Oxford Brookes University | Publishing | Publishing Podcasts Oxford International Centre for Publishing

In this episode MA Publishing student Meri Millan discusses why publishers should care about preserving linguistic diversity and what role children’s picture books play in achieving it.  She touches on some publisher-led initiatives to publish in the Ryukyuan languages, endangered languages native to Okinawa, Japan. As well as recommending her two absolute favourite picture books.

In October 2022, MA Publishing student Lucy Derges travelled to the Frankfurt Book Fair to investigate the current health of the children’s and young adult market, the coming global challenges it could face and how incorporating diversity, equality and inclusion though requiring additional investment offers opportunity.

With the numbers of children and young adults getting diagnosed with mental health conditions increasing, it’s more important than ever that we have open and honest discussions with our young people about mental ill-health. Mental health illnesses have for years, been shrouded in secrecy, with negative discourse surrounding them. So, how can the publishing industry destigmatise and encourage constructive conversations about mental health through our young adult books and begin a dialogue with our young people about their own mental health?  

Join me, David Rogers, and my guest, literary agent James Catchpole (http://www.thecatchpoleagency.co.uk) as we discuss what illustrators and authors need to succeed in contemporary children’s publishing.  During our talk, we consider four key principles of finding success: the importance of having an individual voice, how vital it is to know the audience and industry you are writing or illustrating for, the significance of a good story, and an appropriate consideration of societal issues, such as diversity and representation. Examples of successful children’s and YA books are also provided, and further insights are referenced from a range of industry professionals.

Audiobooks for children. Are they beneficial for literacy or are they just a lazy way out of reading? This is the question we will be trying to find answers to in today’s episode. Are there any advantages of audiobooks over physical books? Are they more attractive for children? What about reading levels, does the auditive dimension overcome this barrier? Should we feel like we’re cheating if we encourage children to listen rather than read books? We will be looking at research from the National Literacy Trust that analyses this issue. Tune in to find out more.

In this podcast episode, Publishing Studies MA student Stacey McDevitt explores four key areas of children’s non-fiction publishing relevant to today, reporting on the thriving UK and USA markets and delving into trends in children’s non-fiction, formats, diversity and inclusion, and new highly anticipated non-fiction imprints to look out for such as Hardie Grant’s Bright Light and Macmillan’s Neon Squid Books.