Stephanie Milton – Publishing Director at Studio Press – on brands, cover design and the ‘Book As Object’ trend

Stephanie, it’s great to connect. Can you give us an introduction to yourself, Bonnier Books and Studio Press?
My name is Stephanie Milton and I’m the Publishing Director for Studio Press, an imprint of Bonnier Books UK. Studio is part of the children’s division, but we publish books for all ages from pre-school to adult.

Studio was set up almost 10 years ago by Helen Wicks, who is now MD of the children’s division. The Studio list is a mix of official Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and Dungeons & Dragons, as well as various pop culture and trend-focused titles. In addition to our Disney portfolio – which includes the best-selling Where’s Spidey? – we publish everything from books about movie directors and fashion, to the hugely popular Ultimate Football Heroes series which is particularly appealing to reluctant readers.

What role does licensing play in the Studio Press line-up? Has this change and evolved in recent times?
Bonnier believes that every book matters, and this is particularly relevant for Studio. We know that the right licensed book in the hands of the right child at the right time can be the catalyst that helps them learn to read. We also know that adult fans love to celebrate the stories and characters that have impacted their lives, and we want to encourage them to do so.

With all of this in mind, we are currently looking for more licenses to add to our ever-growing list so that we can continue to create books that fandoms of all ages will love.

“The right licensed book in the hands of the right child at the right time can be the catalyst that helps them learn to read.”

You mentioned that you work with Disney on a range of books. Can you tell us more about the Disney titles you publish and how you work with them creatively?
Studio publishes Disney books for all ages, but we have a particular focus on older, gift titles and collectors’ items – as well as interactive titles for younger readers such as search and finds and puzzle books. Disney creates a fantastic range of titles, many of which we pick up and rejacket to ensure the cover approach is right for the UK market, but we also like to originate a lot of our own content and work with Disney as content creators, too. We have a strong collaborative relationship with Disney and we are very lucky that they are so generous with their time.

I wanted to focus on a couple of specific books in the Disney list you publish – Marvel The Science of Super Heroes and Marvel Brain Games. Can you give us some insight into how you make sure each book is distinctive and original?
The Science of Super Heroes was the brainchild of one of our freelance authors, Ned Hartley. Ned is the ultimate Marvel expert and he’s written quite a few books for us over the years. It was a unique pitch – there was nothing quite like it in the market. Our Head of Design worked with Ned to create layouts that would appeal to the target audience – we wanted to produce something that was visually exciting enough to disguise the fact that the editorial was softly educational.

Marvel Brain Games is part of a series of puzzle books designed to keep young fans entertained on trips or during holiday periods. Again, design approach was key as it is soft education disguised as fun. All of our puzzles go through multiple rounds of testing to ensure they’re right for the target audience.

Generally speaking, we avoid ‘brand slapping’ and instead strive to create a bespoke, well-considered publishing programme that delivers exactly what fans want. Although there may be common formats that work, every brand is different and needs to be considered as an individual entity.

Given the long-term success Disney have had and their extensive history in publishing, how do you ensure your books feel fresh and original?
Disney are constantly delivering new movies and exploring new topics, so we have plenty of material to work with. Take Inside Out as an example… These movies have resonated in a very meaningful way with adults and younger audiences, and they’ve given us an opportunity to explore some new content and format ideas.

“We are currently looking for more licenses to add to our ever-growing list.”

We are constantly adapting our core series, too. Our clothbound Disney Animated Classics series has been a huge hit on socials for the past few years, but we started to run out of cloth colours and we wanted to create books for newer movies too. So, we launched a spin-off series: the arlin-covered Disney Modern Classics. When we acquired the Star Wars license we launched a third series – the Star Wars Cinematic Classics – which takes a very different cover approach, because the target audience is very different.

We react to trending formats and are constantly adding new titles to our list. The Jedi Mind Training Puzzle Book is a great example of that. We also explore special and anniversary editions of backlist titles where there’s an appetite and refresh titles to bring them up to date… We’re currently adding new material to the previously published Star Wars Galactic Atlas to ensure new, fan-favourite locations are showcased.

How important are book covers in selling books to the public?
We know that people do judge books by their covers, so we give them a lot of attention. We want a strong series look that is easily recognisable and stands out on shelves and online to encourage collectability. The Studio team will discuss ideas for a series design – which must be clear and obvious without compromising on design flair – then present several cover options to the wider business, and sometimes to retailers too if they are particularly invested in a series.

The ‘Book As Object’ trend is very interesting… More and more people view books as affordable pieces of home décor and as ‘signifiers’ to let people know what they are interested in. With the move towards working from home, people are paying more attention than ever before to what’s on their bookshelves and in their Zoom backgrounds. Creating series that people can collect over time and stack up on their shelves is a big part of this trend, and the series look has to be just right in order to ensure continued interest.

Can you tell us about your Street Style series of books. I know you have published books on Nike and Dr Martens in this series. How do you select the brands that feature?
This series is particularly relevant to the ‘Book As Object’ trend. Street Style is a companion series to our Story Behind the Style series which focuses on high fashion and jewellery brands. Street Style is a trendier, younger vibe.

Nike was top of the list for the sneakerheads – the company has an incredible history and their marketing is industry-leading. And we knew Dr. Martens was a good shout because half the Gen Zs in the office were wearing them! We expect this series to appeal to fashion-conscious Gen Zs and Millennials who will likely be keen to display these books on their shelves to tell people a little something about themselves.

Thinking about retail, what’s your take on the market at the moment?
Like most publishers, we’ve seen a significant increase in online sales over the last few years, while supermarket space is contracting. How a cover looks as a thumbnail online is more critical than ever – and we also have to find creative ways to showcase cover finishes and unique spec details, which are not so obvious online.

“More and more people view books as affordable pieces of home décor – ‘signifiers’ to let people know what they are interested in.”

For bricks-and-mortar retailers, we are mindful of everything from the size of the book – in relation to shelf size – to the durability of our cover finishes. Value is also more important than ever before, so we bear this in mind when speccing out a book and deciding on RRPs. We also like to offer exclusive special editions to retailers where it makes sense – we did this recently with a Nightmare Before Christmas Novelisation for Forbidden Planet.

How much forward planning goes into your list?
It’s a bit of a mix. We plan ahead as much as we can, but we also want to be agile and react to trends. There are certain formats and series that are easy to plan up to a couple of years in advance, and others that we need to bring to market quickly in order to capitalise on a trend or fulfil a customer request.

Sometimes a character’s popularity will take off and we need to respond accordingly. This happened recently with Disney’s Stitch… With a lot of help from Disney, we were able to react quickly to his exploding popularity and bring books to market in the space of a few months. We like to have as much creative time as possible, but we can also move quickly when we need to.

In a general sense, how do you keep in touch with your readers and understand what might interest them?
For me personally, being chronically online is the key! Joking aside, every member of the Studio team is a genuine fan of the books we create – or has a child who is – so ideation is a fairly organic process, and we have a great network of freelance authors who are also genuine fans. Essentially, we create books that we would buy ourselves, because we are the target audience, and this approach has never led us wrong. We always say that our books are created by fans, for fans.

In my spare time I like to play cosy games, and I’ve just written the official game guide for Disney’s Dreamlight Valley after spotting the attention the game was getting online. As a fan of the game, it was easy for me to tailor the content to deliver what I knew fans wanted – tips for game progression and ideas for creativity and décor.

Last year, we convinced Paddy Kempshall, a real-life stormtrooper and member of the 501st Legion’s UK Garrison, to write The Ultimate Star Wars Quiz Book for us because we knew he had the knowledge and passion for the brand.

What titles would you highlight as ‘key’ titles for this Christmas and ones to look out for in 2025?
This Christmas it’s all about Stitch… Look out for our Disney Modern Classics: Lilo and Stitch, written by Sally Morgan and illustrated using rarely seen concept art created by the original Walt Disney Animation Studio artists, as well as the gorgeous Ohana Means Family… This one will make you cry – you’ve been warned!

For younger fans, we have Where’s Stitch? which published just last month and has already reprinted multiple times. We’re also very excited about our Star Wars Cinematic Classics series, which kicks off with The Phantom Menace and A New Hope, as well as Winnie the Pooh The Little Things In Life which is another gorgeous Disney-created gift book.

Personally, I am very happy to be publishing Icons of Cinema: Baz Luhrmann in November – the first title in a new series dedicated to exploring the work of the world’s best-loved movie directors, written by the brilliant film critic, Emily Maskell.

And in 2025, you can expect lots of seasonal offerings across a broad range of moments with plenty of Stitch and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Finally, can you flag up two books that have influenced you professionally and personally?
There are so many books that have influenced me personally, but in terms of shaping my reading habits I’d have to say The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner. My dad is a big reader and a lover of fantasy, and he suggested I pick it up when I was ten years old. It was my first introduction to fantasy fiction so it made quite an impression…

The combination of Garner’s writing style, the vivid descriptions of the tunnels – which, now I think about it, may well have contributed to my claustrophobia – the folklore elements and the fact it was set just up the road from us in Alderley Edge had me hooked in no time. I’ve been reading fantasy ever since and I’m very grateful to my dad for nudging me towards it at a young age.

Professionally, I’m a big fan of Simon Sinek. In a previous role I was sent on a leadership training course, and the teacher recommended that we read Start With Why. Sinek’s ‘golden circle’ theory is so simple but so important. It’s not an exaggeration to say this book had a huge impact on my career, from helping me choose the right roles to informing my approach to leading a team. If you know what you believe and why you do what you do, the rest follows.

At Studio, we believe that it doesn’t matter what a child is reading, as long as they’re reading something. We also believe that adult fans should be encouraged to celebrate their favourite movies, TV shows and characters instead of feeling ‘silly’ for doing so. If you’re really lucky, you may even be able to make a career out of it…

Nice note to end on. Thanks again Stephanie.