LM had a talk with Sara Wang, Founder and CEO of Sidee Cultural Communication, based in China.
Which are the main children’s publishing trends in China?
From a macro perspective, in a fiercely competitive market environment, brands have become one of the important factors for consumers when choosing children’s books. Publishing institutions, writers, and book series with good reputations and brand influence are more likely to gain consumers’ trust and recognition.
Exploring potential original IPs and promoting them through various media forms, such as adapting them into animations, movies, and games, can enhance brand influence and the added value of books.
From a micro perspective, the prevalence of live streaming sales has significantly impacted the industry’s development at the current stage. In terms of content, interdisciplinary children’s books are receiving attention. For example, children’s books that combine popular science knowledge with subject learning can meet parents’ needs for comprehensive knowledge learning for their children.
Additionally, the demand for mental health and growth resources is increasing. Nowadays, parents are paying more attention to their children’s mental health. Children’s books on related topics have great market potential, such as books that help children cope with stress, cultivate good personality traits, and develop emotional management abilities.
Furthermore, the popularity of traditional cultural themes continues.
Children’s books featuring mythological legends, historical stories, traditional skills, and other related themes will continue to receive attention and will constantly innovate in content expression and presentation forms.
Reading activities and offline experiential marketing are popular. Publishing institutions and bookstores will hold more reading promotion events, writer meetings, and parent-child reading activities to provide children with rich reading experiences and enhance their interest and participation in reading. Meanwhile, through experiential marketing, parents and children can better understand the content and value of books, promoting book sales.
Which is the evolution of the publishing industry in China?
Firstly, the market size and pattern have entered a period of adjustment following rapid growth. Our rapid growth period began around 2007, with the children’s book market continuing to grow at an average annual rate of over 10% for more than a decade, becoming the largest subcategory of China’s retail book market.
This is mainly due to the country’s measures to promote nationwide reading and build a book-loving society, as well as the stimulation of the demographic dividend after the relaxation of the two-child policy, and the increasing importance placed on children’s reading by society, schools, and families. Many children’s book publishing houses’ businesses have been constantly expanding, and the variety of children’s books on the market has become increasingly diverse.
Original books have seen significant development. In the past, imported children’s books accounted for a large share in the Chinese children’s publishing market, but in recent years, original children’s books have developed rapidly. More and more domestic children’s writers, illustrators, and reading promoters are receiving attention, and high-quality original booksa are constantly emerging.
Read the full interview in the last Licensing Magazine’s issue.
