While I have recommended a small publisher Austin Macauley in my other two posts, I thought must research some other small publishers to recommend.
Why go with small publishers?
The answer is simple. A small publisher is relatively way less picky about the authors and manuscripts they accept to publish. They put in fair effort in order to earn good reputations in the relative competitive market of publishing with giants like Penguin Random House.
Cottage Door Press
The company that publishes children’s books, has been on the list of publisher’s weekly fastest-growing publishers for two consecutive years, 2017 and 2018. This publishing company was founded in 2014, but it didn’t sell its first book until 2015. Cottage Door Press has had extraordinary growth ever since it released its first titles in 2015, a year after it was founded by former Publications International president Richard Maddrell. Between 2014 and 2016, the press also doubled in personnel, from nine to 19 employees, and it is preparing to move from Barrington, Ill., to a larger facility in the Chicago suburb of Deerpark.
The success story of publishing company
Though Cottage Door is a young company, its apparent overnight success might be due to the fact that most of its staff are children’s publishing industry veterans—most notably its founder, Richard Maddrell, who served until his retirement as president of Publications International. I think this idea is pretty clever in itself.
Cottage Door Press, has showed a very steady growth in annual title count as reported by publishers weekly. It released 18 titles in 2015 and another 82 titles in 2016.
Bottom of Form
The publisher’s first publication list in 2015 focused on titles for babies and toddlers up to age three. Seriously this age range is hard to shop for when it comes to books. The publisher intends to publish books for bigger kids including four- and five-year-olds, beginning with a line of titles published in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution.
Why I recommend?
We all know that books for children of school going age are easily available in heaps, but god forbid if you need to look for a book for a few months old baby or a toddler. The company’s focus continues to be on producing a range of products for babies and toddlers that align with its mission of “promoting reading aloud from birth.” Targeting a niche which is not very competitive yet, is also a very clever idea. No wonder Cottage Door’s 2016 revenue skyrocketed 558% from the previous year’s figure.
Also there books come with really cool additional features such as STEM and STEAM—and “hot formats,” including padded board books, lift-a-flap, touch-and-feel, books that make sounds, and books made with engineered paper.
They have a small yet reliable team of designing and production and employ freelancing illustrators for good quality colourful images to appeal to their very young audience.
Fun part which I am hugely impressed with is that Every Cottage Door book has a removable sticker it calls the Early Bird Learning Guide. The sticker informs the buyer of the book’s appropriate age range and which skills the child is developing when that particular book is read. It is a great tool for parents.It is a system to help parents understand which skills they’re reinforcing when they read a Cottage Door book to their baby. The guide is based on widely accepted milestones of childhood development and corresponds to the removable sticker on the front cover of each of our books.
Special Recommendations
Being a mother of almost 7 months old I have loved their collection.
- Baby Einstein and the Smithsonian
- Early Book Song Book series,
- Love You Always series,
- Grandma Wishes,
- Nothing Is Scary with Harry, by Katie McElligott
Page Street
Page Street Publishing has been nominated as the fastest-growing publishing company for three consecutive years 2016, 2017, and 2018 by publishers weekly. Considering it was launched in 2013 only, says a lot about the company. It is a general lifestyle publisher and publishes in health, parenting, crafts, popular science, and other categories.
Page Street’s mainline is composed of a 192-page trade paperback series with titles priced at around $20 each. The books each feature either 100 recipes and 60 photos or 80 recipes and 80 photos. The company also has a small $25 hardcover series and $28 hardcover series, but the paperbacks sell the best, Kiester says.
Success story of publishing company
After being in publishing for more than 20 years working for such publishers as Random House, Black Dog & Leventhal, and Quarto Publishing, Will Kiester struck out on his own in 2013, and so far the results have been very encouraging. His new company, Page Street Publishing, released 13 titles in its first year, but upped its output to 34 last year, helping drive a 289% increase in revenue since Page Street’s launch.
Page Street’s barbecue series has done well since its launch, led by —whom Kiester calls a “brilliant recipe creator” and who owns two well-reviewed Minneapolis restaurants—has been a solid seller, helped by a front-page mention in the New York Times food section, Kiester says. Page Street’s paleo cooking list has also sold well, as has its vegan line.
It has continued its rapid sales growth since it was launched in 2013 by Will Kiester. The press’s revenue was 31% higher in 2016 than in 2015 and up 117% from 2014. Page Street’s early success has helped to propel more success, as Kiester says he feels confident reinvesting in the company by continuing to add new employees and titles.
In 2015, Page Street gained the alliance of a marketing firm to help promote its titles, rather than depending on freelancers. Now it is distributed by Macmillan in the U.S. and sales in Canada are through the Canadian Manda Group, with fulfillment by PGC.
Page Street has experienced an impressive title count growth and has also expanded in a diversity of the areas it covers. From cookbooks to lifestyle and now children’s books they are really taking a stretch here.
Why I recommend?
Who doesn’t loves to read about lifestyle? There could not be enough glossy pages of lifestyle magazines for women to read. Plus unlike most lifestyle magazines their books are not loaded with highly sexualized anorexic women which makes anyone hate their body. So yay to the no self-loathing!
Also, they have a very diverse audience. They are probably the best ones for lifestyle books for smokers. That I love! A healthier approach to a commonly practiced habit so often looked down on by the self-righteous friends of mine.
Not to mention the adult coloring book they released! I loved coloring ever since I was a young little girl but somehow I lost the touch with that side of mine. Probably I felt I was too grown-up for children’s activity. Adult coloring books give me a free pass to the relaxing activity.
Also, they have bolg inspired children’s activity books. How cool is that as a publisher?! They experiment and are not afraid of failing and probably their willingness to try new niches and give chance to first-time authors to get published is adding up to their success.
Special Recommendations
A Touch of Farmhouse: Easy DIY Projects to Add a Warm and Rustic Feel to Any Room
Secrets to Smoking on a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker
Smoke It like a Pro on the Big Green Egg.
The New Mediterranean Table by Sameh Waid
First adult coloring books: Island Escapes and Rainforest Escapes by Jade Gedeon,
