Publishing Houses Release Kidlit Versions of Adult Books Simultaneously
October 01, 2012
A number of publishing houses have been designing kidlit "twins" of adult titles. HarperCollins recently released two memoirs profiling a paralyzed Rutgers University football player, Eric LeGrand. The publisher created Believe: My Faith and the Tackle That Changed My Life for adult readers and and Believe: The Victorious Story of Eric LeGrand for middle-grade readers.
"[There is] a growing trend among publishers that are either simultaneously releasing different versions of the same book on the same day or capitalizing on the success of an adult bestseller with a young-reader edition issued a few months after the original. In recent years, Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, James L. Swanson's Manhunt and Tim Tebow's Through My Eyes have all been reissued in young-reader editions penned by the same author, only with fewer pages, larger type and smaller price tags."