The opening page of The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes. Today, cross-promoting pharmaceuticals in children’s literature is typically frowned upon. Photograph of the 1765 edition from the British Library Collection, in the public domain.
I’ve long felt John Newbery’s bookishly-relevant backstory should be more well-known and, honestly, have been pitching the idea for awhile to established periodicals. After an initial flurry of interest… no go. Last week with the announcement of the printer/bookseller’s namesake Newbery Medal winners, I finally decided to just “ship,” as Seth Godin would say.
Herewith, my essay about the man credited with creating the children’s book market, his questionable practices, and how his work echoes in book publishing today.
This is my first foray into publishing on Medium, a … well, I’m quite not sure how to describe the writing platform / social media hybrid. But I love the fact that I’m in good company — Jon Krakauer and Linda Fairstein are just two of the authors I’ve read there.
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