What is the recipe for success for writing a children’s book in Poland? Writing many titles as well as selling them abroad seems to be the answer; at least for Aleksandra and Daniel Mizieliński. Last year, the Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts graduates sold over 100,000 books in Poland. Their books are also published in many countries including USA and Japan. Their debut “D.O.M.E.K.”, a guide to the world’s most interesting buildings was published in eleven countries and made the Internationale Jugendbibliothek White Ravens list. However, it is not only books that have kept these two on the market. When they were students, they created Hipopotam Studio, and focused on commercial jobs such as making invitations, posters and catalogues. The experience gained from these projects helped them improve the content of their books, and when the income from publishing books became satisfactory, they decided to end their commercial projects. Their latest success is “Maps”, a collection of fifty-one maps. It had sold almost 60,000 copies in Poland, and 120,000 have been printed abroad. In 2013 the book received a prestigious French Prix Sorcières award, and the English version of “Maps” made the New York Times list of the six most interesting and beautiful books for children. Besides books, the Mizielińskis create computer games and apps. They are fully aware that their books will never reach audiences of 100,000 readers a day, like “Pica Pic”, a website that gives hand-held electronic games from the 1980s a second life. They see great potential in this multimedia part of their work. Currently, they have plans for the next three years. This includes both new books and apps.
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