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Children's publishers work to hold prices

28.08.08 Caroline Horn

Children's publishers are battling soaring paper, production and fuel costs to push through a range of innovative projects this autumn. Major launches include Spyology, described by publisher Templar as an "Ology-plus" because of its large selection of novelties, and a picture book from Walker Books, Nick Sharratt's The Foggy Foggy Forest, which is printed on tracing paper.

Templar said Spyology will take the series in a new direction by involving the reader more in the narrative and including more ­novelties such as a magnifying ­filter device to read hidden microdot messages, a code-cracking Cryptotron and more secret pockets.

Nghiem Ta, art director of the Ology books, said: "Spyology presented a new set of challenges—a more modern setting, an elaborate narrative and an opportunity to involve the reader as if they were a character in the story."

However, an 18% increase in production prices of the Ology titles has meant the title required extra development work in order to match the costings. Many of the novelties have been created from the pages themselves using the latest die-cutting and stencilling techniques.

The price of Spyology has increased by £2 to £19.99, but Templar said this was a result of the increased number of novelties and that the company had not passed on higher production costs. Head of marketing Philippa Perry said: "We haven't had such enthusiasm for an Ology title for a long time. Retailers haven't ­worried about the rise in price and believe, as we do, that the obvious quality of this title will enable it to stand out."

Walker Books, meanwhile, has spent two years developing The Foggy Foggy Forest, which uses tracing paper to create a "foggy" see-through effect. The publisher had to work closely with its suppliers to find more efficient production methods, said production director Alan Lee. "We knew that the book would involve different processes but our pricing was always firm.

"We are looking at larger print deals and building larger volumes of work to keep down costs." The first print run includes co-editions in Spanish, French, Dutch and Japanese and for the US, helping to hold down the picture book's retail price at £7.99, Lee said.

Other production firsts for Walker Books included the printing of Toby Alone (Timothee de Fombelle) using soya ink, and the jacket of The Fool and Vanisher (David Ellwand), which will be published in September, using four-colour UV ink printed over  a silver aluminium foil paper.

Caroline Horn publishing children's Print costs

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