James Atkinson from DK+ talks key summer highlights, partnering with F1 and building momentum for its LEGO Fiction list.
LicensingSource.net catches up with a selection of licensees across key categories to find out their summer success stories, what they see as the highlights and challenges as we enter the ‘golden quarter’ of 2026 and their main goals for 2027.
Today: James Atkinson, Global Head of Campaigns, DK+.
“2026 has been a banner year already for the DK+ team as we scale our growing publishing list in our target areas of sports, anime and juvenile fiction – all areas that complement our existing expertise in licensed non-fiction publishing.
A key summer highlight has been the launch of our new partnership with F1, with the first three books hitting shelves this November. We’ve also seen momentum grow and grow for our new LEGO Fiction list, with unprecedented levels of excitement for Nicolas Nurdblok and the Lost Brick, created by New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Brown. And we’ve got more bestsellers around the corner this autumn: from The Art of Junji Ito Collection with Crunchyroll to BBC Blue Planet III.
In 2027, we’ll be looking to continue this momentum, with some exciting discussions in the works and publishing into huge fan moments like the upcoming Star Wars 50th anniversary.”
This feature originally appeared in the autumn 2026 edition of Licensing Source Book. To read the full publication, click on this link.
Want to read more news like this? Simply sign up to our daily digest by clicking here. You can also follow us on LinkedIn and on Instagram (@licensing_source).