NPD Group Reports One in Four 2018 Children’s Books in the U.S. Featured a Licensed Property, Licensed Books also Comprised 12 Percent of Total Book Sales in U.S.

From the NPD Group:

Licensed books, featuring popular characters from movies, TV, games, toys and lifestyle brands, made up 12 percent of total sales and 26 percent of juvenile sales in the U.S., market in 2018, according to global information company The NPD Group.

Licensing occurs when a book publisher has paid the original intellectual property owner for the right to publish the character or property in book form.

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Six out of the top 10 fastest growing licenses for 2018 were kids’ licenses:

Traditionally, books have been a fertile source for film and TV properties. However, now licensing is just as likely to happen in the other direction. “By bringing popular licenses from other platforms into books, license owners can more easily and cost-effectively extend their branding into another high-value format,” [Kristen] McLean [book industry analyst at NPD] said. “We’re already seeing some very interesting examples of licensed books coming from toys, video games, lifestyle brands, and other non-traditional sources. We expect this category will continue to expand, with all kinds of interesting and creative book licenses derived from a much wider content universe.”

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