Bonnier Carlsen Tests New Interactive Channels for Readers

Several months ago children's book publisher Bonnier Carlsen started a company blog. Publishers, editors, graphic designers, authors and illustrators all write there about working with children's and young adult books. The target group is readers of the publishing house's books.

"The idea with the blog is that readers can learn more about how a children's book publisher discusses a book," says Ulrika Caperius, editorial manager at Bonnier Carlsen. "You get to follow our authors in their work with their books and discuss children's books and culture with us."

Creating a blog came naturally to the publishing house. "Since many of our readers of children's books and particularly young adult novels are very active on the web, and many are active bloggers, we thought it was the perfect forum to create a dialog with them about books and our work with authors," says Caperius.

Nearly the whole company is involved in the blog in one way or another. From publishers and editors to designers and soon even authors and illustrators will be joining in the writing, says Caperius.

"We think it's fun to write about our daily work from different perspectives, but we've noticed that the blog posts that generate the most comments are those that are most personal," says Caperius. "For example when an editor is desperately looking for help in getting a daughter to stop reading so much, or when someone creates a list of favorite books in a particular genre."

Every blog post reaches around 1,ooo readers. Bonnier Carlsen has also a Facebook page with links to the blog posts, further discussion with readers and contests. You can check it out here.