Cooperation between Vi Föräldrar and Weldon Owen

Weldon Owen produces books for companies such as Starbucks, Body Shop, Hallmark and the bookstore chain Barnes & Noble, as well as for Bonnier Corporation magazines such as Saveur and Parenting. Weldon Owen also produces its own books as well that are sold to publishers worldwide.

Now Swedish Bonnier Tidskrifter's parenting title Vi Föräldrar has joined the throng. In early 2011 a new series of picture books for toddlers - Siffror, Former and Färger (numbers, shapes and colors) - will be marketed to Vi Föräldrar's subscribers. The magazine has sold books aimed at parents before, but this is the first time that children are the target group.

Niklas Sessler is the development editor for Bonnier Tidskrifter's family, travel and health business area. He started the cooperation and has overseen the project from contract-signing to translation.

"The books are for children 0-3 years old," says Sessler. "They have tough covers and fun illustrations, and all we've done is change the texts. What took the most time was fixing the ISBN number, shipping, customs and other logistics."

Weldon Owen has fairly recently been part of the same magazine business area within Bonnier as Bonnier Tidskrifter, which helped make the cooperation go smoothly despite the two companies being nine time zones apart.

"They've been very interested and accommodating since we first had contact," says Sessler. "If we're successful I think we'll be cooperating more in the future. Picture books are really easy and rewarding to work with, but a book about child-rearing could pose a lot more problems."