Book Synopsis
“Boy in Motion: Rick Hansen’s Story” by Ainslie Manson is a biography of Rick Hansen by the author Ainslie Manson. The book uses pictures to portray Hansen’s years as a child in B.C, Canada. The book highlights his almost obsessive love for the outdoors, and his love for sports and fishing. The book sketches the fateful truck accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, and his subsequent struggles to accomplish many feats in both academics and sports despite his limited mobility.
Primarily a picture book, it tells Hansen’s life story through images, from his childhood to University. The text additionally highlights Hansen’s efforts in encouraging and inspiring people, especially children, who have different forms of paralysis. The book targets the young to inspire them to achieve all they desire by drawing inspiration from Rick Hansen’s triumphant life story. The book also gives prominence to the positive role Hansen’s father played in encouraging his son to overcome the many odds that he encountered in his life (Constantinides 112).
The text further makes mention of the worldwide ‘Man in Motion’ tour that Hansen took in 1985 to raise funds for research on the spinal cord. The trip sees Hansen travel in his wheelchair through four continents and covering nearly 38,000km in about two years. Overall, the pictures complement the text writings perfectly, portraying Hansen’s inspiring tale.
Book Marketing Plan
The author, Ainslie Manson, has written numerous books for children, and this particular book has been nominated for various awards in honour of the author’s endeavours to highlight the plight of children with disabilities through her book. The author has studied and lived in three countries – Canada, England, and the United States of America. She has been involved in numerous book promotional events to promote her books and those of D&M publishers. She has also been a guest speaker at many events designed to promote a reading culture among children.
The promotional opportunities for the Book, Boy in Motion; Rick Hansen’s Story by Ainslie Manson are numerous. As a children’s book, the book targets an audience that has always had an appetite for inspirational and triumphant stories like that of Rick Hansen. Further, the book uses large and colourful pictures to compliment the text, which will serve to attract and sustain the interest of young readers. The book is also appropriate for use as a class reader in kindergartens and other lower-level classes.
The biography is about Rick Hansen, a paraplegic, and therefore the target audience extends over to people with disabilities who may gain from the inspiring story of Rick Hansen. The book is especially appropriate for children with disabilities who may benefit from Hansen’s inspirational life story. Parents with young children with disabilities may also find the book useful in learning how to encourage their disabled child or children to be the best they can ever be, their disability notwithstanding.
The book is written in English, but the translation to other languages will not be a challenge because the writing is simple, clear, and concise, and the accompanying pictures aid in complementing the written words. The reprint of the book is currently under consideration due to the high interest and sales of the initial publication generated.
The two publishers with Common lists whom I might approach include Beltz & Gelberg Publishers, which has a reputation for its excellent publication of children books, and Arena Verlag, a reputable publishing house that specializes in children books. Both these publishing houses are based in Germany. One of the first considerations when approaching these publishers is to gauge their interest and expertise in children books, as the book Boy in Motion, Rick Hansen’s Story is a children’s book.
This primary commonality of interest in children books ensures that these publishing houses are well versed on all the dynamics and challenges involved in marketing children books, not only in Germany where the Frankfurt Book Fair is usually held but also in the entire European continent.
The sales network of these publishing companies is also a factor to consider when approaching them. The presence of their imprints in other towns and cities all over Europe will ensure an extensive market presence and therefore a bigger target audience for the book. The involvement of these companies in book promotional events and their investment in such events will also be a consideration. Book promotional events are one of the surest ways of publicizing a book and promoting an author’s book. The final consideration would be the company policies of the two publishing houses insofar as digitalization of books for access through the World Wide Web is concerned. The web is emerging as an important medium of selling and accessing various texts.
Works Cited
Constantinides, Judith. “Boy in Motion: Rick Hansen’s Story.” School Library Journal 54.8 (2008): 112.