4 Comments
User's avatar
тна Return to thread
Hal Jay Greene's avatar

Would you consider outfits like Stratemeyer Syndicate (Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew) to have been a packager? I remember a friend of mine did a bunch of "Sweet Valley High" books when she was starting her career (she's now a successful author under her own name.) What about "shared universe" publishers like Mountaindale & Chris Kennedy? Where do they fall on the spectrum?

Expand full comment
Kate McKean's avatar

Well, according to Wikipedia, the Stratemeyer Syndicate was the first book packager! You learn something new every day. In general, though, some things like the Hardy Boys etc are franchises and sometimes a specific company or a traditional publisher has the license to make more of those books. Random House just bought the Boxcar Children IP from Albert Whitman Co. The content doesn't make a venue a book packager--it's function does, if that makes sense.

Expand full comment
Hal Jay Greene's avatar

It does. I was approached by a packager (who shall remain nameless) to create graphic novels from their extremely niche IP, but although they are VERY successful with it (which astonishes me, but shows what I know) I couldn't figure out how to convert it into a compelling visual format. So I had to turn them down. This is the SECOND time this has happened to me, by the way. Everyone wants to turn their IP into a graphic novel, but reality quickly sets in when I explain the costs and time involved.

Expand full comment
Kate McKean's avatar

That is the TRUTH. GNs are a HUGE undertaking and not everything can be made into sequential art!!

Expand full comment