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Bombadil Publishing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bombadil Publishing is a youth-to-youth publishing house, founded in Sweden in 2007 by Marianne Rugård-Järvstråt. It operates on a franchise basis and has branches in many countries.

The company publishes both fiction and non-fiction books written by and for pre-teens, teenagers, and young adults (ages 12–26). It uses mentors and tutors, rather than traditional editors, to assist the authors in creating a quality book,[1] and organises searches for promising authors[2] as well as finding them through social media.[3] The authors themselves design the covers and write the back-cover text.[4]

Books are marketed and sold under the single Bombadil Publishing brand, but the company is a franchise operation and has offices in many countries, including the US, the UK, India, and Latin America.[5] After the company's foundation in 2007, major expansion began early in 2008, with eleven countries being added in November that year alone[6] and the number of authors rising from several hundred to over 50,000 by the end of the year and to over 200,000 by the end of 2010.[citation needed] As of February 2010, Bombadil was publishing in 28 languages;[3] as of September 2010, it had authors in 90 countries.[7] Some books are published in multiple languages. Authors receive a 20% share of the price of each book sold.[3][8][9][10]

The books are primarily sold on the publisher's website and advertised by word-of-mouth, although in some cases they can be bought in shops; in 2011 the company was negotiating with IKEA and ICA to have some books sold at their stores.[8]

In El Salvador, Bombadil had difficulty securing promised token government payments to authors[11] and in 2012 had to abandon a claim for reimbursement for 10,000 books ordered by a government ministry that were not paid for.[12][13][14] One of the Swedish companies was put into administration on 17 February 2011 in Örebro District Court, Sweden.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "Editorial sueca publica a salvadoreño", La Prensa Gráfica, 27 September 2009 (in Spanish)
  2. ^ "Editorial apoyará a escritores", Prensa Libre, 13 December 2010 (in Spanish)
  3. ^ a b c Eduardo Portillo, "Editorial sueca publicará libro a dos estudiantes salvadoreños" Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine, La Prensa Gráfica, 15 February 2010 (in Spanish)
  4. ^ "Nytt bokförlag för ungdomar i Gyttorp" Archived 2013-08-22 at archive.today, Nerikes Allehanda, 10 February 2009, updated 4 May 2009 (in Swedish)
  5. ^ Jaime Ulises Marinero, "'Los jóvenes necesitan identificarse y a alguien que escuche sus maravillosas ideas'", Interview with Marianne Rugård-Järvstråt, La Página, 28 October 2010 (in Spanish)
  6. ^ "Schwedischer Jugendverlag Bombadil wächst weltweit per Franchising", Franchise-Journal, Franchise Portal, 22 December 2008 (in German)
  7. ^ Bombadillians, Bombadil Publishing, retrieved 22 August 2013.
  8. ^ a b Marcus Nilsson, "Tvillingtjejernas bokdröm gick i uppfyllelse", Kristianstadsbladet, 10 February 2011, updated 11 February 2011 (in Swedish)
  9. ^ Clément S., "Analphabétisme: Un livre de bienfaisance pour la lutte mondiale", ActuaLitté, 23 December 2008 (in French)
  10. ^ Peace Through Culture with Bombadil Publishing Archived 2013-09-25 at the Wayback Machine, Bombadil Publishing, retrieved 22 August 2013.
  11. ^ "Sec retrasa pago a jóvenes poetas", El Salvador.com, 3 October 2011 (in Spanish)
  12. ^ "Editorial sueca demandará a la DPI", La Prensa Gráfica, 11 December 2011 (in Spanish)
  13. ^ José González, "SECULTURA: 'Cualquier demanda de Bombadil resultaría improcedente'", La Página, 10 January 2012 (in Spanish)
  14. ^ Óscar González, "La renuncia de una “demanda” sueca" Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, La Prensa Gráfica, 20 January 2012 (in Spanish)
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