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Feature

Stranger in the Woods Leads to a Trilogy of Bestsellers

Wildlife photographers turned children\'s book publishers demonstrate a model for success

by Jim Barnes

How is a successful book publishing project born? Sometimes it’s by accident. For example, veteran nature photographers Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick were planning a book about the whitetail deer, and while sorting through their thousands of photographs Jean spotted a whimsical, wintry shot of deer gathered around a snowman. “We should do a children’s book,” she blurted. The impulsive statement eventually changed both their lives. This holiday season marks the launch of their third children’s book featuring the whitetail deer, and the snowman now graces the cover of about 1.5 million sold copies of Stranger in the Woods.



“At first, doing a children’s book seemed crazy, but we soon realized that it made perfect sense,” says Carl about his wife’s prophetic suggestion. “The coffee table-style book we had planned would have been very expensive to produce. With a 48-page children’s book, we could consider self-publishing it and maintaining control of the project. Plus, it would give us a product under $20, a kind a magic number in the gift market.”

As it was, they still went broke producing and printing the first 20,000 copies in 1999, with no idea how it would sell when they set out hand-delivering it to stores. Their close connections with nature conservancies and community groups familiar with their nature art paid off. The book got lots of attention, the intimate animal photography struck a chord, and it was a perfect holiday gift. A month later they were reprinting another 40,000 copies…and they haven’t looked back since.

The original book spawned a movie, soundtrack, board book, and the follow-up titles, Lost in the Woods (which became a smash hit and won the Independent Publisher Book Award for Best Children’s Picture Book of Year from this publication in 2005), and the newly released First Snow in the Woods, to complete a trilogy that Carl is just now realizing the power of.

“I didn’t realize until now that people are buying all three books. They’re collecting them all.” It also got the books into the “series” category on the New York Times bestseller list, right alongside Harry Potter and Olivia. At Borders, the new book ranks #1 in sales, and Stranger in the Woods ranks #2, demonstrating the “add-on” purchase principle. At Amazon.com the new book is paired with a board book in the \"Better Together\" feature, and the \"Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought\" feature suggests eight more of their products.



In 2004, the couple took another chance with the second book by coming out early in the summer, and designing it with nothing to do with winter or the holidays – check out the spring-like color palette -- and its success confirmed the quality of their work. “We had to prove we could do it again, and it did seem a bit crazy to come out in early summer and ignore that 80% of books sell at the holidays,” recalls Carl. “But we also had a huge following with teachers (and grandmothers, too), who were out there on vacation and really helped it take off.” Retailers were still lukewarm about the book and its viability for the holidays, when Sams and Stoick fired off a 20,000 piece mailing to announce the book, using the huge contact list they’d compiled during years of exhibiting at art fairs and book shows. Soon the book was on the New York Times bestseller list and well-stocked in stores.

Lost in the Woods, with its hugely charming images and ecological message also begat a movie, soundtrack, board book, and even a deer fawn plush toy. The movie won the coveted Wildscreen Film Festival’s 2006 Panda Award for Best Children\'s Wildlife Film by going far beyond the typical \"kiddy flick\" with its superior cinematography, production, story and music.

With First Snow in the Woods, Sams II and Stoick should again satisfy holiday sales-hungry retailers with a fall/winter cover image, and please fans of the book series with another charming story about the fawn growing up and learning about life and its changes. “We wanted to show how each creature prepares for the winter season in their own way,” says Stoick, a former middle school art teacher. “They must each follow their own heartsong.”



The book has really taken off, thanks in part to a marketing plan bolstered by a direct mail campaign, early press coverage with glowing reviews, and personal appearances at regional shows. Today, when they do a show they send out a mailing to their contact list of the region’s target audience. “We sent out a 2,000-piece mailing before a show in Columbus last weekend, and I think everyone on the list showed up and bought a book,” says Carl, still nursing a sore signing hand.

All of this success is not without its technical challenges: the new project almost didn’t come together in time for the early deadline that an initial print run of 150,000 requires. “I didn’t know how much I liked it at the time we were to decide on the print quantity, but then the story line really developed,” Carl says. All the signals of another hit are in place: the bestseller lists, Amazon ranking, press coverage, reviews, and bookstore displays. But what really turns Carl on is the reaction from the kids themselves. “It’s when their eyes light up and they give you a big smile, and you know you’ve reached them -- that’s what really matters.”




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First Snow in the Woods, by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick

ISBN: 0977010864; 48-page hardcover; reading level 9-12; $19.95

Available this holiday season at gift shops and book stores, including Borders and Barnes & Noble, or by calling 1-800-552-1867. For more information visit www.carlsams.com or www.strangerinthewoods.com.

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