BJ Gilmour

Children's Fiction and Multimedia Agent

Bevanna@susanmears.com

BJ is an experienced Children’s Author, Editor and Screenwriter. Completing her degree in Screenwriting for Television and Film and a Masters in Publishing – BJ’s specialty is in the Children’s market. She is the author, creator and scriptwriter for the brand Snowmites Magic which is currently under brand development.

The Children’s Book Market:

With 2014 being a record year for children’s books – sales of which grew 9.1% year on year to a value of £336.5m, many new imprints and agencies have been created. ‘It’s incredibly healthy that there is so much enthusiasm for children’s books – the market is eager for new talent and publish new books.’

While the Children’s market has plateaued in value since leaping 7% in 2016, with the full year for 2017 posting a 0.07% in growth, the Children’s Non-Fiction category is booming in 2018.

The Non-Fiction category has sold 3.75 million books for £24.7m for 2018 (up to 18th August 2018), an 8.5% boost in volume and a 10.2% jump in volume on the same period in 2017. Elsewhere, while the Pre-School and Picture Books category maintained a stead volume growth of 0.7% on 2017, with value raising 2.6%, Children’s Fiction managed a steady 0.05% growth on 2017, despite strong sales for the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child paperback in 2016.

Children’s Fiction is still the jewel in the market’s crown, accounting for over a third of the category’s total value for the year to date.