But in the end, it’s still about getting kids reading. We’ve got more writers, making more of the content ourselves. Under his management the comics imprint, the Phoenix, has grown from 7,000 to 15,000 titles, he says.
It is basically about the good management of the company.” “My job is to provide the environment to help him and the editorial team make the best books possible. He’ the lead editor on lots of the books. “It’s really important to me that the company is reflective of the people reading the books.”įickling also says he’s hardly expecting to be “a replacement for David,” his father, still at the helm of the company. Ultimately, the best way to get people to work in publishing is for them to see people from different communities writing books. “It is,” Fickling says, “but whenever we make an appointment at the company, we’re mindful of this. To many people, DFB’s home base in Oxford, UK would seem the epitome of the white male world. The size of the company might also make it possible for him to react to issues of diversity. The US cover from Knopf Books for Young Readers You’re inevitably in the situation where you don’t have enough resources and you’re continually having to choose between things that you don’t want to have to choose betwe en.” On Brexit: ‘Be Sensible About What We’re Doing’ “Being inexperienced is a kind of a challenge,” Fickling says with a laugh, “but I think running small businesses is a challenge for anyone. And I’m someone who will sit down with anyone for some advice. “Luckily, both companies have fantastic non-execs, people who really care about what we do. I’m not very experienced at running companies either, and I didn’t go to business school.
“I can’t claim to have earned it in the way that some people probably have. “I have found myself in this position through the completely random thing of being in my family,” he says with disarming honesty. Fickling remains the editor and managing director of the Phoenix, the sister company of David Fickling Books. Mason is now an editor with Pushkin Press’ children’s books. He took over as managing director from Simon Mason in January. “There’s a lot of editorial input from Random House,” Fickling says.įickling’s calm as PRH’s enormous marketing campaign for the new book ramps up is remarkable, given that he’s been in his new role for less than a year. If it sounds like Fickling is being shot out of a cannon, he is, in a way, but with a smoother ride than some might expect. The UK cover from Penguin and David Fickling Books On Being Inexperienced: A ‘Kind of a Challenge’ He was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth II in this year’s New Year’s Honors and tirelessly champions his fellow writers, continually staying involved with the Society of Authors. It’s Philip’s book, and he is the author.” Pullman is one of the UK’s biggest sellers, a true heavyweight on the international bestseller stage. The reason that Fickling is “suddenly” Pullman’s publisher-after being in charge for years of Phoenix Comics-is that in January, he was made managing director of of his father’s Fickling Books, which publishes Pullman.įickling’s father-David Fickling-”has been Philip’s editor for a long time,” says the younger Fickling, “and they trust each other.
And that “absolute giant” co-publisher, Penguin Random House, was of course in Hall 6.2. Pullman is credited as a writer on eight of the episodes, with Jack Thorne.Īt Frankfurter Buchmesse, trade visitors found the Oxford-based David Fickling Books in Halls 5.1 and 6.1. There also was the November 3 UK premiere of the BBC/HBO big-budget adaptation of Pullman’s epic fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, with a second episode scheduled for Sunday (November 10). Porter Andersonīy Mark Piesing | On His Role: A ‘Completely Random Thing’ Tom Fickling, the still-new managing director of David Fickling Books (DFB), says he finds himself “this tiny, tiny independent company working with this absolute giant of publishing”-and he’s co-publishing one of the most successful franchises in British books, Philip Pullman’s new The Secret Commonwealth. 1 in Teen & Young Adult Literary Fiction.
As we publish our story from Frankfurt today, ‘The Secret Commonwealth’ stands at No. Editor’s note: Covered by The Bookseller’s Caroline Carpenter, Philip Pullman went to Alexandra Palace on October 3 to launch his new ‘The Secret Commonwealth,’ published by Penguin and David Fickling Books.
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