Publishers Weekly has a very interesting article about the challenges publishers face in the increasingly competitive book market. Competition is so brisk, notes the article, that children’s books have to look more and more eye-catching.

“It's increasingly a paperback market—especially in picture books, but increasingly in fiction as well,” says Puffin managing director Francesca Dowe. “You build an author in paperback, then take them to hardback when you reach a level you know you can sustain.”

Puffin decided to take Charlie Higson’s Young Bond into hardcover with the release of Hurricane Gold last September, and employed the eye-catching idea of creating an all-gold book. The article says that the all-gold cover “caused a sensation.”

“It definitely helped sales,” Dowe confirmed.

International publishers will also employ the all-gold strategy for Hurricane Gold. German publisher Arena recently released an all-gold hardcover edition (as in the UK, this was the first hardcover for Young Bond in Germany), and the French edition from Gallimard Jeunesse, due April 24, will get the all-gold treatment.

So how will Puffin make the hardcover edition of By Royal Command, due September 4, as equally eye-catching?

Stay tuned.