We're in March's Echo Business edition. Check out our article - has a great picture too!
Sewing their way to the best sellers
By Darren Slade
But now a Dorset business has launched four children’s books into the national market, with the help of an endorsement from former Children’s Laureate Michael Morpurgo.
Anili is a two-woman business dedicated to books that are educational, environmentally friendly and ethically sound. The idea came about after Emma Henley and Cynthia Berman enrolled on the same sewing course held at St John’s Church Hall in Westbourne, Bournemouth. But this is no vague pipe dream.
Instead, the pair combined their talents into a serious business partnership. Cynthia, who wrote the books, is experienced in child development and early years education, and spotted a gap in the market for books that took the right approach to literacy.
“We decided we’d make the medium the message, put forward sound educational stuff in a really fun way,” she said. Cynthia, a grandmother in her early 60s, says she knew within 10 minutes that Emma was her ideal business partner. Aged 39, with extensive experience in marketing, Emma had creative skills and the business acumen to see the project into print. “We decided to go with four books,” said Emma. “Having spoken to education professionals and doing thorough comparative research of what’s out in the market place, we made the business decision to go with the series.”
The pair hired local illustrators and designers and found a printer capable of producing the books on recycled paper.
In order to interest the national book-sellers, they decided it would be important to get high-profile endorsements early on. First came one from David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at Bangor University, and then the testimonial from Michael Morpurgo. “I thought Sun and Storm was a delightful play on words and pictures. So bravo!” wrote the author of War Horse and Kaspar. “And bravo too for all you are doing. Anything we can do to bring stories to children and children to stories is much needed.”
The initial four books range from Sun and Storm, aimed at children from 18 months to three years, to Cosmic Council: The Saturnian Rings, an adventure which complements key stages one and two at school. The books are priced £4.99 or £5.99 and come with games which can be cut out or photocopied.
Emma and Cynthia are in negotiations with Gardners Books, the national wholesaler whose business is key to placing titles with national chains such as Waterstone’s.
In order to be in that market, they decided they had to commit themselves to producing 10,000 copies of their four titles combined, so Emma’s home is packed with books.
“It’s a huge financial commitment for us both,” says Emma. “Everything else is on hold. My full-time job is Anili. There’s zero income at the moment.” But if the gamble pays off, enrolling at Mary Wallander’s Westbourne sewing class could be one of the best decisions the pair ever made – even if the sewing has been neglected for a while.
Details can be found at anili.co.uk
Article shown in Bournemouth Echo March Business Edition p30
