QED and Walker Books join forces

Posted: 13th February, 2009

From February 26th 2009, QED Publishing’s trade and education sales in the UK and Ireland will be represented by leading children’s independent publisher Walker Books. Already home to a multi-award winning children’s list, Walker Books is ideally positioned to take QED into new and wider avenues of distribution. The expertise of Walker Books sales force lies in the consumer book trade as well as the education market, and Walker and QED look forward to building sales in both these areas.

QED Publishing, a member of the Quarto Group, was founded in 2003 by former Chrysalis Children’s MD Steve Evans. QED works with acclaimed authors, consultants and illustrators to produce high quality education and reference books that, while creative and visually exciting, maintain a strong curriculum focus, making them perfect for children, parents and teachers to use and enjoy together. QED titles are sold and distributed in more than 20 countries. Recent successes include The Great Big Art Activity Book, which sold 250,000 copies in 18 months.

Walker Books is home to many celebrated and best-selling authors, illustrators and brands including Anthony Horowitz, Patrick Ness, Polly Dunbar, Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury. Walker Books successful preschool character Maisy is published in 27 languages and Where’s Wally has achieved sales of more than 40 million copies. In addition to Walker's publishing catalogue, Walker's licensing division manages licensing activity across several Walker brands including Maisy and all other Lucy Cousins properties; Guess How Much I Love You and new property Tilly and Friends. Walker Productions was launched in 2007 to develop Walker content for other media platforms. Walker Books is part of a vibrant international group that includes Candlewick Press in America, and Walker Books Australia.

Steve Evans, Publisher, QED Publishing
"This is an exciting and important move for QED Publishing. Walker will take over the relationships with QED’s existing key customers, and will aim to place QED alongside their own market-leading children’s titles in the retail book trade, major multiples and supermarkets. QED has been a commercial success since its inception and we have seen year-on-year growth in sales and profits since our first list was launched in autumn 2004. The move to Walker Books – our partner of choice – should substantially increase QED’s penetration of the domestic market. As a result, we expect to grow significantly in 2009 and beyond."

Jane Harris, Sales Director, Walker Books Limited
"This is a great opportunity for both parties, and we are very excited about taking QED's books out into the market. Walker is very proud of its excellent relations within the consumer trade and education community both here in the UK and Ireland and we look forward to introducing QED's books to a broader marketplace."