“Netflix, Wattpad, Direct to Consumer, Branded Authors: how publishers work with new partners and new competitors to expand their role in storytelling”
Sara Sargent is a Senior Executive Editor at Random House Books for Young Readers, where she publishes platform-driven fiction and nonfiction in the picture book, middle grade, and young adult categories. Previously she has held positions at HarperCollins Children’s Books, Simon Pulse (an imprint of Simon & Schuster), and Miramax Books. Sara has worked with #1 New York Times bestselling authors Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, as well as New York Times bestselling authors Laurie Hernandez, Abbi Glines, Ainsley Earhardt, Rosamund Hodge, StacyPlays, and Lisa Maxwell; internationally bestselling author Lily Collins; National Book Award finalist Deb Caletti; and social media influencers Laci Green and Arden Rose. Sara received her Master of Science in journalism from Northwestern University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Sara Sargent, Penguin Random House, USA.#pf19 pic.twitter.com/BoqO4PO1dg
— Verlage der Zukunft (@vd_zukunft) 9. Mai 2019
#bts#pf19
Sara Sargent, Penguin Random House, speaking about the book of bts. Kpop. To find new target group. pic.twitter.com/SB5LufSmez— Julia Blumenberg (@BlumenbergJulia) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent concedes in a keynote address, “My job is weird,” lol, but explains that her key function is learning to read the chatter in the zeitgeist, to identify, perhaps, that parents & kids need books on anxiety today.
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent “A crowded media / social-media landscape” is the challenge, “a lot of noise out there. … I’m so focused” on looking for how to “tap into younger consumers and meeting them where they live.” Know the reader.
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent: “We have really hit a point of needing to expand our diversity … if we’re not getting those stories in naturally from authors, we have to go find them … tell them that they have a voice.”
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent talks about the powerhouse that @netflix has become for the targeted audiece development she needs and how @Wattpad has become a go-to hub for “so much data” that can “explain to you what works” with consumers.
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent says that in developing content from creators found in the non-publishing media, you may have to “explain how slow book publishing is.” It takes “an author who is engaged” and comes with an engaged audience.
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent says that her books go out in 12 months, unusually fast. Timing is everything. With a book on BTS, she knew it was right when consumers said, “I’ve never bought a book before, but I’m going to buy this one.” pic.twitter.com/0ZEwdUvSEK
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent “If you’re open to this kind of publishing, you’re going to have to have someone who loves popular culture. There’s an element of gut instinct” to spot the trends and move in time.
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent “Engage the young people at your company,” talk to your interns, the ones clued into the cultural trends in the demographic you’re playing to. Vet your influencers carefully, too.
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent “You have to convince the people in your company that you know what you’re doing and it’s going to be worth it.” (Sara reminds me of the lead in @GreatDismal‘s “Pattern Recognition.”
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent “You have to convince the people in your company that you know what you’re doing and it’s going to be worth it.” (Sara reminds me of the lead in @GreatDismal‘s “Pattern Recognition.”
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
#PF19 @PublishersForum @RandomHouse for Young Readers’ @Sara_Sargent isdoing something that general publishing wisdom counsels against: She follows trends. She develops and gets ahead of where an issue is on a curve — she talks of knowing that timing as an important key.
— Porter Anderson (@Porter_Anderson) 9. Mai 2019
We have to figure out: „What do people care about? What’s the current cultural consciousness?“ Great presentation by @Sara_Sargent from @penguinrandom! #pf19
— robyn kerkhof (@thefoxylinguist) 9. Mai 2019
