Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Faber appoint new children's publisher



Faber has appointed Leah Thaxton to the role of children's publisher, moving from her post of publishing director at Egmont to join Faber in September.
Thaxton will also join the main board of Faber, where she will take leadership of the children's business, with Faber c.e.o. Stephen Page saying the publisher wants to "build a substantial children's publishing business". It is the first time the publisher has appointed a children's publishing director, and Page said: "It's very deliberate, this new role of publisher. We have always been a children's publisher, and I feel we have built a very good foundation over the past decade. I feel as though there is a fascinating moment for children's publishers coming, leadership is critical now to create and build those possibilities."
He said that over the medium term, Faber is likely to increase its children's publishing, and release more titles, but in the short term the focus was on securing the necessary copyright for future plans, building a sense of team, establishing how it will work across print and digital, and raising the profile of Faber as a children's publisher. Page said: "I feel our brand can now be expressed in a fuller way. Children's publishing has been transformed over the last 15 years."
On the appointment, Page said: "We're absolutely delighted that Leah will be joining us. She is an especially talented publisher whose grasp of the current and developing market for children's reading is striking, along with her combination of business acumen and taste.
"Throughout Faber's history we have published children's books successfully. We have a rich heritage of classics and contemporary writers and we now want to build a substantial children's publishing business around our brand and our commitment to quality writing."
Thaxton said: "I'm thrilled to take up this position. Faber is a publishing house I have long admired with its fantastic heritage and forward-thinking attitude—the opportunity was not one I felt I could turn down, despite many very happy years at Egmont."

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