Wow! Unlimited Media-owned kids and family entertainment prodco Frederator Studios is growing its digital publishing business, with plans to double its eBook library to 100 titles over the next year.
To kick off expansion into this category, this month the prodco is launching 13 new Wow! Wow! Wuzzby eBooks on Amazon and Epic! Based on its popular animated preschool series of the same name about a gerbil-like creature’s adventure with his friends—which originally aired on Nick Jr. in 2006—Fredeator’s future books will feature the studio’s other original brands, including Catbug (pictured) and Lucy the Dinosaur.
It’s been a successful year for Frederator’s publishing efforts, which has seen revenue and engagement from its preschool to middle-school skewing Frederator Books division climb in the last six months, according to the company in a statement
Overall, digital publishing is on the rise in the kids entertainment industry as well, with Viacom International Media Networks launching a new eBook subscription app BooKids by Nickelodeon in September, which features titles starring the kidnet’s IPs. Amazon released its first eReader aimed specifically at kids last month and loaded it with more than 1,000 eBooks. Beyond digital books, in the past year publishing as a whole has seen a resurgence as a growing number of streamers and burgeoning prodcos are turning the page to look for books that are ripe for adaptation, and which they can turn into popular content.