Darkmoon, Young adult's community

Our Position on the young adults market

As we have two targets:

• Young adults, the most important and our first target
• Adults that read young adult literature (not negligible market that represents huge source of profits thanks to the new tendencies already explained: there's no need to be a teenager to love fantasy, just need to watch the international success of Harry Potter, Hunger Games and Twilight)

Many adults are finding themselves inspired 

to leap back over the fence into the world of teen literature. — Photo by Jesse Rieser

We have put in place a special strategy that could attract and touch both of them. In order to make that possible we have made a clear differentiation on how we sell our books.

Why are we different?

1. Product attributes

For our first market: Young adults

We offer to young adults an incredible variety of books on many different themes: fantasy, adventure, bit-lit (vampires stories), romance.
So that, they can find and discover many different books published by only one label.
==> wide range of books under only one label

Thanks to our specialized team, that is permanently searching for new interesting books (here or abroad), that could become the big successes of tomorrow, we are always updated with the new tendencies and try to offer those books to our customers before any other label.
==>  label that offers to its customers new books in "avant-première"

As we want to be closer to our customers everyday and that their satisfaction is our priority, we offer them many different services apart from only selling books:

• A loyalty card that rewards them (discount, invitation to special events)
• A particular book-mark: when our customers buy some of our books they can receive with the book a special personalized and dedicated card from the author of the book (for example : "For Peter, XXX, Stephany Meyer), this because we are close to the authors we published
• We organize for our customers special events where they can meet authors, or participate to book fairs
• We have created a website and a blog, as well as a Facebook page, to enables our customers follow trends, our book launch, last trends/news on the young adult literature
• Some special goodies on big books can be bought on our website

==> label that cares about its customer, trying to create strong long term relationship around a strong community made of its readers by creating associated services and tools that could even more satisfy its customers and retain them

For our secondary market: Adults

We offer them all of the previous elements but we have decided to create other books' covers that are more neutral and will more appeal them in books shops (they will be in the adult section and not in the young section) or on our website.

For instance Pocket Jeunesse has done this and its has worked well, so we will also do it for books that could interest our both targets (not for all of our books, because some of them will only interest young adults).

Young cover for Hunger Games:  

Adult cover for Hunger Games:

Castelmore also does that every year with 2 or 3 books. Some books are published with a Castelmore cover for young adults and with a  Bragelonne's cover (adult's label) for adult.

For example the New Victoria's Book:

==> label that differentiates its books according to its targets, enabling its adults' target to find fantasy,bit-lit, adventure books in the adult section and not in the young one.

what's more, we thought on a future innovation  : we want to expose to current taste update classical stories like Hamlet, Snow White and Pride&Prejudice.

Source: http://www.slate.fr/story/59641/livres-young-adultes-twilight-harry-potter-hunger-games-ados
http://www.aarp.org/entertainment/books/info-02-2012/best-teen-fiction-for-adults.html

2. External attributes

• Social/Political :

Darkmoon is a  responsible publisher. We care about the world and the people. We installed a human politic "For one book bought, 1 cent goes to a non-profit association". Every year the association changes.
For instance, until December 2012 we will work with "Rêves" an association dedicated to ill children and that fights to realise their dream.

• Environmental

Ecological aspect : our company is engaged in the protection of the environment. Our books are made with recycled paper. We obtained all certifications. We obtained the european certification : Ecolabel Européen.

The label gives a global approach of the life cycling of the product, the raw materials used, the production, the distribution and the recycling of the product

Nathalie CONTE
Séléna BERNARD
Sandrine CATHALO
Léonore BERARD