Could you tell us how Do Re Mi Books began and what inspired you to start your own children’s publishing company?

AW: The biggest inspirations are our two children, aged six and three. We spend a lot of time reading to them and were motivated to publish books that they would want to read again and again. We’re big fans of Japanese children’s publishing. It has a real creative freedom that we love.

SV: Huge numbers of people are reading Japanese fiction in translation and Manga is a massive global industry now. We hope that the children’s market will similarly look towards Japan for its beautiful picture books.

As co-founders, how do your roles complement one another, and how do you divide creative, editorial and business responsibilities?

AW: It’s been quite natural really. Sam was a brand and marketing person in publishing for many years and has a really good sense of publishing as a business. I am an illustrator and a great lover of illustration and so was always going to take the creative lead! There’s crossover of course – we’ve both taken on the role of editor for different titles. 

Do Re Mi Books has quickly developed a distinctive voice. How would you describe the ethos that underpins your list?

SV: First and foremost, we make books that we think children will love. We’re not too concerned about the ‘right’ way of doing things, either! 

Your books share a strong visual identity across the list. How do you define and maintain that ‘Do Re Mi’ feel as you grow, while still allowing each illustrator’s individual style to come through?

AW: I think a lot of it is down to curating the list and publishing illustrators we feel inspired by. 

When you’re considering new projects, what tells you that an idea or creative voice is right for Do Re Mi, rather than simply being a good project in general?

SV: You just know! As a husband-and-wife team, we have a really clear sense of each other’s taste.

AW: If we both love something, it’s right for Do Re Mi!

As a small and close-knit company, collaboration is clearly central to what you do. Could you introduce the wider Do Re Mi Books team and explain how each person contributes to bringing your books to life?

SV: We have a brilliant editorial director, Fiona Scoble, who brings a huge amount of picture book and fiction experience. She has a deep understanding of storytelling and can tell just what a book needs to make it sing. Polya Plavinskaia is our head of design. She was previously art director of Samokat in Moscow and has wonderful taste in illustrators and a real boldness to her approach. We also work with some brilliant and very experienced freelancers and partners for things like production, foreign rights and sales.

Can you talk us through the development of one of your titles, from the first spark of an idea through to the finished book on the shelf?

SV: I could describe one, but it might not bear any resemblance to any of the others. Each project is totally unique! Some start with an illustrator we love, and we discuss ideas with them. Sometimes we develop an idea in-house and find the right team for the job. Sometimes we start with the text. Whatever the approach, there’s lots of creative collaboration involved.

What have been the greatest challenges of launching and building an independent children’s publisher, and what have been the most rewarding moments so far?

SV: The greatest challenge I think has been around building our network of partners when we don’t yet have any books to show. Distribution, warehousing, sales teams in different territories, foreign rights sales – these all need establishing if a business is to sustain itself properly. It’s been really rewarding to start getting positive feedback from bookshops and on social media.

How do you balance creative ambition with the commercial realities of publishing, particularly as a small press?

AW: We don’t see these two things as being in conflict. Making interesting books that children want to read is a very commercial idea!

From an editorial perspective, what do you look for in an illustrator beyond technical ability - for example in terms of storytelling, adaptability or collaboration?

AW: The most important things to us when choosing illustrators is a unique creative voice and child-friendliness. When book shopping for my own children, I became bored with the same illustration styles being represented again and again. So we like to make more daring choices when choosing illustrators. But we don’t want to be so artsy as to alienate the child reader. It’s equally important to us to appeal to children and to for the illustrations to be easily readable. Luckily, there are so many wonderful and exciting illustration out there that bridge that gap!

Do Re Mi Books often champions originality and warmth in both storytelling and visuals. Are there any recent or forthcoming projects that particularly embody your approach?

AW: I’m really excited about How to Be a Cat, written by Sam and illustrated by Yoshiko Hada. It’s a board book about a boy mimicking a cat. We’re really inspired by play in general and often watch our kids for ideas. Yoshiko Hada is a Japanese artist with a lovely expressive style who perfectly captured the spirit of the story.   

How do you see the role of independent publishers evolving within the children’s book landscape, especially when it comes to nurturing new illustration talent?

AW: As a small independent publisher, we’re happy that we can take more risks with new illustrators and also have the capacity to work with them closely on each project.

What does a typical day look like for each of you as founders and at which stages of the publishing process do you feel most creatively involved?

SV: There’s lots of variation in our days at the moment. Splitting our time between creating books and running the business is sometimes challenging but fun, in its way!

AW: Each stage of the publishing process is very creative, from considering the overall shape of our list, through editing and making production decisions.

Looking ahead, are there any longer-term ambitions for Do Re Mi Books that you can share with our readers?

SV: Our launch list is largely made up of board books and picture books, but we’re really thrilled to have signed up a couple of books for slightly older readers for later in the year. More anon!

Finally, what advice would you give to illustrators using childrensillustrators.com who hope to collaborate with a small, design-led publisher like Do Re Mi Books?

AW: When developing your portfolio, lean into what makes your work unique!