When LC Scott launched eFrog Press in 2011, she began by experimenting on a variety of titles including a series—A Spotlight Biography series. Since then three authors have worked with eFrog Press to update and publish their carefully researched biographies for young people, grades five and up. There is an increasing demand for well written juvenile nonfiction, so the Spotlight Biography authors are planning a virtual launch of their series during the month of October. Stay tuned for details.

 

We love to work on series here at eFrog Press, and I will be blogging soon about things to consider when writing and publishing a series. As with our other eFrog Press titles, our series titles are not limited to one genre but include speculative fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Regency romance, and juvenile biography. Today I will focus on A Spotlight Biography series. The authors will be doing a virtual launch of their series in the next month starting with a bricks-and-mortar book launch tonight for the newest title, George Eastman: Bringing Photography to the People, complete with Eastman’s favorite lemon meringue pie and vintage Kodak cameras. George Eastman is the first spotlight title to be released in both paperback and ebook formats.

All these biographies have been previously published as print books, many in the 1990s, and the authors retained the ebook rights. They were excited to update these titles, many out of print, and tap into the power of the Internet. Each book has a section titled “Digging Deeper” where authors link to a few selected sites. For our very first title, Barbara McClintock: Nobel Prize Geneticist, veteran author Edith Hope Fine was thrilled to discover a video of Barbara McClintock receiving the Nobel Prize from the King of Sweden! Talk about a subject coming to life! Rich content like this was praised by the Styling Librarian, Debbie Alvarez, in her blog last week about Lynda Pflueger’s new George Eastman biography:

There are new opportunities for learning with non-fiction texts that I adore lately: the back matter of the book. I was thrilled to find an area called “Digging Deeper” which tells you about websites to explore further and videos to watch about Eastman.

Covers are critical in identifying series. With a skillful, creative designer, covers can signal that titles are related without looking redundant. We went through many incarnations including a dangling spotlight before coming up with the simple but elegant design we now use. There is just a hint of a spotlight in the top right corner highlighting that the title is A Spotlight Biography. In October, Mother Jones: Fierce Fighter for Workers’ Rights by Judith Josephson will be released. Fierce is almost not strong enough to describe this remarkable, and little known today, woman!

Spotlight biographies give young readers role models—people to emulate and admire. The subjects come from all walks of life—sports, science, art, writing, history, business, art, and even activism. When students read stories about the lives of real people, a spark of hope ignites and the future calls. In the Spotlight’s bright beam, the subjects of biography inspire.

Upcoming Spotlight Posts

October 6: Lynda Pflueger on Planning George Eastman Book Launch

October 15: Judith Josephson on Mother Jones Ebook Release

October 20: Edith Hope Fine on Biographies of Gary Paulsen & Barbara McClintock

And Join the Blog Tour and Book Giveaway for launch of George Eastman biography.

 

 

 

 

 

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