Nosy Crow

Nosy Crow
Founded 2010
Founder Kate Wilson
Country of origin United Kingdom
Headquarters location London
Publication types Children's Books, Apps
Official website www.nosycrow.com

Nosy Crow is a prize-winning independent children's publisher based in the UK, particularly notable for its original storybook apps for the iOS platform.[1] The company was founded in 2010 by Kate Wilson, formerly MD of Macmillan Children’s Books and Group MD of Scholastic UK Ltd.[2] The company was named Children's Publisher of the Year by the Independent Publisher's Guild for two consecutive years, in 2012[3] and 2013,[4] and in 2014, was named Small Business of the Year by the Nectar Small Business Awards[5] and Young Company of the Year by the Growing Business Awards.[6] In North America, many of Nosy Crow's illustrated book titles are published under an imprint of the same name by Candlewick Press,[7] and in Australia, Nosy Crow books are distributed by Allen & Unwin.[8] From 2016, Nosy Crow will publish a jointly-branded children's book list with The National Trust.[9]

History

Nosy Crow was founded in 2010[10] and published its first book in January 2011.[11] In its first year of publishing, it released 23 books and 3 apps in total, and invoiced one million pounds.[12] In 2013, the company published over 50 books and 3 apps and the company has been noted for its relatively rapid growth in an industry experiencing shrinking revenue elsewhere.[3] By September 2014, Nosy Crow had grown to become the 16th largest children’s publisher in the UK, according to Nielsen Bookscan data.[13]

The company has a strong background in rights-selling. Wilson began her career selling rights at Faber and Faber[14] and in its first year, foreign rights to Nosy Crow titles were sold in 16 languages.[12] In March 2011, Nosy Crow struck an apps partnership deal with Gallimard Jeunesse and Carlsen Verlag, who release Nosy Crow apps under their own brands in French and German.[15] A similar deal was announced in March 2012 with Gottmer, who released the apps in Dutch.[16]

Books

Nosy Crow publishes commercial fiction and non-fiction books for children aged from 0 to 14.[17] Its most successful series to date have been the Bizzy Bear books, illustrated by Benji Davies and the Pip and Posy books, illustrated by Axel Scheffler, each of which have sold several hundred thousand copies throughout the world. The Pip and Posy books were credited with producing healthier than expected sales in the industry overall for 2011.[18] Wilson had previously collaborated with Scheffler at Macmillan, where she published The Gruffalo and initiated the long-running collaboration between the artist and former Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson.[19]

Other notable books by Nosy Crow have included the Olivia series[20] by Lyn Gardner, theatre critic for The Guardian,[21] and the illustrated fiction series The Grunts,[22] by Roald Dahl Funny Prize-winning author Philip Ardagh and with illustrations by Scheffler.[23]

Apps

As well as publishing books, Nosy Crow also releases original storybook apps, which it develops in-house. In 2011, the company released three apps: The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, and Bizzy Bear on the Farm.[24] To date, Nosy Crow has released 14 apps, which have won numerous awards and received critical acclaim,[25] and the company is recognised as a leader in the field.[1]

Awards

Since being established, Nosy Crow has won a number of awards. These include:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Thomson, Liz "Shelf life in hard times: The book folk who wrote glorious chapters in 2011", The Independent, London, 23 December 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  2. ↑ http://nosycrow.com/about/kate-wilson
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Shine, Bridget (March 2012). "The IPG Independent Publishing Awards 2012". Independent Publishers Guild. Archived from the original on 14 April 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2013. IPG Children’s Publisher of the Year - Nosy Crow [...] IPG Newcomer Award - Nosy Crow [...] Nielsen Innovation of the Year - Nosy Crow
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 http://ipg.uk.com/awards
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Carpenter, Caroline "Nosy Crow wins Nectar business award", The Bookseller, London, 4 September 2014.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Ruthven, Hunter "Xtrac's Peter Digby roars to success at the Growing Business Awards", Real Business, London, 25 November 2014. Retrieved on 26 November 2014
  7. ↑ Neill, Graeme. "Nosy Crow signs with US' Candlewick Press", The Bookseller, London, 11 March 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  8. ↑ http://nosycrow.com/blog/round-the-world-in-11-days
  9. ↑ Farrington, Joshua "National Trust partners with Nosy Crow and Faber", The Bookseller, London, 18 September 2014. Retrieved on 18 September 2014
  10. ↑ Horn, Caroline "Kate Wilson sets up children's publisher, Nosy Crow", The Bookseller, London, 22 February 2010. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  11. ↑ http://nosycrow.com/blog/nosy-crow-publishes-it-s-first-book
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 http://nosycrow.com/blog/looking-back-at-2011-our-first-year-of-publishing
  13. ↑ Wilson, Kate "Nosy Crow has won Nectar Business's Small Business of the Year award", Nosy Crow, London, 08 September 2014. Retrieved on 18 September 2014
  14. ↑ http://www.debretts.co.uk/people/biographies/browse/w/21311/Kate+WILSON.aspx
  15. ↑ http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/46646-nosy-crow-inks-german-french-app-publishing-pacts.html
  16. ↑ http://publishingperspectives.com/2012/05/nosy-crow-rights-deals-for-dutch-kids-apps-with-gottmer/
  17. ↑ http://nosycrow.com/about/
  18. ↑ http://nosycrow.com/news-and-reviews/nosy-crow-in-the-bookseller
  19. ↑ Rustin, Susanna "Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson tells why she vetoed ebook", The Guardian, London, 25 March 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  20. ↑ http://nosycrow.com/books/olivias-series
  21. ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/lyngardner
  22. ↑ http://nosycrow.com/books/the-grunts-series
  23. ↑ Allen, Katie "Ardagh and Scheffler signed by Nosy Crow", The Bookseller, London, 23 March 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  24. ↑ "Review of Bizzy Bear app by Nosy Crow on Appysmarts.com "
  25. ↑ http://nosycrow.com/apps/cinderella#txpCommentInputForm
  26. ↑ http://www.mumpreneuruk.com/celebrate/mumpreneur-awards/2011-winners
  27. ↑ http://nosycrow.com/blog/nosy-crow-wins-ipad-kids-app-of-the-year-from-ilounge
  28. ↑ Jones, Philip. "FutureBook Innovation Awards: the winners", The Bookseller, London, 6 December 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  29. ↑ "Touch Press leads winners at FutureBook Innovation Awards", The Bookseller, London, 22 November 2013. Retrieved on 6 September 2014.
  30. ↑ "Nosy Crow, Profile and PRH among FutureBook's innovation winners", The Bookseller, London, 14 November 2014. Retrieved on 17 November 2014
  31. ↑ "2012 Winners of the Publishing Innovation Awards", Publishing Innovation Award. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  32. ↑ Buckleitner, Warren. "Third Annual KAPi Award Winners Announced", Children's Technology Review, New Jersey, 8 December 2011. Retrieved on 14 March 2012
  33. ↑ "Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2014 winners announced", Waterstones, London, 3 April 2014. Retrieved on 6 September 2014.
  34. ↑ "Stationers’ Innovation Excellence Awards 2014", Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers, London, 30 June 2014. Retrieved on 6 September 2014.
  35. ↑ "Booktrust Best Book Awards: Winners announced!", Booktrust, London, 2 July 2014. Retrieved on 6 September 2014.

External links