has pictures of cute animals, but my favorite type of book to read is YA, or young adult.

As a privileged intern of MacKids Marketing, once in a while, I get some pretty exciting things.

 

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