How long do most picture books stay in print for? I would guess that they go out of print relatively quickly unless they become a classic or super popular in order to make room for all the new upcoming releases.
Obviously I can only give my own experience, YMMV, etc etc. But to answer this question, I looked at my handy list of every book I've ever sold, and figured out which ones are PB and if they are Out of Print (OP). This is obviously a limited selection of titles, BUT, it also covers a pretty wide swath of styles, publisher sizes, author-famousness, etc, so I do think it is probably a relatively accurate snapshot:
PBs of mine that are more than 10 years old but less than 15: (pub date 2010-2015): 50% are still in print. (10 in print, 10 OP)
PBs of mine that are more than 5 years old but less than 10: (pub date 2016-2020): 70% are still in print. (25 in print, 10 OP)
PBs of mine that are less than 5 years old: (pub date 2021 to present): I got bored looking these up after awhile and it was 100%, so let's say 90-95% are still in print just in case I missed a couple.
Mind you, that's the only data I have, bc I just don't have any titles that published before 2010! But if I had to make a fairly educated guess, I'd wager that if we were to keep going in this direction, the chart would look something like this:
So I don't know what YOU consider a long time or a short time. In my experience, though, children's book publishers tend to keep books in print longer than adult book publishers do. That's because they know that even if a book doesn't sell like crazy right out of the gate, there is ample opportunity for a children's book to catch on later through word of mouth, etc.
If a title wins awards, gets on state lists, gets added to curriculums, etc, it might continue to be a steady seller for years to come. None of that can happen immediately upon release, and none of it can happen if the book is out of print!
It is important to remember that, while it doesn't sound as FANCY as a splashy bestseller, a book that backlists well is really a prize! Let's say your book is, like The Outsiders, always assigned to a half a million high school kids, every year. Some will already have a copy, or get one used, but a lot of them will buy it from a bookstore. The rest of them will get it from the library - - but even then, the libraries will have to buy more! That's why The Outsiders sold over 300k copies in 2025. That's way more than most new books. And that happens EVERY year. You get the picture?
Consistent backlist sales are what keep the lights on at publishers.
So they are going to try and give most books a few years to see if they get any traction. If sales aren't picking up at all, or if it was selling OK for awhile but now has dropped, they'll let the stock dwindle, but still give it a little time before officially calling it OP -- just in case! And if it's been several years and there's NO demand, OK, then OP.
