The National Endowment for the Arts announced that Ira Silverberg, Director of Literature programs, will leave the agency and return to New York City. Silverberg’s departure is effective July 11, 2013. Amy Stolls, Literature Program Officer, will be the Acting Director of Literature until a new director is in place. Silverberg joined the NEA in October 2011.

Beth Lamb has been appointed to the newly created position of Vice President, Associate Publisher, Vintage Anchor, reporting to Anne Messitte.  She was most recently Associate Publisher for Trade Books at Rodale. As a result, Hyperion VP, Associate Publisher Kristin Kiser is moving to Rodale as VP Deputy Publisher, reporting to newly named Publisher, Mary Ann Naples.  Naples has also announced that Jennifer Levesque will be joining as Editorial Director of Trade Books.  She was most recently at Abrams.

Elisabeth Dyssegaard, Hyperion Editor in Chief, will join Palgrave Macmillan as Executive Editor on June 24 with a focus on acquiring books in history. She will report to Karen Wolny, Editorial Director of Trade.

Jacob Lewis has been named VP, Publishing Director for Crown, Hogarth, and Broadway Books, effective July 8. He is currently the Co-founder and CEO of Figment.com.

Phoebe Yeh will join Random House Children’s Books as VP, Publisher, Crown Books for Young Readers on June 21, reporting to Barbara Marcus. Yeh was most recently Editorial Director at HarperCollins Children’s.  Michelle Nagler will join Random House Children’s Books as Associate Publishing Director for the Random House / Golden Books group.

With publication of fine arts and photography instruction titles by Watson-Guptill and Amphoto Books reassigned to Ten Speed Press, nine positions are being eliminated, including that of Victoria Craven, Editorial Director of Watson-Guptill, Amphoto Books, and Potter Craft.

Betina Cochran is joining Highlights in the newly created position of Editorial Director of Interactive Publishing and Strategic Partnerships.   Most recently, she worked as Associate Director of Licensing and Business Development for the American Museum of Natural History.

Joe Wikert, formerly General Manager of the TOC Division of O’Reilly, has announced that he has accepted a position with Olive Software.

Tim Ditlow has left Amazon Children’s, within the Marshall Cavendish division, where he was Associate Publisher (after working for Amazon-owned Brilliance Audio since 2008). He can be reached at timditlow@gmail.com

As a result of Kingfisher’s decision to scale back its U.S. operations, Kingfisher has announced that Brian Buerkle, who joined the company as Associate Publisher and Director of Marketing, left the company in December 2012.

Genoveva Llosa has joined HarperOne as Senior Editor. She was at Jossey-Bass most recently and has also worked at HarperBusiness, Crown, and Harvard Business Review Press.

Sarah Harrison Smith will become the new Children’s Editor at The New York Times, taking over from Pamela Paul, who was promoted recently to Editor of The New York Times Book Review. Paul replaced Sam Tanenhaus, who stepped down after nine years in the position to become a Writer-at-Large.  Smith has served as an editor in the Metropolitan section and also worked as the Managing Editor of The New York Times Magazine.

PROMOTIONS

Jennifer Brehl, SVP, Executive Editor and Director of Editorial Development, announced  that Emily Krump has been promoted to Editor of William Morrow/Avon/Voyager; she joined the company in August 2006.

Lynn Grady, SVP, Executive Editor and Director of Editorial Development of the William Morrow Group, announced that Shelby Meizlik has been promoted to VP, Publicity.  Shelby will continue to act as the Group Publicity Director for all of the William Morrow Group, including Morrow Hardcover, Trade Paperback, Avon, Harper Voyager, It Books, Impulse and Cookbooks.

Bloomsbury Children’s Books has promoted Caroline Abbey and Mary Kate Castellani to Senior Editor positions. Brett Wright and Laura Whitaker move up to Associate Editor. Both Castellani and Whitaker move over from Walker Children’s,  under imprint Publishing Director Emily Easton.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Click here to see our full calendar of publishing events

Jun 18 – 20
Licensing Expo
Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

Jun 19 – 23
Seoul International Book Fair
Seoul, South Korea

Jun 27 – Jul 2
ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition
Chicago, IL

Jul 3 – 6
Tokyo International Book Fair
Tokyo Big Sight, Japan

Jul 10 – 14
Southampton Writers Conference, Session 1
Stony Brook Southampton, Southampton, NY

Jul 14 – 26
Yale Publishing Course: Magazine/Digital (Jul 14 – 19)
Yale Publishing Course: Book (Jul 21 – 26)
Yale University, New Haven, CT

Jul 17 – 20
Romance Writers of America Conference
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA

Jul 18 – 21
San Diego Comic-Con West
San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA

Aug 17 – 23
International Summit of the Book
Singapore

Aug 18 – 21
The Gourmet Housewares Show at NYIGF
Javits Center, New York, NY

Aug 28 – Sep 1
Beijing International Book Fair
Beijing, China

Aug 31 – Sep 2
Bumbershoot
Seattle Center, Seattle, WA

Sep 15 – 16
CIANA Remainder & Promotional Book Fair
The Business Design Centre, Islington Green, London

Sep 21 – 22
National Book Festival
“Books that Shaped the World”
National Mall, Washington, DC

Sep 23 – 25
39th Annual FIPP World Magazine Conference
Hilton Cavalieri Hotel, Rome, Italy

Sep 23 – 25
Publishing Business Conference and Expo
NY Marriott Marquis, New York, NY

Sep 30 – Oct 2
NAIBA Fall Conference
Somerset Doubletree, Somerset, NJ

Oct 2 – 4
Liber International
Guest of Honor: Chile
Madrid, Spain

Oct 6 – 8
PNBA Tradeshow
Airport Holiday Inn, Portland, OR

Oct 9 – 13
Frankfurt Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Brazil
Frankfurt, Germany

Oct 10 – 12
MPIBA Fall Trade Show
Renaissance Denver Hotel, Denver, CO

Oct 10 – 13
New York Comic Con
Javits Center, New York, NY

Oct 11 – 13
Southern Festival of Books
Legislative Plaza, Nashville, TN

Oct 20 – 27
Belgrade Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Poland
Belgrade, Serbia

Oct 27 – Nov 3
The Chicago International Remainder & Overstock Book Exposition
Hilton Chicago, Chicago, IL

Nov 13 – 17
Dublin Book Festival
Dublin, Ireland

Nov 17 – 24
Miami Book Festival International
Miami, FL

Nov 20 – 25
Montreal Salon du Livre
Place Bonaventure, Montreal, Quebec

Nov 30 – Dec 8
Guadalajara International Book Fair
Guadalajara, Mexico

Jan 4 – 6
New Media Expo
Rio All-Suit Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, NV

Jan 8 – 9
CBA Next 2014
AmericasMart, Atlanta, GA

Jan 9 – 12
129th MLA Annual Convention
Chicago, IL

Jan 9 – 12
Key West Literary Seminar: Chapter One
“The Dark Side: Mystery, Crime & the Literary Thriller”
Key West, FL

Jan 17 – 21
Jaipur Literature Festival
Diggi Palace, Jaipur

But as has been pointed out elsewhere, literacy is no guarantor of book consumption.  Such has been the case with Mexico, where the average adult reads fewer than two books per year. Alongside the new president, Enrique Peña Nieto‘s, call for a new overhaul of the system, many outside the educational sector, including publishers and arts-and-culture sectors of the government, are honing in on the nation’s Millennials in much the same way as literacy activists did in the 90s, hoping to “change [the nation’s] reading habits from childhood and from within schools,” says Ana Laura Delgado, Director of independent children’s publisher Ediciones El Naranjo. The mission to overhaul the way Mexicans consume books, says Felipe Rosete, Editor at Sexto Piso, won’t be effective if practiced “by government-implemented reading programs alone. A new reading culture depends on the publishing industry itself to use campaigns, affordable pricing, and activities that complement governmental programs.”

One example of a concerted focus on children’s books is the collaboration between publishers, booksellers, and the government to establish a children’s section in every Mexican bookstore, which Nina Alvarez Icaza of Fondo de Cultura Economica calls “one of the most important initiatives in recent years.” However, this example of one strengthened link in the supply chain points to the bigger gap that remains. As it is, an estimated 94% of Mexican municipalities have no significant sales outlet for books–making children’s sections or lack thereof a moot point. When asked what the biggest challenge is for book business in Mexico today, publisher after publisher answered “distribution.” The lack of options exists at every point of the supply chain, not just the endpoint: Diego Rabasa, an editor at Sexto Piso, points out that the scarcity of specialized book distributors and wholesalers within Mexico cramps the flexibility of business between publishers and booksellers, and Linda Goodman, president of The Bilingual Publications Co, a US importer of Spanish-language books, bemoans the lack of professional publicity outlets to learn about new releases.

Mexico’s anemic book supply chain is yet another corner of the industry where national educational policy has a major part to play. When speaking of “the Mexican book market” it’s common to add the caveat that one is speaking of the private book industry, producing some 165 million copies yearly, separate from the government-funded elhi textbook sector, which serves the nation’s 27 million K-12 students and almost doubles the count to over 300 million copies annually. All these books are not only produced but also distributed at the government’s expense, which some, like Ixchel Delgado Jorda, Managing Director of Libros para Imaginar, point to as a major factor in Mexico’s “wide, but not deeply developed book sector” and believe “leads to lack of points of sale.”  As it stands, the elhi market is Mexico’s most attractive aspect for major international publishers, says Felipe Rosete; with Santillana, McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and others all doing millions of dollars of business in Mexico each year. The theory is that, if distribution of this most profitable wedge of the book market were contracted out to the private sector, there would be more incentive to build a book-specialized distribution channel with dedicated points of sale which, though buoyed by elhi sales, would also serve the trade market. The primary outlets that do exist, branches of the two major chain stores, Gandhi and Sanborns, have engaged in legal battles against the single-price law (“La Ley del Libro”) since it was passed in 2008, and independent publishers report that the law is infrequently enforced. Five years after the law’s implementation, independent bookstores continue to struggle and close across Mexico.

Beyond the sheer size of the task ahead of them, the greatest challenge for anyone wanting to do book business in Mexico, as summed up by Ixchel Delgado Jorda, is the strange mix of “state intervention on the one hand, and the lack of support and incentives for the development of national industry on the other, which is a constraint but also a challenge.” If governmental involvement has at times channeled away opportunity or been ineffectual, then the decentralization and privatization of book business might be the best hope to nurture a culture of reading across the entire country. “It is significant that the largest book fair for the Spanish-speaking market takes place in Guadalajara, Mexico and not…where the largest publishing houses exist. It’s a reflection of the dynamics of the Mexican book industry,” says Alberto Ruy Sanchez, Publisher of Artes de Mexico, a dynamic echoed by the fact that many of Mexico’s most influential new publishers exist outside of the traditional urban centers. Whether forming initiatives targeting the country’s youngest readers or taking the start of the book supply chain to more “provincial” parts of the country, for Mexican book business, the very beginning seems not only a very good place, but the only place to start.

(With additional reporting from Constance Sayre.)

Anticipating Random/Penguin

For agents on a panel about consolidation, much is still up in the air. While no one said that they believed consolidation or rapid growth in agencies will be the solution to counterbalance the large companies potentially getting larger, they did agree that scale will matter. Size is not the only factor that defines the scale of a company, but its weight and influences, as well. Two publishers becoming one means that there will be one less option to leverage an author against another. The question of size also translates to authors. As Brian DeFiore of DeFiore and Company pointed out, “A mega-company needs mega-authors to survive,” meaning that agents “need major clients more than ever.” Robert Gottlieb of Trident Media agreed, talking about how consolidation will possibly mean bigger incentives for bestselling authors, but may make it even harder for mid-list authors who are struggling; agents might be less inclined to stay with clients through rough times.

Random/Penguin also means the publishers will have greater resources to finally breach some barriers the industry has repeatedly come up against. Idea Logical‘s Mike Shatzkin predicted that Random/Penguin will finally be able to create a successful subscription service, which had previously been impossible due to “agents not wanting to transfer the power of the author to the subscription manager.” The possibilities of a consolidated company were also highlighted in the business development panel, moderated by Market Partner International‘s Lorraine Shanley, that discussed how these departments finding areas of strategic growth in partnering with new companies and business opportunities.

Dealing with Amazon

On the retail side, Amazon also came up often in reference to their not-so-secret adversarial relationship with publishers. Former Macmillan President Brian Napack highlighted the conflict of interest between the two, succinctly explaining that Amazon manages the customer and publishers manage the author, and as those two move into one another’s spaces, friction is bound to occur. This was a sentiment echoed by Scott Hoffman at Folio Literary Management who said his philosophy has been that “you don’t get rich selling books to publishers, you get rich selling books to people.” Still, Michael Cader explained that Amazon having almost no margin will make it hard for publishers to compete as their margins increase. Mike Shatzkin agreed that costs need to go down but ideas can be large: “For publishing as an industry, [find a way to] make it smaller. For publishing as a function, make it bigger.”

Overall, when talking about scale, many of the presenters emphasized that companies in all aspects of the business will have to be, (in the words of Brian Napack), “laser-focused on what you do really, really well.” F+W’s David Nussbaum demonstrated how the company’s shift in focus to its core competencies of content, community, commerce, and curation led to its 38% growth in the last 3 years. According to Hachette’s Ken Michaels, it is this combination of innovation (on the side of content) and execution (in delivering that content to consumers) that creates scale.

References to size didn’t just stop with the Publishers Launch conference. Just down the hall at IDPF, Malcolm Gladwell gave a speech, titled after his new book but apt nonetheless, about “David and Goliath” in which he talked about the need for book businesses to cut out less effectual, larger money pits and to instead focus on more functional, localized branches/businesses. While perhaps not a prescription across the board, it does reflect Robert Gottlieb’s observation that publishing is moving to a place where it will be very top and bottom heavy, with little options for mid-level companies. Davids and Goliaths may be in battle, but those in between are perhaps the ones to watch.

Macmillan has hired Bob Miller to start a new, stand-alone company specializing in nonfiction. Miller was most recently Group Publisher at Workman Publishing.

Cary Goldstein will join the Simon & Schuster imprint as VP, Executive Director of Publicity and Senior Editor on June 3. He was previously Publisher of Twelve at the Hachette Book Group.  It was also announced that Tracy Guest, Director of Publicity, is leaving S&S.

Skip Prichard has been named President and CEO of OCLC. He was most recently at Ingram Content Group Inc., where he served as President and CEO.

Andrew Weinstein has joined Scribd as VP, Content Acquisition. He was most recently at his own startup, AW Media, and previously at Ingram.

Corinne Helman, VP, Digital Publishing and Business Development, is leaving HarperCollins Children’s to move to Toronto.

James Phirmam has joined Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as National Account Manager. Previously he was Senior Sales Manager at Lonely Planet. In addition, Jessica Gilo has been named Marketing Specialist for HMH’s Culinary Group; previously, she was at Hachette.

Ryan Doherty is joining Ballantine Bantam Dell as Senior Editor, reporting to Editorial Director, Nonfiction, Jennifer Tung. He was previously Senior Editor at Spiegel & Grau.

Storey Publishing President and Publisher Pamela Art will step down; she has been with Storey, an imprint of Workman, since its founding.

Kathleen Schmidt will join Weinstein Books as Publicity Director as of July 1. She was most recently Founder and CEO of KMS Public Relations, and before that, VP, Director of Publicity at Atria.

Erin Hotchkiss joined the Abrams Adult Marketing department as Senior Marketing Manager; she comes from Scholastic’s Storia.

Kathryn Wiess has joined digital solutions company Qbend as Director of Sales. Weiss was previously at Better World Books and, prior to that, at The Book Depository and Ingram.

PROMOTIONS

Benjamin Steinberg has been named Manager, Consumer Verticals and Partnerships at Random House‘s Corporate Digital Marketing Group. Previously, he was an Associate Editor for the Random House imprint.  At the Random House imprint, Andy Ward is now VP, Editorial Director, Nonfiction, and David Ebershoff is VP, Executive Editor.

Crown Archetype announced that Suzanne O’Neill has been promoted to Executive Editor, Talia Krohn has been promoted to Senior Editor, and Stephanie Knapp has been promoted to Associate Editor.

In addition to his current responsibilities as VP and Executive Editor at FSG, Sean McDonald has been appointed Publisher of FSG Originals and Director of Digital and Paperback Publishing.

Greg Mortimer has joined S&S Digital as Senior Online Marketing Manager. Previously he was online marketing manager at Scribner.

HarperCollins has announced some “adjustments” in their General Books group, driven by It Books publisher Cal Morgan’s move to the Harper division as SVP Executive Editor, and continuing as Editorial Director of Harper Perennial and Harper Paperbacks: Lynn Grady has been promoted to SVP, Publisher of It Books, now reporting as part of the Morrow division to Publisher Liate Stehlik. Harper Design becomes part of the Harper Division.  At General Books, Dana Trombley has been promoted to Senior Manager, Digital Marketing.

Abrams announces Elisa Garcia has been promoted to Director of Trade Sales. Jody Mosley is promoted to Director of Special Markets. Erica Warshal has been promoted to Director of National Accounts.

Kelly Burdick has been promoted to Associate Publisher of Melville House.

DULY NOTED

The Ashmead Award, established to honor legendary book editor Larry Ashmead, is now accepting nominations for 2013. The winner will attend the Yale Publishing Course, to be held July 21-26. To nominate a young editor of great promise with up to 5 years’ experience, visit www.theashmeadaward.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Click here to see our full calendar of publishing events

May 29
BEA Bloggers at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
Publishers Launch Conference at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC) at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
New York Library Association (NYLA) Conference at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29 – 30
IDPF Digital Book Conference
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29 – Jun 1
BookExpo America
Guest of Honor: Mexico
Javits Center, New York, NY

Jun 1
uPublishU at BEA
Javits Center, New York, NY

Jun 12 – 15
Annual Conference on the State of Higher Education
Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC

Jun 18 – 20
Licensing Expo
Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

Jun 27 – Jul 2
ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition
Chicago, IL

Jul 3 – 6
Tokyo International Book Fair
Tokyo Big Sight, Japan

Jul 10 – 14
Southampton Writers Conference, Session 1
Stony Brook Southampton, Southampton, NY

Jul 14 – 26
Yale Publishing Course: Magazine/Digital (Jul 14 – 19)
Yale Publishing Course: Book (Jul 21 – 26)
Yale University, New Haven, CT

Jul 17 – 20
Romance Writers of America Conference
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA

Jul 18 – 21
San Diego Comic-Con West
San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA

Aug 17 – 23
International Summit of the Book
Singapore

Aug 18 – 21
The Gourmet Housewares Show at NYIGF
Javits Center, New York, NY

Aug 28 – Sep 1
Beijing International Book Fair
Beijing, China

Aug 31 – Sep 2
Bumbershoot
Seattle Center, Seattle, WA

Sep 15 – 16
CIANA Remainder & Promotional Book Fair
The Business Design Centre, Islington Green, London

Sep 21 – 22
National Book Festival
“Books that Shaped the World”
National Mall, Washington, DC

Sep 23 – 25
39th Annual FIPP World Magazine Conference
Hilton Cavalieri Hotel, Rome, Italy

Sep 23 – 25
Publishing Business Conference and Expo
NY Marriott Marquis, New York, NY

Sep 30 – Oct 2
NAIBA Fall Conference
Somerset Doubletree, Somerset, NJ

Oct 2 – 4
Liber International
Guest of Honor: Chile
Madrid, Spain

Oct 6 – 8
PNBA Tradeshow
Airport Holiday Inn, Portland, OR

Oct 9 – 13
Frankfurt Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Brazil
Frankfurt, Germany

Oct 10 – 12
MPIBA Fall Trade Show
Renaissance Denver Hotel, Denver, CO

Oct 10 – 13
New York Comic Con
Javits Center, New York, NY

Oct 11 – 13
Southern Festival of Books
Legislative Plaza, Nashville, TN

Oct 20 – 27
Belgrade Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Poland
Belgrade, Serbia

Oct 27 – Nov 3
The Chicago International Remainder & Overstock Book Exposition
Hilton Chicago, Chicago, IL

Nov 13 – 17
Dublin Book Festival
Dublin, Ireland

Nov 17 – 24
Miami Book Festival International
Miami, FL

Nov 20 – 25
Montreal Salon du Livre
Place Bonaventure, Montreal, Quebec

Nov 30 – Dec 8
Guadalajara International Book Fair

So what exactly does a business development position and department look like? How does the biz dev professional interact with publishing colleagues on the one hand, and new vendors on the other, and what metrics do they use to gauge success? We talked to people who work in several different publishing business development capacities to explore these questions.

Though definitions and workflows vary, everyone agrees that business development revolves around relationships and connections with other companies. “The definition for business development used by some is ‘the creation of long-term value for an organization,’ so this generally means working with people with whom you don’t currently have a business relationship,” explains Ted Hill, President of THA Consulting. “Any time I meet people I’m thinking about how I can work with them even if it’s not the reason we were introduced,” says Steve Sandonato, VP of Business Development & Strategy at Time Home Entertainment Inc. “You need to always think outside the traditional business models to create a spark of a new idea.  If the spark of the idea is thought of without a specific partner in mind you need to identify and contact companies that can help you realize that idea.”

When asked how they view biz dev in publishing, almost everyone agreed that the definition has to be tweaked. “Positions in biz dev didn’t exist until the mid-90s. It’s a digital, new economy term,” says HarperCollins’ Director of Digital Business Development, Adam Silverman. “At HarperCollins, biz dev is a combination of strategy, business analysis, and legal—finding new channels and new partners to sell ebooks. Biz dev then stays involved to oversee any new terms or territories with new channels.” If this sounds  familiar, it might be because  “business development is often just a fancy way of saying ‘sales,’” explains Doug Stambaugh, VP, Global eBook Market Development and Strategy at Simon & Schuster Digital. For Kate Travers, Director of Digital Business Development at Workman, digital means direct sales, but also marketing: “creating verticals around a brand and closer relationships to consumers,” she explains.

As for whom publishers are building relationships with, companies range from startups to known industry resources. “The role of business development for me is about creating new relationships and partnerships as well as expanding and leveraging existing ones,” says Peter Balis, Director of Digital Business Development at Wiley.  “New partners include companies like Inkling and Bookshout and we have expanded our partnerships recently with Apple and O’Reilly.” Adam Silverman also mentioned Inkling in particular, talking about how they offer “an evolving model on the fly” that has been changing with the market. Many of the industry professionals we talked to also spoke about the importance of the library and elearning community in discovering new frontiers and business opportunities.

While pitching on behalf of the publisher is a common approach, business development professionals often find themselves on the other side of the table. “There’s a lot of capital out there looking for opportunities,” says Doug Stambaugh. “There’s an influx of people from outside perspectives coming into publishing – content development, start ups, biz dev etc.” Consultant Joe Wikert agrees, “This is the heart of innovation and what excites me most about the radical changes we’re seeing in the content industry. Finding new ways to build content, as well as distribute it, is what startups are focusing on. Some of this biz dev happens in the traditional publishing house but it’s the core of the startup community.” Still, Krista Carnes, Business Development Director, Blissful Media Group, which works with publishers, advises against being too much of a maverick: “One of the most important attitudes in media business development is keeping an eye on what doesn’t apply to your particular area of the business today. You don’t necessarily need to be the one who pioneers that approach in your corner, but you should know what it is when it arrives.”

Much of how business development positions function is tied into the size and scope of the company. “Handling biz dev in a company with legacy is very different from one in which there is no legacy,” says Adam Silverman. “At a larger company people are developing new channels and piecing them together with existing channels. At a new company, it’s good for someone in biz dev to have entrepreneurial and sales experience and be able to evangelize—make it up as you go along.” The size of the company also affects what resources are available and how agile a biz dev team can be; biz dev at Sesame Workshop, for example, has fewer resources but also more flexibility due to its smaller non-traditional, non-profit status. “We tend to have fewer resources than a traditional publisher,” says Jennifer Wendell, Manager of Business Development at Sesame Workshop. “However, for a small team, we have been able to develop a very strong digital program by pursuing both direct distribution as well as third-party distribution through our print publishers and other distributors.”

Whether large or small, it is important for companies to not only forge new relationships but to also use metrics to measure their success. For the execs we talked to, evaluation can come in two forms: revenue and engagement. “For traditional biz dev, sales (in terms of dollars or units) need to be established,” says Steve Sandonato. “They should be scalable and you need to be able to replicate in order to optimize.  This is really important and sometimes is forgotten.  If I have a one-time fantastic hit but I can’t replicate it, the company could be left with a large hole to fill in the next year.” At Wiley, Peter Balis says there is “a global target based on percentage increase of revenue year-over-year with one target for trade, STM, worldwide, etc.”

But numbers alone aren’t the only way of determining success: “The broadest measure of success usually comes in the form of engagement,” says Ted Hill. “How many companies have you connected with?  Has the discussion progressed the sales process?  If not, what have you learned that will help you move the business forward?” In addition to evaluating client/partner satisfaction, customer satisfaction is also integral. “On a corporate level, we of course look at revenue and downloads to measure success, but we also look at the impact our programs are having on our target audience,” insists Jennifer Wendell. “To this end we do a lot of testing and focus group research to ensure that our products support our mission and that we’re providing a quality experience in a safe and educative environment.” Steve Sandonato adds that successful biz dev can infiltrate all areas of a company: “In this age of digital publishing, our goals for ebooks sales are less about sales units but more about establishing efficient workflow, testing new concepts and formats, locking in promotions that we use to gauge promotional effect, and pushing the tech envelope to be the first out of the gate with a new interface.”

While there is no set approach, biz dev roles within this sector will continue to change as the market does. In fact, they already have. “I think more publishers are willing to take on more small risks than they were, say, 10 years ago,” says Joe Wikert. “Back then ebooks were just a prediction of the future whereas today they represent 20-30% of a publisher’s revenue. Publishers are also experiencing change at the fastest rate in recent history, so they know they can’t sit on the sidelines for very long.” After all, Peter Balis explains, it’s business development’s job to “hold a mirror up to the company and whatever it is looking for, whatever its world view is, that is biz dev. Biz Dev is just a container for whatever you decide to put inside of it.”

(Additional reporting gathered by Lorraine Shanley and Elisabeth Watson.)

This article was written for the e-program distributed to participants of Publishers Launch BEA 2013, which will be held at the Javits Center on Wednesday, May 29. Register online here or contact Jess Johns by email.

Brenda Marsh has left her position as VP, Author Relations at B&N, where she has worked since 1998, and can be reached at brendasmarsh@gmail.com

Margie Chan-Yip has left her position as VP, Global Publishing at Hasbro and will consult in global business development, brand licensing and publishing strategy.  She may be reached at mcyip99@gmail.com

Doug Pocock has been named Managing Director of Abrams & Chronicle Books in the U.K., a partnership formed in 2010 by the two U.S. publishers based in London. He was formerly a consultant at The Media Partners and ran Egmont USA.

Diana Blough joined Random House Publisher Services as Imprint Sales Director; she was working as a consultant, and previously worked at Bloomsbury.

Alison Impey joined Knopf/Delacorte/Dell as Art Director. Stephanie Moss has been promoted to Associate Art Director. 

Sean Desmond has been named Editorial Director of Twelve, a newly created position. He was previously Executive Editor at Crown.

Joe Wikert, formerly General Manager of the TOC Division of O’Reilly, has left the company and can be reached at jwikert@gmail.com

Julia Carvalho has joined Chronicle Books Special Sales team as National Account Manager; she was formerly East Coast Sales Representative at Taschen.

At Open Road, Pete Beatty is now Acquisitions Director. He was previously Senior Editor at Bloomsbury.  Summer Smith will be joining Bloomsbury Adult Trade as Associate Director of Publicity. Previously, she was Publicity Manager at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Julie Buntin, formerly the Literary Events Coordinator at The powerHouse Arena, is now Director of Programs and Strategic Outreach at CLMP (Council of Literary Magazines & Presses).

Ed Wilhelm has been named Director at Books-A-Million. Most recently at The Finish Line, he was formerly with Borders as Executive VP and CFO.

Ryan Chapman has joined the publishing start-up, Atavist Books, as Associate Director of Marketing. Previously he was Marketing Director at Penguin Press.

PROMOTIONS

Clay Farr will be moving to Basic Books as VP, Associate Publisher & Marketing Director. He was previously with Perseus Books, another imprint in the Perseus Books Group.

At Knopf, Robin Desser has been promoted to the newly created position of VP, Editorial Director, and Jordan Pavlin has been promoted to Executive Editor.

At Chronicle Books, Ryan Kelly has been promoted to the role of National Account Manager, calling on Barnes & Noble and Calendar Club. 

Quirk Books has promoted Brett Cohen to President and Jason Rekulak to Publisher. In addition, David Borgenicht will assume the role of Owner/CEO of Quirk Productions (the parent company of Quirk Books), with a focus on development partnerships in film, television, and digital media.

Matt Adamec has been promoted from Designer to Senior Designer at Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Books.

At Grand Central, Amanda Pritzker has been promoted to Assistant Director of Publicity.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Click here to see our full calendar of publishing events

May 16 – 19
Bookworld Prague 2013
Guest of Honor: Slovakia
Prague-Holesovice Exhibition Grounds, Prague, Czech Republic

May 19 – 22
National Stationery Show
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
BEA Bloggers at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
Publishers Launch Conference at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC) at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
New York Library Association (NYLA) Conference at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29 – 30
IDPF Digital Book Conference
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29 – Jun 1
BookExpo America
Guest of Honor: Mexico
Javits Center, New York, NY

Jun 1
uPublishU at BEA
Javits Center, New York, NY

Jun 12 – 15
Annual Conference on the State of Higher Education
Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC

Jun 18 – 20
Licensing Expo
Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

Jun 27 – Jul 2
ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition
Chicago, IL

Jul 3 – 6
Tokyo International Book Fair
Tokyo Big Sight, Japan

Jul 10 – 14
Southampton Writers Conference, Session 1
Stony Brook Southampton, Southampton, NY

Jul 14 – 26
Yale Publishing Course: Magazine/Digital (Jul 14 – 19)
Yale Publishing Course: Book (Jul 21 – 26)
Yale University, New Haven, CT

Jul 17 – 20
Romance Writers of America Conference
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA

Jul 18 – 21
San Diego Comic-Con West
San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA

Aug 17 – 23
International Summit of the Book
Singapore

Aug 18 – 21
The Gourmet Housewares Show at NYIGF
Javits Center, New York, NY

Aug 28 – Sep 1
Beijing International Book Fair
Beijing, China

Aug 31 – Sep 2
Bumbershoot
Seattle Center, Seattle, WA

Sep 15 – 16
CIANA Remainder & Promotional Book Fair
The Business Design Centre, Islington Green, London

Sep 21 – 22
National Book Festival
“Books that Shaped the World”
National Mall, Washington, DC

Sep 23 – 25
39th Annual FIPP World Magazine Conference
Hilton Cavalieri Hotel, Rome, Italy

Sep 23 – 25
Publishing Business Conference and Expo
NY Marriott Marquis, New York, NY

Sep 30 – Oct 2
NAIBA Fall Conference
Somerset Doubletree, Somerset, NJ

Oct 2 – 4
Liber International
Guest of Honor: Chile
Madrid, Spain

Oct 6 – 8
PNBA Tradeshow
Airport Holiday Inn, Portland, OR

Oct 9 – 13
Frankfurt Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Brazil
Frankfurt, Germany

Oct 10 – 12
MPIBA Fall Trade Show
Renaissance Denver Hotel, Denver, CO

Oct 10 – 13
New York Comic Con
Javits Center, New York, NY

Oct 11 – 13
Southern Festival of Books
Legistlative Plaza, Nashville, TN

Oct 20 – 27
Belgrade Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Poland
Belgrade, Serbia

Oct 27 – Nov 3
The Chicago International Remainder & Overstock Book Exposition
Hilton Chicago, Chicago, IL

Nov 13 – 17
Dublin Book Festival
Dublin, Ireland

Nov 17 – 24
Miami Book Festival International
Miami, FL

Nov 20 – 25
Montreal Salon du Livre
Place Bonaventure, Montreal, Quebec

PublishingTrends.com continues its regular column in which we review, explicate, and excerpt books that we think will resonate with people in the business of publishing and media. 

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The word “disruption” is hardly unfamiliar to those in the publishing industry. Almost every part of book business has been affected by disruption, particularly of the digital kind, from the advent and availability of ereaders to the struggle for bricks-and-mortar stores to keep up with online retailers. With several disruptive companies already in full swing and announcements of new startups every day, Forrester Research VP and Principal Analyst James McQuivey’s Digital Disruption: Unleashing the Next Wave of Innovation (published, appropriately enough, by Amazon this year) seems like the ideal read for anyone in the book business.

Though this title  is not specific to book business, McQuivey repeats throughout that digital disruption will affect every industry. The agility of new electronic platforms and digital technology in general has not only accelerated the rate of change in every business sector, but also allows for individuals to wield  greater power. McQuivey cites entrepreneurs like Guy Cramer, who developed an online camouflage business, and Charles Teague with his weight loss program/community FitNow, as case studies demonstrating how one idea can create an entire business. He also goes so far as to say that future companies may be a part of a “disposable economy” where small teams of innovators work together on a certain project and disband after completion. This all embraces the lean startup mentality—but what is a company to do when it is not a startup? How can legacy publishers take advantage of this revolution?

Digital Disruption’s research shows that one of the obstacles in fostering innovation in a larger company is that the perception of what a company can achieve varies, depending on the company size and an employee’s position within the company. In companies of more than a thousand employees, people were less optimistic about the progress of their companies, with only 60% saying they are excited about the changes digital will bring to their respective company (compared to 70% in companies with less than 1,000 employees) and 18% saying their company policies and business practices enable them to adapt to the changes digital brings (compared to 43% in companies with less than 1,000 employees). There was also a big discrepancy between executives’ views of their companies’ digital future, in contrast to that of lower-level employees. For example, 70% of executives though their company would be more innovative than other companies in the same industry, while only 39% of lower level employees agreed.

McQuivey argues that any company can take advantage of the digital revolution, so long as it adopts a disruptive mindset. Within a larger corporation, McQuivey argues, executives should capitalize on employee enthusiasm/curiosity and put together small innovation teams to identify silos and break down boundaries between them and work within short development time frames. To illustrate, he primarily focuses on Disney’s development of its gaming division and how the extracurricular experimentation of employee and game developer Tim FitzRandolph led to the successful  app Where’s My Water?  By embracing FitzRandolph’s  interest in gaming, Disney was able to use assets already within its wheelhouse to experiment and eventually create a bestseller.

The problem, of course, is that not every company has the infrastructure of the House of Mouse, and while McQuivey broadly lays out the ways in which larger companies can look for opportunities to develop new disruptive products, there is not much evidence to support that examples like Disney would work across the board. Also, while McQuivey points out the power that new technologies and platforms affords the individual, he also does not delve much into the extreme competition a potentially over-crowded marketplace creates and the fact that speed-to-market isn’t just an advantage of the digital era—it’s become a necessity if a company wants to set itself apart from the masses of startups. If startups are commonplace in the marketplace, how do disruptive products proliferate, and are they meant to? And how should legacy companies react in the wake of competitors’ disruptive products? There is a world of possibility, perhaps, but much remains unanswered.

Brendan Cahill has joined Random House, Inc. as Vice President, Corporate Projects, working with departments across the company on a variety of internal and externally-directed endeavors, beginning with digital-partnership development opportunities.  He was previously CEO of NatureShare, and before that VP and Publisher at Open Road, and an Editor at Running Press, Grove/Atlantic, and Gotham Books.

W. Ralph Eubanks has announced that he will be leaving his post as the Director of Publishing at Library of Congress to become Editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review

SVP of Hachette Digital & Audio Maja Thomas is leaving the company after 22 years with Time Warner and then HBG, “for the next exciting chapter of her career.”  She has led Hachette Audio since 2000 and Hachette Digital since 2005, chief strategist for HBG of the Bookish website.  Though she will be consulting for Hachette until the end of the year and reachable via that email address, she will also be  at majathomas@gmail.com

Courtney Hodell is leaving FSG, where she was Executive Editor. She can be reached at Courtney.hodell@gmail.com.

Margaret Coffee has joined Egmont USA as Sales and Marketing Director. Most recently she was VP of Sales at Albert Whitman, and was previously at Scholastic for more than 16 years.  Katie Halata moves up to Sales and Marketing Manager at Egmont.

Michael Cairns is joining Publishing Technology as COO of their Online Solutions division, succeeding Louise Russell and reporting to George Lossius.  Most recently, Cairns has been a consultant and served as Chief Revenue Officer for SharedBook, focused on their Academic Pub platform.

Deputy Executive Director of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), Angela Bole, will become Executive Director of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) in July, remaining based in New York. Current Executive Director Florrie Binford Kichler, is retiring from the post in June.

Christian Trimmer will be joining S&S Books For Young Readers as Senior Editor.  He has worked for the Walt Disney Company for nearly 13 years.

Ken Brooks, Cengage SVP, Global Production & Manufacturing Services, has left the company to restart his operations and product development consulting firm, Treadwell Media Group.

Julia Kenny is joining Dunow Carlson & Lerner as an Agent, rejoining her recent colleague Eleanor Jackson. Kenny was at Markson Thoma–from which Geri Thoma, Jackson, Laney Katz Becker and Kenny have all departed since early March.

Maddie Caldwell has joined Knopf, reporting to Director of Media Relations Paul Bogaards. She was at Weed Literary for the past year.

Jennifer Corcoran will join Little, Brown Children’s on May 6 as Director of Publicity. She was most recently Publicity Director at Disney Publishing Worldwide.

Julie Just, who became an Agent at Janklow & Nesbit in late 2010 after working at the NYT Book Review as Children’s Book Editor, is moving to Pippin Properties.

PROMOTIONS

Angela James has been promoted from Executive Editor to Editorial Director at Carina Press/Harlequin.  Adrienne Macintosh has been promoted to Editor, Harlequin Series; Karen Reid moves up to Associate Editor, Harlequin Superromance, and Charles Griesman has been promoted to Editor, Harlequin Desire.  In addition, Reka Rubin has been promoted to Senior Manager, Subsidiary Rights, while Amy Wilkins moves up to the Manager, Online Engagement.

Shawn Nicholls announced the promotion of Dana Trombley to Senior Manager, Digital Marketing at HarperCollins, focusing on campaigns for their genre fiction books including Avon and Voyager, but also overseeing the marketing of all of the digital first titles that fall under the Impulse lines.

At S&S Children’s, Nicole Russo has been promoted from Associate Director of Publicity to Deputy Publicity Director; she has been with the company since 2005. Lydia Finn has been promoted from Associate Publicist to Publicist. Christina Abram has been promoted from Production Manager to Senior Production Manager, overseeing Little Simon, Simon Spotlight, and Product Development. Rodd Bailey has been promoted to Production Manager for Children’s Reprints, managing Aladdin, Atheneum, Beach Lane, MKM, Paula Wiseman Books and S&S BFYR imprints.

Also at S&S, Kristin Dwyer has been promoted to Associate Director of Publicity for Pocket Books imprint, Gallery Books.

At Dutton, Carrie Swetonic has been promoted to Director of Marketing, and Bernadette Blanco joins as Assistant Marketing Manager. Swetonic has been with Dutton since 2007, and Blanco was most recently at NYU Press. At Abbeville Press, Joan Strasbaugh has been named Senior Editor. Previously she was Publisher of Jones Books in Madison, WI. In addition, Diana Griffin has been promoted to Marketing and Publicity Manager.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Apr 25 – May 13
Buenos Aires International Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Amsterdam
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Apr 29 – May 5
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature
New York, NY

May 1
29th Annual Literacy Partners Evening of Readings and Gala Dinner Dance
Cipriani 42nd Street, New York, NY

May 1 – 5
Geneva International Book Fair
Palexpo, Geneva, Switzerland

May 13
Children’s Choice Book Awards Gala
The Liberty Theater, New York, NY

May 16 – 19
Bookworld Prague 2013
Guest of Honor: Slovakia
Prague-Holesovice Exhibition Grounds, Prague, Czech Republic

May 19 – 22
National Stationery Show
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
BEA Bloggers at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
Publishers Launch Conference at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
Audio Publishers Association Conference (APAC) at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29
New York Library Association (NYLA) Conference at BookExpo America
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29 – 30
IDPF Digital Book Conference
Javits Center, New York, NY

May 29 – Jun 1
BookExpo America
Guest of Honor: Mexico
Javits Center, New York, NY

Jun 1
uPublishU at BEA
Javits Center, New York, NY

Jun 12 – 15
Annual Conference on the State of Higher Education
Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC

Jun 18 – 20
Licensing Expo
Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

Jun 27 – Jul 2
ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition
Chicago, IL

Jul 3 – 6
Tokyo International Book Fair
Tokyo Big Sight, Japan

Jul 10 – 14
Southampton Writers Conference, Session 1
Stony Brook Southampton, Southampton, NY

Jul 14 – 26
Yale Publishing Course: Magazine/Digital (Jul 14 – 19)
Yale Publishing Course: Book (Jul 21 – 26)
Yale University, New Haven, CT

Jul 17 – 20
Romance Writers of America Conference
Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, GA

Jul 18 – 21
San Diego Comic-Con West
San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA

Aug 17 – 23
International Summit of the Book
Singapore

Aug 18 – 21
The Gourmet Housewares Show at NYIGF
Javits Center, New York, NY

Aug 28 – Sep 1
Beijing International Book Fair
Beijing, China

Aug 31 – Sep 2
Bumbershoot
Seattle Center, Seattle, WA

Sep 15 – 16
CIANA Remainder & Promotional Book Fair
The Business Design Centre, Islington Green, London

Sep 21 – 22
National Book Festival
“Books that Shaped the World”
National Mall, Washington, DC

Sep 23 – 25
39th Annual FIPP World Magazine Conference
Hilton Cavalieri Hotel, Rome, Italy

Sep 23 – 25
Publishing Business Conference and Expo
NY Marriott Marquis, New York, NY

Sep 30 – Oct 2
NAIBA Fall Conference
Somerset Doubletree, Somerset, NJ

Oct 2 – 4
Liber International
Guest of Honor: Chile
Madrid, Spain

Oct 6 – 8
PNBA Tradeshow
Airport Holiday Inn, Portland, OR

Oct 9 – 13
Frankfurt Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Brazil
Frankfurt, Germany

Oct 10 – 12
MPIBA Fall Trade Show
Renaissance Denver Hotel, Denver, CO

Oct 10 – 13
New York Comic Con
Javits Center, New York, NY

Oct 11 – 13
Southern Festival of Books
Legistlative Plaza, Nashville, TN

Oct 20 – 27
Belgrade Book Fair
Guest of Honor: Poland
Belgrade, Serbia

While no one denies the extreme challenges, there is almost equally universal agreement among Argentinian publishing professionals that their industry is at a more exciting place now than it’s been since Argentina’s literary “golden age,” post-World War II. Despite the economic and legal challenges, many within the industry see specific ways that Argentina could very reasonably “reassure” its place in—and even help reshape—the global Spanish book industry if governmental policies shifted even slightly.

Argentinian book business’ greatest international challenge currently comes from the home front. In autumn 2011, faced with  annual rates of inflation over 20% and taking a policy stance of “cultural sovereignty,” the Argentinian government introduced rigorous guidelines for all aspects of international trade. For the book industry, this means strict import quotas on the number of books manufactured outside Argentina and extensive chemical tests to the materials of those books that are imported, along with newly complicated procedures for sending international payments.

While, in theory, the quotas should give Argentinian publishers a fighting chance in the face of cheap imports from Spain, they also place strain on any Argentinian publisher wishing to manufacture outside the country, and on global wholesalers and distributors from non-Spanish-speaking territories as well. Because of the new legal challenges, John Bacon, VP of International Sales at Baker & Taylor, says B&T is “not expecting to see our exports to Argentina grow in the near future.”  While Argentina’s own exports have not been directly restricted in the same manner, local inflation rates keep the prices of books manufactured there far from competitive in foreign markets, says Alejandro Katz, Publisher of Katz Editores, resulting in markedly reduced international sales. The policies even affect non-material goods: insofar as transferring money out of the country has been made more difficult, so has Argentinian publishers’ ability to license rights from foreign countries.

The ability to maintain and strengthen global bonds is, undoubtedly, of the greatest concern to all players in Argentina’s book business. Alejandro Katz points out that since Argentina produces 12.5% of Spanish-language titles in the world, extreme import strictures “prevent Argentinians from accessing more than 85% of the titles published in our language every year.” The most harm is likely to be felt in the long term, by limiting the variety and complexity of what’s available on the market. Even without taking into account limited competition and cross-pollination at home, it’s hard to imagine how a new trade policy so extreme it’s prompted an official complaint to the W.T.O. from forty countries—including the US, Canada, and Mexico—is doing anything to help Argentinians compete on the world stage.

Nevertheless, if regulations could be made just a bit less extreme, the current situation could be ripe for positive change.  “Fifteen or twenty years ago, the map was completely different, dominated by larger corporate publishers,” says Leonora Djament, Publisher of Eterna Cadencia. Now, while Gabriela Adamo says the country may have become “too chaotic to be a real haven for the large international corporations,” circumstances have nurtured enough new, independent houses to make the period between 2003-2010 what Octavio Kulesz, Director of Editorial Teseo calls “probably one of the greatest publishing booms ever in Argentina.”

For much of the past 20 years or more, the Spanish-language publishing world has undeniably been what Gabriela Adamo wryly calls “Spain’s backyard.” The blow that the world economic crisis has dealt Spain’s book industry, though, presents an “opportunity for Argentina, after many decades of [Spain’s] hegemonic control of the markets of Latin America,” says Alejandro Katz, both in terms of bidding for world language rights and also to produce original titles with “more than a purely local focus.” One particularly serendipitous opportunity has been global interest in the new Pope, which has been keeping Argentinian publishers and agents “frantically busy,” says Agent Irene Barki, and “has been the best opportunity for Argentinian publishing in a long time.” A more general area in which Argentina has been distinguishing itself as a global bellwether, says Leonora Djament, is with “a fabulous translation policy,” harkening back to the first half of the 20th century when Argentina “served as a world pioneer in Spanish-language translations…remember Sartre, Benjamin, Nabokov all got their Spanish-language start in Argentina.” In the area of children’s literature, Argentinian illustrator Isol has drawn global attention also, since being awarded the 2013 Astrid Lindgren Award in March.

There is vocal agreement that Argentina is in an excellent place to take advantage of global changes to Spanish-language publishing—if only its trade laws weren’t so alienating to global partners. Rationalizing the new policy in April 2012, Argentina’s Culture Minister said it gives power to Argentinian publishers and not to “what is decided in the great capitals of the world about the books we read.” Global opportunities are available, but unless international relations are improved, it isn’t so much that “the great capitals of the world” won’t have a say in what Argentinians read as that Argentina’s own books will have a harder time finding a place at the global table.