Hello All: I have a query I am hoping you can assist me with. By way of introduction I am a freelance journalist who teaches introductory reporting at Ryerson, a Canadian university in Toronto. I am the author of picture books The Hug, The Shabbat Box, and The Purim Surprise.
I am now making a jump into the world of non-fiction for adults and teens. When I last posted here, the members were incredibly helpful with information, hence this new request. I am now putting together a proposal for a publisher for my book Dreidels Unspun. It's a zany 68-page miscellany about the dreidel that will deconstruct how something small enough to fit into your pocket morphed into a global phenomenon (in history, art, pop culture, music, gambling and beyond). Here is my query. I am looking for some reliable information about the demographics and size of the Jewish book buying market. What is the market worth? What is the publishing trend? What English language markets are under served and how much money might be at stake ? What's hot? What's not? And what is missing? My book is irreverent but respectful and might be characterized as comic non-fiction. It is this market which seems under represented to me in the Jewish world but well represented outside of it. I have searched several business databases at the university but am looking for more detail. I am interested in learning if there might be other titles I could compare this book to (it's similar in tone to Chronicle Book's zany JudaiKitsch) and what is happening in dollar figures with this genre in the business. It's the kind of title that could be shelved under comedy or under Hanukkah, and it could be read by older teens as well as adults. In terms of content, it will include the lowdown on the dreidel's origin ( the story of German version of a medieval British gambling game) to pragmatics like how to run a tournament. It will also open your eyes to the artistic global reinvention of this spinning top that now comes in any material you might imagine: from girlie girl silver filigree, designer crystal, hand painted wood, to rock and roll loving metal-head aluminum, the dreidel invasion has begun! It is the first book in a series that will deconstruct Jewish symbols (from challot to haggadot ). For anyone suffering from e-mail fatigue I am happy to be contacted at my home office in Toronto, and have posted the phone number below. B'shalom, Lesley Simpson 416 229 0320 -- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
