Talk:Usborne Publishing

Clean-up

I've added a text box at the top to bring this into line with other businesses and start the clean up. I've also removed a bunch of unsourced statements and weasel words and paragraphs written like advertisments. It looks like this page was mostly put together by people from the company (franchise or otherwise) so it has a lot of sales puff and unencyclopedic adjectives ("most", "many", "best" etc). The reason I've cluttered up the text with some many citation requests (rather than just deleting the sections outright which is what I probably should have done) is to give these people a chance to put some proper sources together for them. I've left stuff up that's verifiable and if you work for the company you should be able to back these claims up. I'm being kind because I like the products of this company, they've been reasonable about their contributions in the past and I feel they should get another crack at it before someone stricter than me turns up and just deletes everything.

On another note, if you're going to expand on anything, maybe some info on the history of the company's development would be more useful than any more lists of writers and titles! Silverwood (talk) 14:20, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

This reads a little like an advertisement to me. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.162.212.19 (talk) 22:31, 6 August 2014 (UTC)

External links removed

I have removed all the links to:

• websites people have created to earn money
• international versions of the websites.

My rationale is that the UK site (the parent site) contains links to international branches, and Wikipedia is not a repository for links to all the Usborne sites globally. I have relinked the Usborne Books at Home link to the official UK UBaH site rather than affiliate/agency sites. In the future, please do not create such links. Burns flipper 11:26, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

---

Hi Burns flipper,

some good points well made on the netrality of this site and I agree with your removal of the international site links.

The difficulty with the first point, the links to people's private Usborne sites, is that the 'organisers' of Books at Home, the Mum's who organise book parties etc. number in the hundreds, perhaps thouands, and are largely hard to police. Some make their own websites, others have blogs and such. Unfortuantly some also think that it's alright to post their own sites on the wikipedia page but since you have brought it to my attention (I didn't mention, I work for Usborne) we'll talk with the people at Books at Home and see if they can't talk to the organisers and warn them off doing this in future.

Cheers.

Graemewill (talk) 15:55, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Removal of MLM references

I've noticed that reference to Usborne's multilevel marketing-style selling practices is being removed. What's up with that? They do operate as an MLM. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dode222 (talk • contribs) 02:03, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

I've just reverted another removal of MLM, and will add what looks like a reliable source discussing it: here. Tacyarg (talk) 20:19, 15 March 2021 (UTC)

On trying to add the article, I find that it is the financial section of the Daily Mail, so a deprecated source, so have not added. Tacyarg (talk) 20:27, 15 March 2021 (UTC)

@Dode222 Agreed. Details surrounding their business model, with reliable sources, would improve this page. The Quicklinks section also seems to lack context. Jmbld (talk) 04:29, 17 August 2022 (UTC)

@Jmbld, yeah, it also seems kinda advertisementy. I wonder if there's someone from Usborne editing the page. Dode222 (talk) 07:59, 16 November 2022 (UTC)

Proposed expansion of article

I work for Usborne Publishing and therefore have a conflict of interest regarding this subject. Rather than editing the article directly, I would like to suggest several sourced additions for review by uninvolved editors.

The current article is relatively brief and appears to omit significant information about the company's publishing model, international activities, notable publications, leadership, educational initiatives and industry recognition. The proposed additions below are supported by the sources listed, which include independent reporting and authoritative primary sources.

=== Publishing model ===

The article could potentially be expanded to provide additional information about the company's publishing approach.

Possible wording:

"Usborne is a children's publisher producing books for readers ranging from babies and preschool children to young adults (1,2).

Usborne uses an in-house publishing model, particularly for non-fiction, activity and novelty titles, which are conceived, written, edited and designed by internal editorial and creative teams working alongside freelance illustrators and subject-specialist advisers (1)."

Sources:

1. "Meet the Creative Team at Usborne Publishing", ''Publishers Weekly" (sponsored by Usborne Publishing) https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93025-meet-the-creative-team-at-usborne-publishing.html
2. "Will Hill scoops YA Book Prize 2018", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/will-hill-scoops-ya-book-prize-usborne-after-fire-795511

=== International publishing ===

The article currently contains limited information about the company's international publishing activities.

Possible wording:

"International publishing forms a substantial part of the company's business. In 2023, ''The Bookseller'' reported that approximately two-thirds of the company's turnover was derived from overseas trading (3).

Usborne titles have been translated into well over 100 languages (4).

Usborne distributes books internationally through publishing and distribution partnerships and has expanded its international publishing operations through local-language imprints. In 2017, the company launched a Chinese-language imprint (6). Usborne has also published under its own imprints in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese and Catalan, in addition to Korean and Chinese-language publishing programmes (5,6).

In 2022, Usborne announced a distribution agreement with HarperCollins Publishers in the United States. From 2023, HarperCollins would sell and distribute Usborne titles to trade and speciality retailers, schools and libraries in the US (7,8)."

Sources:

1. Peter Usborne obituary, ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/obituaries/obituary-peter-usborne
2. British Book Awards Children's Publisher of the Year profile, ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/british-book-awards-content/childrens-publisher-of-the-year
3. "Usborne launches Korean imprint", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/usborne-launches-korean-imprint
4. "Usborne launches Chinese imprint", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/usborne-launches-chinese-imprint-465386
5. "Usborne joins forces with HarperCollins in US distribution deal", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/usborne-joins-forces-with-harpercollins-in-us-distribution-deal
6. "England's Usborne and HarperCollins Announce American Distribution Deal", ''Publishing Perspectives'' https://publishingperspectives.com/2022/11/englands-usborne-and-harpercollins-announce-american-distribution-deal/

=== Notable publications and series ===

The article currently contains limited information about the publisher's most notable publishing programmes.

Possible wording:

"Usborne has published a number of long-running series, including [[That's Not My...]], Sticker Dolly Dressing and [[Farmyard Tales]] (9–12).

By 2019, the That's Not My... series had sold 6.4 million copies through Nielsen BookScan (10).

According to ''The Bookseller'', the Sticker Dolly Dressing series celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2026 and had generated £32.6 million through NielsenIQ BookScan (11)."

Sources:

1. Peter Usborne obituary, ''The Guardian'' https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/apr/14/peter-usborne-obituary
2. "Usborne gears up for 20 years of That's Not My...", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/usborne-gears-20-years-s-not-my-series-931841
3. "Usborne's Sticker Dolly Dressing gets a K-pop twist", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/usbornes-sticker-dolly-dressing-gets-a-k-pop-twist
4. Stephen Cartwright obituary, ''The Guardian'' https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/feb/21/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries

=== Leadership and contributors ===

The article currently contains limited information about the company's leadership and some of the individuals most closely associated with the publisher.

Possible wording:

"Nicola Usborne became Managing Director of the company in 2022 (13). Founder Peter Usborne died in 2023 at the age of 85 (9).

Fiona Watt, Editorial Director at Usborne and creator of the That's Not My... series, had sold 21.6 million units through NielsenIQ BookScan by 2025, making her one of only six authors to have sold more than 20 million units through the tracked market (14,15).

In 2026, after 50 years at Usborne, Jenny Tyler moved from Publishing Director into a publishing and strategic advisory role. She was succeeded as Publishing Director by author and editor Sam Taplin (16)."

Sources:

1. "Nicola Usborne named managing director of Usborne as founder Peter becomes chairman", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/nicola-usborne-named-managing-director-of-usborne-as-founder-peter-becomes-chairman
2. "Fiona Watt and Sam Taplin", ''Shelf Awareness'' https://www.shelf-awareness.com/dedicated-issue.html?issue=87#m525
3. Tom Tivnan, "Julia Donaldson becomes first author to break the NielsenIQ BookScan 50-million-unit barrier", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/julia-donaldson-becomes-first-author-to-break-the-nielseniq-bookscan-50-million-unit-barrier
4. "Jenny Tyler passes on publishing director baton to Sam Taplin after 50 years at Usborne", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/jenny-tyler-passes-on-publishing-director-baton-to-sam-taplin-after-50-years-at-usborne

=== Awards and recognition ===

The article could be expanded to include notable industry recognition.

Possible wording:

"Usborne was named Children's Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2012 and 2020 (17,18), Independent Publisher of the Year at the Independent Publishing Awards in 2014 (19), and Private Business of the Year in 2015 (20).

As of 2026, the company had been shortlisted for Children's Publisher of the Year in every year except one since the award was introduced in 2011 (4).

Usborne's fiction publishing programme has also received industry recognition. Editorial Director Rebecca Hill was named Editor of the Year at the British Book Awards in 2019, becoming, according to ''The Bookseller'', the first children's publisher to win the award (21).

Usborne titles have also received major literary recognition. In 2018, Geraldine McCaughrean's ''Where the World Ends'' won the Carnegie Medal, the United Kingdom's longest-running children's book award (22). In the same year, Will Hill's ''After the Fire'' won the YA Book Prize (2)."

Sources:

1. "Pan Mac and Waterstones triumph at the British Book Awards 2020", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/pan-mac-and-waterstones-triumph-british-book-awards-2020-1208553
2. "Death announced of Peter Usborne", ''BookBrunch'' https://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/page/free-article/death-announced-of-peter-usborne/
3. "Usborne, Nosy Crow and Summersdale winners at Independent Publishing Awards", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/usborne-nosy-crow-summersdale-winners-independent-publishing-awards
4. "Usborne crowned Private Business of the Year", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/usborne-crowned-private-business-year-313767
5. "Penguin General crowned Publisher of the Year", ''The Bookseller'' https://www.thebookseller.com/news/penguin-general-crowned-publisher-year-1006736
6. "Geraldine McCaughrean scoops second CILIP Carnegie Medal 30 years after first win and champions triumph of 'literary' fiction", The Carnegies https://carnegies.co.uk/geraldine-mccaughrean-scoops-second-cilip-carnegie-medal-30-years-after-first-win-and-champions-triumph-of-literary-fiction/

=== Educational and literacy initiatives ===

The article currently contains limited information about educational and literacy initiatives associated with the company and the Usborne family.

Possible wording:

"The Usborne Foundation was registered as a charity in December 2007 (23). According to the Foundation, its initial focus was addressing low levels of early literacy by combining education, research and technology to help children learn to read through interactive and engaging experiences (24).

The Foundation supports Teach Your Monster, which develops educational games for children, including literacy-focused learning games (25). TES reported a sharp rise in the use of Teach Your Monster to Read during the Covid-19 lockdown, with users in 175 countries (26). Teach Your Monster's educational games have also received industry recognition, including multiple BAFTA Children's Award nominations (27,28).

Separately, the Peter Usborne Primary School Library of the Year Award, presented by the School Library Association and sponsored by Usborne, recognises teams whose school libraries have a positive impact on pupils across their primary schools (29)."

Sources:

1. Charity Commission for England and Wales, The Usborne Foundation https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/4034232/full-print
2. Usborne Foundation, "Our Story" https://www.usbornefoundation.org.uk/our-story
3. Teach Your Monster, "About" https://www.teachyourmonster.org/about/
4. TES, "How Reading Monsters went global during lockdown" https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/how-reading-monsters-went-global-during-lockdown
5. BAFTA Children's Awards nominations 2013 https://static.bafta.org/files/bafta-childrens-awards-nominations-list-2013-01-2070.pdf
6. BAFTA Children's Awards nominations 2015 https://static.bafta.org/uploads_pre_202411/bafta-childrens-nominations-2015.pdf
7. School Library Association, "Peter Usborne Primary School Library of the Year Award" https://www.sla.org.uk/Services/Public/About-Us/Awards-Pages/Primary_School-Library-of-the-Year-Award.aspx

I would welcome feedback on whether these sources support expanding the article and whether alternative wording would be preferable.

~~~~ Sophie McNeill (talk) 15:56, 10 August 2026 (UTC)

Hi, Sophie McNeill. Thank you for asking here. I have removed the nowiki coding from the start of your request, so that this shows up on the list of open requests. Did you use AI to write the text above, or to find citations? Putting it through a detector, it shows as about two-thirds AI-generated. Please see the policy on this. Thank you. Tacyarg (talk) 22:40, 10 August 2026 (UTC)

Hello, many thanks for pointing that out and removing the nowiki coding. I wasn't aware of the AI usage policy and its restrictions. I identified the information and sources myself - as I've noted in my profile I work for Usborne, so it was straightforward for me to do this. But because I was keen to present the information in the way it was most likely to be useful, I used AI to check and improve my writing quality, beyond what is allowed by the policy. I will go back now and redraft the request in my own words now. Thanks so much for responding and helping me out. Sophie McNeill (talk) 12:06, 11 August 2026 (UTC)