Meet Carrie Kania. According to Variety she’s publishing’s new It girl. The former Harper Perennial helmer is the creative force behind HarperCollins’ new imprint, It Books, which will publish Nick Douglas’ Twitter Wit and a book called The Style Strategy by New York Times best-selling author/Project Runway judge Nina Garcia, among 19 other new hardcover and paperback original titles this fall.
Last spring the New York Times asked Kania whether it made sense to start a new imprint in a recession. Her response? “It’s a response to the economic times in many ways. It’s escapism and fun. We want to publish books that people want to buy and read. As people turn to movies and television, we want them to turn to books as well, and this seems like a perfect fit for them.”
So, Teletubbies for grown-ups? Makes sense to us — especially in the wake of The Lost Symbol‘s insane sales record. Timing, along with Kania’s resuscitation of Perennial from a default paperback publisher into something much more exciting — a mix of reimagined classics and original trade paperbacks, with a more distinct aesthetic.
What do you think? Could this imprint be the next big thing in publishing? (It even has a standalone blog.) Or is trying to be “hip” and “trendy” in the book publishing world a lost cause — especially when you’re looking to appeal to a rather finicky demographic?