Little Island Books announced some exciting news yesterday, the 17th February, about their new partnerships with North American distributor Consortium Book Sales & Distribution (part of Ingram) and Tennessee-based children’s marketing specialists Publisher’s Spotlight. Little Island will launch their list in North America in April 2022, starting with a number of new US-only hardcover special editions, including Baby Teeth by Meg Grehan, Wolfstongue by Sam Thompson and Bumpfizzle the Best on Planet Earth by Patricia Forde.
These new partnerships will open Little Island to a potentially huge new market, backed with expert on-the-ground marketing and publicity. It follows previous successful distribution partnerships for the Dublin-based press: in 2020 Little Island linked up with Australian Novella Distribution and in 2018 with the UK’s Bounce Sales and Marketing. Both those relationships have resulted in significant leaps forward for the Irish indie and it is hoped that their US venture will fuel sales growth in the coming years. Little Island’s year-on-year sales increased by around 25% in 2021.
Little Island’s Publisher, Matthew Parkinson-Bennett says:
“We’re extremely excited about this new chapter which has the potential to take Little Island to the next level. We’ve had some great successes selling US rights in our books but the time is right to start selling our own editions into this large and welcoming market. It gives us a new way to enhance our authors’ global readerships and reputations and it will result in major benefits for their careers.”
Ellen Myrick of Publisher’s Spotlight adds:
“Little Island Books’ reputation for excellence and for creating tomorrow’s classics today make working with their list an unabashed joy.”
Katherine Bright-Holmes, Consortium’s Business Development Director, adds:
“Consortium is thrilled to bring Little Island’s lists to the US and Canadian markets. Their award-winning books for children and young people inform, amuse, and inspire. We are delighted to sell their fun, thought-provoking, creative books directly to North American audiences and already have great enthusiasm and appreciation for their adventurous titles from retailers, libraries, and, of course, readers, young and old.”
