September 2008

For Immature Audiences Only: On Publishing for Young Readers
A Conversation with Linda Leonard and Jean Feiwel
Tuesday, September 23rd at St. Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue at 23rd St. (Flatiron Building)
12:30-1:30 pm
20th Floor Conference Room
Please bring photo ID

Linda Leonard is the New Media Marketing Director for Random House Children's Books where she heads up the division's online marketing initiatives including web site management, online advertising, video, as well as social networking and mobile marketing strategies. She has worked on digital marketing for many popular books and series including Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, Ann Brashares' The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. Linda has been with Random House Children's Books new media marketing department since joining the company in 2000. She is a graduate of Skidmore College.

Jean Feiwel, Senior Vice President and Publisher, Feiwel & Friends Jean Feiwel's career didn't start out in Children's books. She worked throughout high school and college at the Whitney Museum of American Art where she hoped to become a curator. But as soon as she graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1976, she took her first job in publishing at Avon Books as the assistant to the Managing Editor, where she was hired after she failed her typing test. She stayed at Avon Books for seven years where she rose from Editorial Assistant to Editorial Director of Books for Young Readers. At Avon, she created the teen imprint, Flare, publishing the original work of Julian F. Thompson, Joyce Carol Thomas and Norma Klein, Norma Fox and Harry Mazer, and oversaw the growth of Camelot, reprinting the books of Katherine Paterson, Ellen Raksin, and George Selden.

In 1983, she was hired away to Scholastic where she began as Editorial Director responsible for developing a Trade list while overseeing all Scholastic Book Club selections. During her tenure as Editor-in-Chief and Publisher at Scholastic, Jean is credited with inventing middle grade series publishing with the creation of Ann Martin's Babysitter's Club, R.L. Stine's Goosebumps, Katherine Applegate's Animorphs, and the historical fiction series, Dear America. She has been the architect for Scholastic's overall Trade list, creating their various hardcover and paperback imprints including Scholastic Press, Cartwheel, Blue Sky Press (to name just a few) and more recently Scholastic's graphic novel program, Graphix. She discovered the artists Mark Teague and David Shannon—and is very proud to have introduced the bestselling Australian author (of The Day My Butt Went Psycho) Andy Griffiths to America. When pressed, she will also admit to being involved with the acquisition and publication of the Harry Potter series.

Jean left Scholastic in October 2005, and joined Macmillan as Senior Vice President and Publisher in February 2006. At Macmillan she launched Feiwel & Friends, her own commercially minded hardcover imprint in Fall 2007. And, she has also launched a paperback/backlist program culled from FSG, Henry Holt and Roaring Brook's lists, called Square Fish.

Please RSVP to ypglunchreservations@hotmail.com by Monday, September 22nd at 5pm!!!

August 2008

Judging a Book by Its Cover: A Discussion with Chip Kidd
Thursday, August 21st at Random House
1745 Broadway
12:30-1:30 pm
2nd Floor Cafeteria

"The history of book design can be split into two eras: before graphic designer Chip Kidd and after." —Time Out New York, Nov. 2005

On Thursday, August 21st, legendary graphic designer Chip Kidd spoke to YPGers in a near-capacity Random House cafeteria about the art of cover design. His style was more "show" than "tell," eschewing the traditional question-and-answer format in favor of narrating a slide show of his own first attempts, heartbreaks, and successes in the industry.

Using his cover designs for Augusten Burroughs as an example, Kidd demonstrated how designers working on multiple books by the same author can create a balance between visual continuity and innovation. He showed how the six-fingered hand on the cover of the humorous memoir Possible Side Effects metamorphosed into the menacing, claw-like fork in A Wolf at the Table, a much darker book for Burroughs.

He discussed the similar challenge of designing the paperback version of a hardcover book—a challenge he labeled "different but the same." He said that swapping colors and re-lettering titles are just some of the ways to bring fresh elements to paperback art.

Kidd also gave his audience a glimpse into the collaborative side of book design with his work on Spade and Archer, the prequel to The Maltese Falcon. For this title, he had to gain the approval of the Dashiel Hammett estate, the author's daughter, the author's agent, and his own boss. It took several trials and a lot of frustration, but the final cover, he feels, was stronger for these thwarted attempts.

Throughout the course of the slideshow, Kidd shared the diverse places he comes up with art for his covers—be it a mental image realized by working with a photographer, a vintage postcard, or a daily image blog sent to him by a colleague.

When asked if he would ever turn down a job if he thought a book was bad, Kidd replied that he would turn down a project if the book would help people to think in negative ways, but that he is not opposed to designing the cover for a "bad" novel. In fact, he finds that the latter can be quite fun!

The most humorous portion of the presentation was the section he wryly titled "Salon D'Refuses," in which Kidd categorized some of his recent rejections. These included his tales of trying to dress up a business book—for which he was accused of not representing the "soul" of a certain hedge fund company—and the lack of appreciation for his sense of humor when authors rejected his design for a vampire romance novel: fangs floating in a glass of water.

While each rejected cover contained a funny story, they also illustrated the potential conflicts that arise between the vision of the artist and the author—a large part of the business of design.

Kidd stressed that despite differences of opinion, he loves working with authors and will not go to press if an author hates a cover. His two paths to peace in cover art land? Convince the author of a cover's genius or work with them until both sides are content.

July 2008

Best Foot Forward: How to Excel in Publishing
A Conversation with top publishing HR executives featuring:
Paige McInerney, Vice President of Human Resources, Penguin Group USA
Eric Semel, Human Resources Director, Simon & Schuster
Ann Weinerman, Manager, Training and Development, Random House
Thursday, July 31st at Random House
1745 Broadway
12:30-1:30 pm
Dr. Seuss Room, 14th Floor

On June 31, 2008, the YPG hosted a very informative lunch at the Random House offices, with Paige McInerney, VP of Human Resources at Penguin Group (USA) Inc., Margie Sepulveda, Associate Human Resources Director at Simon & Schuster, and Ann Weinerman, Manager of Training and Development at Random House.

Paige McInerney began her human resources career 17 years ago as an HR Assistant at Putnam Berkley. Today, she heads up HR for Penguin's 2,000 US employees in 4 locations. She is responsible for all areas of HR and has introduced and developed Penguin's highly-regarded internship program, the popular mentoring program, and the Penguin US/UK exchange program.

Previously with Time Warner Books, Margie Sepulveda has been with Simon & Schuster for three years. She has been an integral part of Simon & Schuster's Diversity Council, recently spearheaded recruiting efforts in the area of the new applicant tracking system, and managed the Associates Program and year round internship program.

After working in editorial at Ballantine Books for six years, Ann Weinerman made the move to Human Resources. She is responsible for Random House's training and employee development program and focuses on creating learning opportunities for Random House staff, such as a website devoted solely to professional development, online education opportunities, and partnerships with other organizations.

To begin the discussion, the panel was asked to name three common faux pas made by job applicants. Ms. McInerney highlighted the importance of doing your research, understanding the company and position for which you're applying, and asking informed questions. "Don't just ask questions for questions sake," she said. Unanimously, the panel said it was important to apply for the job you really want. Although it's "OK to not know exactly what you want," said Ms. Sepulveda, it's important to be prepared and to express your dedication to the job possibility for which you are applying. And (surprise, surprise), it's never a good idea to chew gum in interviews.

YPG members asked questions about the plethora of issues facing young publishing professionals:

—What are some of the biggest challenges facing young employees seeking promotion?
The most looming challenges often arise from the misunderstandings that occur between the generation gap. Although it's good to be ambitious, it's important to remember that publishing is an "apprentice industry" in which there's no fast track to the top; only time, commitment, and hard work are rewarded in the long run. Young professionals should be sure to be doing a top-notch job before asking for more responsibility, and should be ever cognizant of the way in which they ask for promotion. The most important thing to remember is to be patient, the panel said.

—What are various ways to prove that you're ready for promotion?
Come prepared; take on the tasks that need to be done but that no one else wants to do; and understand your place in the company. It's also important to "be careful what you wish for," Ms. Sepulveda joked.

—What are some resumé red flags to avoid?
Although neither long nor short stints at job positions are perceived as overwhelmingly negative, it's important to explain big gaps in work experience. Also, keep in mind that objective sections are very problematic. If you're going to list your objective, it's very important to tailor it to the exact position for which you're applying. Don't send a resumé for an editorial position at a small house that you used to apply for a marketing position at a large house without first editing your objective, for example. When it comes to the length of a resumé, the hard-fast rule is the shorter the better. Limit the resumé to one page, make it relevant to the job at hand, and always, always, always proofread. And never underestimate the power of a really dynamic cover letter.

—Is there a litmus test for bringing problems to HR?
No, thereÕs no litmus test. Although there may not be a definite solution to your problem, there may be a way to deal with the problem in an effective way. "We want to hear about all of your struggles" said Ms. McInerney.

—How difficult is it to transfer between in-house imprints or departments?
If you're qualified for the position and understand the consequences of transferring between departments or imprints, it shouldn't be difficult. Early on, discuss your plans with your manager and HR manager, who will likely support your interests and help you in whatever way possible. Once you've made your plans known, itÕs a good idea to get in touch with someone in the department to which you're interested in applyingÑmake connections, ask questions, and apply to positions that become available.

—What is the process by which HR departments reimburse employees for taking college courses?
Start by looking at the programs and classes that your HR department is already offering. If the courses you want to take are not yet provided, and they are publishing-related, get in touch with your HR manager and find out your company's policy.

—What is the criteria for selecting individuals for exchange programs between the US and UK?
Unfortunately, because of hefty financial expenses most exchange programs are very small in scale. At Penguin Group (USA), only five people per year are chosen to travel to the UK for two weeks at a time. If you're interested in participating in your company's program, get in touch with your HR department and be able to prove the benefit of the exchange.

In addition to all of these topics, YPG members learned about the average number of job applicants that apply for positions in publishing (hundreds to thousands depending on the position and department), HR confidentiality agreements (confidentiality is always guaranteed), good websites for job searching (bookjobs.com, hotjobs.com, publishersmarketplace.com, and individual company sites), and whether an advanced degree is crucial (it's not).

Throughout the lunch, the panel exhibited an enveloping passion for the publishing industry. All three members continually mentioned the enjoyment they find in assisting employees through both the good and the bad times. They each encouraged YPG members to contact their Human Resources department and explore the possibilities—to employ HR as their advocate in the workplace.

When asked what they loved most about their jobs, all three members of the panel heralded the joys "of working with a vibrant population so full of energy, excitement, and passion for what you do…of watching you grow."

June 2008

What's Next in Publishing: A Conversation with AAP President and CEO Patricia Schroeder
Tuesday, June 10th at the Association of American Publishers
71 Fifth Avenue
12:30-1:30 pm
2nd Floor Conference Room

On June 10, 2008, the YPG hosted a very informative lunch at the Association of American Publishers, with Former Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the national trade organization of the U.S. book publishing industry.

Mrs. Schroeder assumed her post at the AAP on June 1, 1997. Prior to heading the AAP, she left Congress undefeated in 1996 after representing Colorado's First Congressional District (Denver) in the United States House of Representatives for 24 years. In Congress, Mrs. Schroeder was one of the most knowledgeable members on copyright issues and a strong advocate for protecting intellectual property rights. She continues this advocacy in her leadership of the AAP, as she says the two most important AAP initiatives are "maintaining copyright" and "freedom of speech."

Mrs. Schroeder began the lunch by speaking about some of the main lawsuits the AAP has been involved with recently, including a piracy suit against China in which the AAP found books featuring a wide range of made–up quotes ranging from the New York Times to Einstein. She also discussed the AAP's involvement in a Google lawsuit that involves Google's Book Partnership and Library programs, in which five publishing houses that are members of the AAP are the plaintiffs.

YPG members also learned about the plethora of AAP initiatives and committees, including the Active Anti-Piracy program, the International Freedom to Publish committee, the Diversity group, the Spanish and Latino group, the Trade group, and "Get Caught Reading," one of Mrs. Schroeder's favorite programs in which the AAP produces photos of celebrities reading to share with schools, libraries and young people everywhere. Mrs. Schroeder said "the literacy rate is so pathetic still," and she feels it's necessary for children to read and to be read to, starting when they are as young as six months old.

Throughout the lunch, Mrs. Schroeder's passion for publishing and increasing reading with young people rang clear. When asked about her favorite book, Mrs. Schroeder said it depends on the day, but she listed memoirs by Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart to name a few, and said she also enjoys The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss.

Finally, Mrs. Schroeder finished her talk by encouraging all YPG members who would like to get involved with AAP's initiatives to please get in touch with the organization with any suggestions or ideas they may have.

* * * *

Mrs. Schroeder is the author of two books: Champion of the Great American Family (Random House, 1989) and 24 Years of House Work...and the Place Is Still a Mess (Andrews McMeel, 1998).

May 2008

When Less Is More: A Conversation with Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of TWELVE Jonathan Karp
Wednesday, May 21st at Random House
1745 Broadway (btwn 55-56 streets)
12:30-1:30 pm
14th Floor Louis L'Amour Room

The main point that Jonathan Karp (publisher of Twelve, an imprint of Hachette) wanted to emphasize when he came to speak at May's Brown Bag Lunch was the inherent disposability of so many of today's books. He recalled that early in his career, authors were never to be told that their books had been "mulched" since nobody wants to be told that the book they wrote has become merely paper to be disposed of. According to Jonathan, though, we are now living in an age of disposable books and, if anything, even more of the titles that come out every week deserve to be mulched.

Jonathan gave an overview of his early career next. He started as an editorial assistant at Random House, working beneath Kate Medina on books by authors such as Peter Benchley and Tom Brokaw. One of the tasks that most helped him learn how to edit was simply taking dictation for Ms. Medina because it was how he learned how the editorial mind worked. Another important lesson he learned around this time was that one must always keep an even and pleasant tone (no matter what the context) when dealing with irate authors. Jonathan had several other pieces of advice for editorial assistants in the audience, including: a) follow your interests—pursue the kind of books you really want to put out; b) the past should not be a prologue—editors should not be defined by only one type of book; c) remember that most really good books defy categorization.

This last piece of advice set the stage for a discussion of Karp’s current venture—Twelve. A Twelve book is not likely to be categorized easily. This imprint of Hachette is a rebuke to the age of disposable books. Only one title is released by Twelve each month, and therefore only one title at a time gets the royal treatment and accompanying buzz. This timeframe allows the staff at Twelve to pragmatically assess exactly what it will take to successfully put each book together and launch it.

Finally, our guest opened up the floor to questions and was greeted with many raised hands in response. One of the key points he stressed during the Q&A portion was that the best use of a young editor or marketer's time is to think of new ways to promote his or her books online with original content. Jonathan left aspiring editors in the audience with a litmus test on how to avoid "mulchable" books—never sign an author who you wouldn't want to be trapped in a car with for ten hours.

April 2008

How Online Marketing Is Shaping the Future of Publishing: A Discussion with Jeffrey Yamaguchi About Internet Marketing
Wednesday, April 23rd at Random House
1745 Broadway (btwn 55-56 streets)
12:30-1:30 pm
2nd Floor Café Auditorium

On April 23, the Young to Publishing Group hosted a brown bag lunch with Jeffrey Yamaguchi, the Associate Director of Online Marketing for Doubleday Broadway, a division of Random House.

Jeffrey Yamaguchi began his publishing career in magazines. Two of his early projects—his Working for the Man 'zine and his website 52projects.com—were both adapted into books. Mr. Yamaguchi believes that the future of marketing books will involve a balance between traditional promotional plans and new, innovative on-line campaigns.

His presentation focused on user-oriented websites and online opportunities for publishers. He explained that popular sites like Facebook and YouTube have been successful because they allow individuals to feel a sense of ownership. He suggests using the same approach when creating author websites by making your author's website an anchor, but allowing users to create and share some of the content. When individual users are being interactive in contests, videos, or comments, they are more likely to link back to your page or recommend it to someone else.

Another thing that Mr. Yamaguchi stressed during the lunch was the importance of knowing how technology (especially in the Web 2.0 world) works. Regardless of whether you work in editorial or sales, publicity or production, he feels you should learn basic internet skills such as maintaining a blog or website, learning audio & video editing, and knowing how to decipher HTML code. Although you cannot be an expert in all areas, a fundamental understanding of these things will be necessary in the coming years.

Mr. Yamaguchi also had some advice for the YPG members—take some chances. Show innovation and initiative at work. If you have new marketing ideas, speak with your supervisor about implementing them in your department.

February 2008

A Match Made in Heaven: a discussion with Cindy Spiegel & Julie Grau about building a publishing division
Friday, February 15th at Random House
1745 Broadway (btwn 55-56 streets)
12:30-1:30 pm

On February 15th, longtime friends and co-publishers Julie Grau and Cindy Spiegel shared their publishing stories and advice with the YPG at the second brown bag lunch of the year. Julie and Cindy are the publishers of Random House's new Spiegel & Grau imprint and the former publishers of the Riverhead imprint at Penguin. Their author lists read like a who's who of today's literary stars. Julie has published Suze Orman, Junot Díaz, Sarah Waters, Ann Beattie, and Sandra Cisneros, among many others. Cindy's list includes Khaled Hosseini, James McBride, Chang-rae Lee, Alex Garland, and Gary Shteyngart.

Julie and Cindy both started their careers at Random House and eventually became founding editors at Riverhead. At the lunch, they talked about their decision to leave Penguin and return to Random House to found a new imprint. They said it wasn't an easy decision to make, but they were given the opportunity to stay together and continue publishing the books they want to publish, exactly the way they want to publish them, with the added bonus of their own dedicated marketing and publicity staff.

In response to the question of what they see as the typical Spiegel & Grau book, they said that they seek out books that change readers' vision of the world, books so unique that finding a comparable title is a moot point. As Cindy stated, "Someone else can publish the next Amy Tan—we want to publish the first something else." Their boutique imprint specializes in hands-on publishing, where every book is a collaborative effort between the author, editor, and publishers. They don't acquire a book unless the editor really loves it and knows precisely why he or she wants to publish it.

The dynamic duo advised aspiring editors in the audience to approach their own books in the same way. They stressed being able to talk specifically about the kind of books you're looking for and avoiding generic categorizations. Cindy acquired Chang-rae Lee's Native Speaker when she noticed the lack of Korean voices in American literature; she didn't just see the book as "Asian-American Lit," rather she saw it as an inspiring new piece of "Lit" in general. To be successful as an editor, you have to be able to see what makes a particular book special and unique, and be able to verbalize it. If you forget about a proposal the minute you put it down, it probably isn't worth acquiring.

They also had some cautionary words of advice. They said you can't stay at a publishing house just for a book or for an author. When Cindy and Julie left Riverhead, they had to leave behind all their authors and titles, including Khaled Hosseini and his then-forthcoming A Thousand Splendid Suns, which has sold millions of copies in less than a year. You also have to know when to fight for an offbeat or expensive title—as they said, you can only be wrong so many times. And if you can't pick books that sell well or bring honor and prestige to your company, than you should probably be doing something else.

However, they said, as a young editor, you shouldn't be worried about acquiring a lot of books—that will come later. When you start out, you should only be concerned with acquiring books that are worth your time and devotion, since most of your time will already be taken up with other tasks. Finally, they pointed out that editing books for a more senior editor can be a very valuable learning experience (and the same could be said for this brown bag lunch).

January 2008

From Publishing Course to Publisher: Liate Stehlik, SVP Publisher of Avon Books and Andrea Chambers, Director of MS in Publishing for NYU Discuss the Road from Publishing Programs to the Publisher's Office
Friday, January 18th at Random House
1745 Broadway (btwn 55-56 streets)
12:30-1:30 pm

This January, the Young to Publishing Group hosted a brown bag lunch with Andrea Chambers, Director of the New York University Center for Publishing, and Liate Stehlik, publisher of Avon Books and an NYU Center for Publishing grad.

The Center for Publishing offers three programs: the Summer Publishing Institute (SPI), a program for recent college graduates; continuing education curriculum, designed to develop skill sets for working professionals; and a Masters of Science in Publishing, a degree that mixes elements of a MBA and a Masters in Journalism to prepare students for management level positions in book and magazine publishing. The Center emphasizes media convergence and values professional experience. It builds on this core by recruiting high-level professionals as instructors.

Liate Stehlik is a NYU Summer Publishing Institute alumna. Since completing the program, Ms. Stehlik has worked in editorial, marketing, and the publisher's office, and had sound advice for YPGers from each stage of her career.

As an editorial assistant at Pocket Books, Ms. Stehlik felt fortunate to develop books and work closely with authors. As a recent college graduate, Ms. Stehlik was primarily interested in literary fiction, but found this to be limiting and quickly learned that young professionals should try to learn from all the books an imprint publishes, not just the books that are immediately appealing.

That experience lead Ms. Stehlik to the marketing department for Pocket Books where she could work on a larger number of books that covered a broader range of subjects and genres. The transition was relatively easy for Ms. Stehlik, who had already volunteered for jobs and attended meetings that were not related to her primary responsibilities. Ms. Stehlik recommends that young professionals should look outside of their job description for new projects in order to broaden their publishing expertise and horizons.

Successes as a marketing manager lead Ms. Stehlik to the publisher's office at Pocket Books and then Avon Books. As the Senior Vice President of Avon Books, Ms. Stehlik must know about each component of publishing - from finance and sales to marketing editorial, a job that she had been intentionally and unintentionally preparing herself for project by project since her days at NYU.

November 2007

Counting on the Little Guy: A Discussion about the Big Impact of Independent Bookselling with Toby Cox, Owner of Three Lives & Company
Friday, November 16th at Scholastic
557 Broadway
12:30-1:30 in conference room 1107-1108

Toby Cox is the owner of Three Lives & Company, a West Village independent bookshop opened in 1978. He bought the shop in 2001 from the founders of Three Lives. He began his bookselling career in 1988 in Providence, RI, first working at a general independent bookstore and then moving to the Brown University Bookstore where he was Promotions Manager, responsible for all aspects of marketing, promotion, display, and event coordination. He moved to New York City in 1997 to work in publishing and became Marketing Manager at Broadway Books. In February, 2001, he returned to bookselling with the purchase of Three Lives & Company.

October 2007

A Conversation with Barnes & Noble Buyer Jane Love
Wednesday, October 24th at Random House
1745 Broadway (btwn 55-56 streets)
12:30-1:30 pm in the 14th floor Louis L'Amour Room

October 2007's BBL brought YPGers to Random House for a conversation with Barnes & Noble's religion and bibles buyer, Jane Love.

Love covered a range of topics from a day in the life of a buyer, and her role at Barnes & Noble to the industry in general.

Starting out as a bookseller at a Hastings store in Pampa, Texas, Love entered an essay contest on how to improve a section in her store. The prize? A chance to go to BEA. She won, met the president of the company and soon became a buyer. Over the next 20 years, she bought books for Hastings, Wal-Mart, and W.H. Smith, the airport and hotel retailer. Ready to see what it was like working "on the other side of the table," Love then became a sales rep for Penguin in Texas. Although she enjoyed this challenge, she found selling to be more difficult. "You have less control and can sometimes sell your heart out, only to sell one or two copies." She added that while buyers are always looking at numbers, sellers are constantly willing their buyers to take a chance.

Upon returning to bookselling, Love went to Anderson Merchandisers, then to Wal-Mart to grow their religion category and finally, to Barnes & Nobles in April 2006 where she works today.

When asked how most people get their start in book buying, Love replied that she doesn't know a book buyer who doesn't love books and that most people start out selling in a store.

Love sees 800 plus books per month and spends an average of 15 to 30 minutes on each buy. With such a large number of books and a very short time to make decisions, Love makes sure to consider a number of important factors. First, and most important, is an author's track record. Then she considers the writing and type of story. No matter the book, Love always asks herself, "Will people care about the story and what will they think?" She said it's also very important to consider the marketing and publicity as well as the print runs. These are great indicators of how much a publisher is getting behind a book. Without a publisher's support, she often feels less inclined to get involved. In addition to the publishers' direct efforts, she also looks at trends, fashions, and where each book fits into the marketplace.

Love's insider's look at the book buying business gave YPGers valuable insights that will help them make their books stand out in a very crowded marketplace.

September 2007

Hablando Con Alegria: A Conversation with Publisher & Editorial Director of HarperCollins Rayo, Rene Alegria
Thursday, September 27th at HarperCollins
10 East 53rd street
1:00- 3:00 pm in the Second Floor Conference Room

Hablando Con Alegria: A Conversation with HarperCollins Rayo
The September 2007 BBL brought YPGers to HarperCollins' offices for a roundtable with Harper Rayo Publisher and Editorial Director Rene Alegria.

After several years in publishing, Rene Alegria conceived an idea for a program in which the creative voices and experiences of the contemporary US Latino communities would finally be heard. In 1999, Rayo, the first ever Hispanic-focused publishing effort by a major publishing house, was given the corporate green light and Rene was named Editorial Director. With innovative marketing and publicity campaigns, along with the literary talent that had been present within the Latino community for a long time, Rayo was born, and with it, a new start as to how Latino's are perceived, both as a literary community and as a cohesive revenue-generating demographic.

Rene commented that he is thrilled that the media has realized the importance of reaching out to Hispanic and minority audiences and is proud to say he believes there is no longer a need for Rayo to focus on English-language Hispanic titles. In fact, after only eight years, Rayo now publishes only Spanish-language titles, with anything Rene acquires in English going to other HarperCollins imprints. He believes this shows that English-language Hispanic titles have a place in a mainstream imprint and can make a profit alongside other mainstream English-language titles.

Rene saw there was no representation of creative writing for a Hispanic audience and thought that needed to change-- and he needed to be the one to change it. Though he thinks it can sound corny and cliché, Rene encourages those young in publishing to do what they love, what matters to them and what they feel will make a difference.

Among the authors Rene has published are Latino literati such as Victor Villaseñor, Luis Rodriguez, Ernesto Quinonez, and Isabel Allende and Paulo Coelho in Spanish, as well as groundbreaking newcomers including Jorge Ramos, Jose Carlos Somoza, Yxta Maya-Murray, and Alberto Fuguet.

August 2007

Kid's Stuff: A Conversation with Little, Brown Young Reader's SVP and Publisher Megan Tingley
Thursday, August 30th at Random House
1745 Broadway (btwn 55-56 streets)
12:30-1:30 pm in the 14th floor Louis L'Amour Room

Come hear about how Megan climbed the publishing ladder in her twenty years of experience at Hachette Book Group--from editorial assistant all the way to starting her own eponymous imprint--what she thinks of the future of children's book publishing, how the genre has changed, and much more!

July 2007

The Editor as Author, and Vice Versa
Featuring Jason Pinter, St. Martin's Press Editor and MIRA books Author
Wednesday, July 18th at Scholastic
557 Broadway, 12:30-1:30 pm in Conference Room 1107-1108

Come hear about Jason's experiences as an editor and author--learn about how he juggles his responsibilities, negotiates industry relationships, and lets his inner author and editor duke it out for the championship.

Jason Pinter's first novel THE MARK came out on June 26th, 2007, and his next two Henry Parker novels will be published in 2008. He has worked in publishing since March 2003 and is currently an Editor with St. Martin's Press. He previously worked in editorial at Warner Books and the Crown Publishing Group. He is a member of International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, and is a co-founder of Killer Year, whose first anthology will be published in January 2008 by St. Martin's Minotaur. Jason lives in New York City with his wife Susan and their dog Wilson.

June 2007

Featuring YOU in the 2nd YPG Roundtable Event of 2007
This event will take place Wednesday, June 27th
at Random House, 1745 Broadway between 55th and 56th Streets,
from 12:30-1:30 pm in the 14th Floor Louis L'Amour Room.

Your Planning Committee will be on hand to create small groups of YPGers so that you can all make the most of the hour, during which you will learn about each other's companies, departments, specific jobs, career histories, thoughts on publishing, and more!

The Brown Bag Roundtable is a great opportunity for you to get to put names to all those vaguely familiar faces you see every month and network with colleagues from different departments and houses!

May 2007

Audio in the Digital Age: A Panel featuring Beth Anderson of Audible.com, Mary Beth Roche of Audio Renaissance, and Maja Thomas of Hachette
Tuesday, May 15th, 2007
The lunch will take place from 12:30-1:30PM
in the 17th floor conference room of Holtzbrinck Publishers (175 Fifth Avenue, btwn 22-23rd Streets).

In May the YPG was delighted to host an Audio Book Brown Bag Lunch with speakers Beth Anderson of Audible.com, Mary Beth of Audio Renaissance and Maya Thomas of Hachette Audio. Below are some interesting tidbits from their discussion.

· Audio book listeners tend to be 25 to 54 years old, have a higher income and education level than non listeners, and generally read more books than non-listeners. The average audio book listener listens to 12 books per year.

· Recently the audio books sector changed from heavily abridged recordings to now predominantly unabridged titles. This change is attributed to the change in format from cassette to mostly CD and digital recordings. Audio books on cassette quickly dropped off after the cassette format stopped being available in cars. In 2005, Cassette-tape sales made up roughly 16% of the audio book market, with CDs sales making up for 74%. Downloadable audio books accounted for approximately 9% of the market. One of the major challenges this change in format has created is that as cassette sales have declined, stores have not increased their orders of audio CDs to account for the cassette decline. Online sales of digital recording have not yet made up that difference and as a result audio sales as a whole have suffered from this translation of formats.

· About 40% of all audio book consumption occurs through public libraries, with the remainder served primarily through retail book stores.

· Most audio book publishers do not like to take chances on unproven authors or niche subjects. Big bestsellers make the best audio books. A good rule of thumb is that 100 hardcover sales will equal about 10 audio book sales, 1 of which will be a digital audio sale.

· Audible.com currently has over 30,000 titles available through 400 different content providers. Although the iPod is the most popular personal listening device, Audible.com’s books are compatible with over 250 other devices.

· Audio book publishers have recently been experimenting with price point by reissuing older abridged titles at a significantly lower price point. While many of these old books have sold well, a few booksellers and publishers are worried that listeners will become used to the low prices and, in the future, balk at the high prices of new titles.

· Market research has found that many people who listen to audio books will also by the physical book so that they can display it on their shelf.

· Audible introduced one of the first digital audio players in 1997, several years before the introduction of the Apple iPod. This player now resides in the Smithsonian museum in Washington DC. The device could hold only 4MB and cost over $200.

April 2007

Tamara Draut, author of Strapped: Why America's 20- and 30- Somethings Can't Get Ahead
Friday, April 20th, 2007 from 12:30-1:30PM
Random House, 1745 Broadway between 55th and 56th Streets,
in the 14th Floor Louis L'Amour Room

Come learn more about the economic problems facing people in our age group in this day and age, and the consequences of our actions and those of policy makers. Can something be done to change the direction in which we are headed? Attend on April 20th and find out.

March 2007

Sara Nelson, Editor-in-Chief of Publishers Weekly
Friday, March 23rd from 12:30-1:30PM
Random House, 1745 Broadway between 55th and 56th Streets,
in the 14th Floor Louis L'Amour Room

During last month’s Brown Bag Lunch, Sara Nelson, Editor-in-Chief of Publishers Weekly, spoke to an eager crowd of more than 100 YPG members. She discussed her journey from freelancer to EIC, her thoughts on industry trends, and shared with us how PW has changed with the times and truly embraced the digital age.

An avid reader, Ms. Nelson built up an impressive knowledge of contemporary fiction even before she entered the book business. Though she worked as a freelance writer for many years, it wasn’t until the late 90’s that she shifted gears and began writing the book review column for Glamour. As a person obsessed with the book industry, Ms. Nelson was tapped in 2000 by Kurt Andersen (co-founder of the legendary Spy magazine) to head up the Book section of his new venture, Inside.com, an online publication covering the media and entertainment industries. Soon after, she gained a new position—Editor-in-Chief of Publishers Weekly.

Important Point #1: If you’re passionate about something, delve into it as deeply as you can! Your obsession can lead to your dream job.

A few YPG members asked Sara Nelson about what trends she saw in the industry. Regarding the (apparent) escalating advances in the industry, Sara questioned whether or not this was really true. Advances might seem like they’re “getting out of control,” but it may just be that it’s more fun for the media to report high advances so those are the ones you read about. Ms. Nelson said that she would guess that probably 70–80% of advances are low.

Important Point #2: Sometimes it’s important to think about what you don’t see reported, in addition to what you do see reported. Thinking about both will help you see the full picture.

Finally, Sara talked about bringing Publishers Weekly into the digital age. In the last couple of years, the way people use online media has really changed: PW Daily has gotten very popular, and people read it more often than the print magazine. People now consider news they read online to be just as reputable as news they read in print. In addition, the website PublishersWeekly.com has changed a lot, too—with the Talkback feature, podcasts, and more, Sara is continually revising and refreshing the publication. And we have no doubt that we’ll continue to see more great things from Sara and PW in the future!

February 2007

Emily Gould of Gawker.com
Wednesday, February 21st
Random House, 1745 Broadway between 55th and 56th Streets,
12:30-1:30 pm in the 14th Floor Louis L'Amour Room

At this February’s Brown Bag Lunch, YPGers dished with Emily Gould, co-editor of Gawker.com. Emily gave up the dirt on the world of media gossip blogging, with its glamorous early mornings and non-existent lunches. She also shared her personal opinions of online book promotion, the blog-to-book trend, the future of print media, and blogging as a career path. Read on for highlights and to learn more about how you (yes, you!) can become a Gawker columnist.

Emily held positions as an editorial assistant and associate editor at Hyperion Books for three years while doing some freelance writing on the side. Eventually, her gig as the author of Gawker’s inside-publishing column, Unsolicited, led to a full-time job co-editing Gawker. She’s also co-authoring a YA novel with Hyperion editor Zareen Jaffery called Hex Education, to be published by Penguin Razorbill in May.

Here’s a typical day at the Gawker office: staff members usually get to their desks by 7:00 a.m. They read a bunch of newspapers, blogs, and magazines every day, with the help of RSS feeds. Each of the co-editors writes about twelve posts a day, and the assistant editors write six each. Occasionally they’ll have longer research pieces or party coverage. They’re trying to add more recurring columns and would like to regularly run the Book Club feature with reviews and excerpts.

Emily sees great potential for book promotion on the Internet. For one thing, she thinks that coverage from blogs can really help bring books to wider audiences. She also thinks that publishers should invest more in carefully researched online advertising, since print ads and reviews are becoming less effective as more and more people get their news from the Web.

Emily wants to be pitched more books for reviews and ideas for columns, including the new-and-improved Unsolicited column. She also wants you to send her more tips on publishing news, events, and gossip you want shared with a wider audience. Send email to tips@gawker.com and emily@gawker.com. Send review copies of books to Emily at: Gawker Media, 76 Crosby, New York, NY 10012.

Perhaps you could also write Emily’s dream blog, one that discusses the day-to-day of working in book publishing. If you do, be wary of naming any names (including yours) until you have your own full-time job lined up with Gawker, unless you’re not too concerned about keeping your current position.

Cool Blogs

As if Gawker doesn’t already waste enough of your time, here are some of Emily’s favorite blogs:

www.maudnewton.com
www.bookslut.com
www.fourfour.typepad.com
www.mediabistro.com/galleycat

January 2007

Annual January Round Table Event
Wednesday, January 17th
Random House, 1745 Broadway between 55th and 56th Streets,
12:30-1:30 pm in the 14th Floor Louis L'Amour Room

Over thirty YPGers made it out to Random House's Louis L'Amour room to attend the annual YPG roundtable discussion and Brown Bag Lunch on January 17.

For the first YPG event of the year, members split into small groups to share tips, insights and anecdotes about their jobs. Everyone had a chance to meet some new people while they compared notes on the ins and outs of various houses and positions.

Randomly assigned seating gave YPG members a chance to branch out and speak with others in the group they might not have met otherwise. Ice-breaking games were not invoked, much to everyone's relief. Groups were encouraged to discuss the different types of publishers they work for, their jobs and responsibilities, their career paths and future aspirations, current reading lists and their takes on their employers' work cultures. The discussion set-up packaged several Brown Bag Lunches into one, with a room full of experts answering everyone's burning questions about marketing, publicity, editorial, audio publishing, children's books, agencies and more.

It was a great way to kick off the year!

December 2006

Living Legend: Esther Margolis on Mainstream Independence
President and Founder of NewMarket Press
Thursday, December 14, 2006 from 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
RANDOM HOUSE: 2nd Floor1745 Broadway b/w 55th and 56th st., New York, NY

In true publishing fashion, the YPG saved the best for last. At December’s Brown Bag Lunch, Esther Margolis, a bona fide publishing legend, dropped by and spoke about her rise through the ranks of Bantam and founding her own independent house.

Margolis is the president and majority owner of the Newmarket Publishing and Communications Company. Newmarket Press is one of the few mainstream, trade publishing houses in New York City which is independently owned. Founded in 1982, Newmarket has published 250 books, and with its staff of twelve fulltime employees publishes thirty new titles annually, in such categories as entertainment, reference, health, and parenting.

Originally from Detroit, Margolis began her publishing career as a secretary at Dell and a year later, in 1963, joined in Bantam’s promotion department. At the time, Bantam was the sixth of seven major paperback publishers, with an income of approximately five million dollars a year and a direct sales staff of three. While there, she became Bantam’s first publicity director, eventually rising to the position of a senior vice president and becoming Bantam’s first division head for marketing, publicity, and communications worldwide. During this time, Bantam went from sixth among paperback publishers to first.

When Margolis started out, there were far more publishing houses and fewer media conglomerates than there are now. Since hardcover and paperback houses weren’t under the same ownership, there was plenty of wheeling and dealing among them, but the movement of properties wasn’t always intuitive. Bantam, for instance, wouldn’t just buy paperback rights from hardcover publishers, but it would selectively acquire world rights for books and then sell them off to a hardcover publisher. These sales of rights created book-by-book partnerships between Bantam and the houses that planned to publish the property in different formats, bringing the staffs of multiple houses together to strategize about how they wanted to package, market, and sell the book. Margolis often found herself in meetings with companies such as Random House one day, and a company such as Simon and & Schuster the next. These meetings gave her extraordinary opportunities to learn from not only the people of her own house, but also leaders throughout the industry.

This education proved to be invaluable when, after 17 years with Bantam, Margolis struck out on out her own and—as fate would have it—weathered a number of industry-wide changes that could have easily sunk a fledging house. She was savvy enough to base much of her thinking in terms of publicity, subsidiary rights, special sales, and lots of backlist. This was the type of model she had seen work at Bantam, and while the integration of a number of houses under fewer and fewer conglomerates diminished the selling of reprint rights for her (because, among other factors, there were fewer places to buy and sell), backlist stayed strong. Buying properties that could be developed into dependable brands became a rule of thumb for Newmarket. Parenting books fit this model perfectly, and Newmarket struck publishing gold with What’s Happening to My Body?, a series that she launched in 1984 and that has sold more than 2 million books.

Being a small company definitely has it advantages. Soon after 9/11, Newmarket published Condi, the first Condoleezza Rice biography, years before the competition was able to jump on board; and less than three days after Margolis heard about Su Doku, she closed a deal to get the puzzle books into the US market. Being smaller also has its drawbacks. Without a lot of capital or infrastructure, a smaller house may have trouble gaining presence in the market. But Margolis found an interesting fix for this, with the help of Hollywood. Newmarket publishes a number of entertainment books in conjunction with major Hollywood studios, such as Columbia Pictures and Universal. Newmarket’s first success was with Gandhi, and they’re about to publish companion to Dreamgirls, a film featuring Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, and Beyonce Knowles; Stranger than Fiction; Little Children; and Little Miss Sunshine. You’ve probably heard of them, but that’s exactly the point. By publishing illustrated books, screenplays, and movie ties-ins, Newmarket is able to feed off of and add to the larger marketing campaigns that accompany the films without taking on the same multimillion dollar risks. It’s the best of both worlds.

As for the future, Margolis thinks that the biggest challenge facing the publishing industry will be the complications that come along with vertical integration, particularly in regards to management. While the media conglomerates likely won’t come crashing down, she thinks that there is and will continue to be plenty of room for smaller and relatively flatter companies. She may be a little biased, but the sustained success of Newmarket Press is plenty of proof.

November 2006

The Many Adventures of Book Packaging
Featuring Sara Shandler and Josh Bank of Alloy Entertainment
Tuesday, November 21, 2006 from 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
RANDOM HOUSE: 14th Floor1745 Broadway b/w 55th and 56th st., New York, NY

The Ins and Outs of Book Packaging with Alloy Entertainment
At this November’s Brown Bag Lunch, the YPG was thrilled to have Josh Bank and Sara Shindler of Alloy Entertainment come to speak about book packaging.

With offices in New York and Los Angeles, Alloy Entertainment is a creative think tank that develops entertainment properties, including books, television series and feature films. They partner with publishers, television networks and movies studios to produce and to distribute those works. In a given year Alloy will package 35-40 books, of which 10-15 will be completely new titles/series. In 2005, 17 of Alloy’s books reached The New York Times bestseller list.

While most book packagers focus on non-fiction titles, almost all of the properties that Alloy produces are works of fiction, primarily geared to appeal to teens, tweens, young adults and families. Their best known series are Sweet Valley High and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Although there are a number of similarities between book packagers and traditional book publishers, there are a few key differences. One of them has to do with the number of cooks in the creative kitchen.

For starters, a book packager’s work begins with development meetings where a concept is presented. For example: what would Desperate Housewives look like if it were targeted toward the teen market? These meetings begin as group brainstorming sessions during which the original concept is developed into a single idea page that they then present to an author, asking her to make it her own. Alloy will then work with the author on a partial outline. After they’re satisfied with the outline, the writer will then pen a synopsis and 75-100 pages of the story, which will be presented to Alloy for revision. Alloy then submits it to a publishing house. Throughout this entire initial process, the Alloy staff racks it s collective brain to boil the book’s concept down to one solid sentence, a clear and salable vision, and if that cannot be accomplished, they have been known to scrap the project.

While Alloy may scrap a project that didn’t come together quite right, once a property is sold they—and any book packager for that matter—will follow the property throughout the entire production, marketing and sales of the book. Sara admits that they can be a little pushier than a typical editor, often presenting cover ideas with the initial pitch and negotiating a budget to shoot and produce their own jackets. When it comes to distribution rights, they want full control. Since they are working with film and television in mind, their goals may not always be wholly compatible with those of the publishing world.

Another difference between packagers and publishers is that when working with packagers the publisher’s contract is not with a writer but with the packager. Seems obvious, but there are some interesting ramifications. The packager holds the rights, and acts as a middleman of sorts. While publishing houses and writers often have close ties, the actual work (manuscripts, jackets, outlines, revisions, etc.) is always funneled through the book packager, which is particularly noticeable during the editorial process or jacket design.

Given the proven success that Alloy has had with their hands-on philosophy, it makes one wonder why packagers wouldn’t just eliminate the other middleman—the publisher—and directly distribute their books. Well, Alloy has actually tried this, and continues to discuss the pros and cons, but they have come to the conclusion that they simply aren’t publishers. What they enjoy the most is the creative aspect of publishing, and that also happens to be what they’re best at. The various publishers with whom they work with are much more successful at leveraging their infrastructure to sell and distribute the books. In other words, packagers and publishers work the best when they are allowed the freedom and opportunity to focus on their respective strengths, while utilizing the talents of one another.

October 2006

The Role of the Book Reviewer: Panel Discussion
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Louis L’Amour Room at Random House

This October the YPG learned about the role of the book reviewer with three guests from very diverse publications. The YPG welcomed Ben Dickinson of Elle, Boris Kachka of New York Magazine, and Mickey Rapkin of GQ. (For more information, please see more detailed bios below). Jack Sallay of the YPG moderated the panel with questions provided in advance by the group.

When asked about their magazines’ editorial missions, the reviewers had answers that while, different, had similar fundamentals. American Elle tries to differentiate its brand from that of French Elle, a very culturally aware magazine, by focusing on more intellectually aware goals. Ben has to plan his editorial calendar approximately 2-4 months in advance, and chooses titles 6-8 months ahead of their publication dates, stating that it makes his particular job exciting, as he cannot look to book lists and other publications to determine what should be reviewed. He contacts different houses, marks catalogs, and maintains shelves of galleys by publication month. Ben remarked that he looks at about 75-100 galleys for possible review each month. He tries to maintain a balance between literary fiction and general-interest nonfiction, and generally uses excerpts from nonfiction that deal with women’s or social issues. He referred to their credo as ‘intellectual hedonism,’ defining it as the mentality of a reader who wishes to be aware of literary culture, even if they cannot read all reviewed books. Boris noted that the locality of his publication does have influence—they generally consider what they believe New Yorkers are or should be talking about. He also noted the recent attention to nonfiction, and stated that they try to integrate culture into their pages by utilizing a mix of well-known topics with those that his reviewers feel are of import. He plans his calendar seasonally, 2-4 weeks ahead of time. Mickey feels, like Ben, that he should know about a book before a publicist calls to tell him about it. They run about 5 short reviews per month, with a goal that the average GQ reader will buy 3 books each month. Excerpts are usually from memoirs.

Because of the huge advertising cuts that magazines suffered as a result of the economic depression that followed 9/11, Elle’s book pages were cut in half, although the content stayed the same. As time has passed they have added more content to those same pages, which has made each piece shorter. Ben likes the current format, but finds it harder to freelance out work, since they have little space to offer. Boris and his team still run longer reviews, adhering to the idea that each reviewer must have room to explore their ideas. He finds it most important that their content is idea-generated, and also looks to freelancers because bigger names tend to give weight to a review. However, Boris also said that the sudden loss of interest in fiction makes it difficult to convince even the editors that a certain book is worth reviewing.

When asked if GQ publishes negative reviews, Mickey answered that to do so would be a waste in an already very limited given space. Ben also tries to cover books in new and interesting ways, outside of the typical review format, as well as find other ways to fit book-related content into the magazine.

Ben noted that memoirs are booming, while literary fiction is still in a struggle. They try to choose fiction titles that they feel have real merit and recommend them to readers, and also use their Reader’s Prize, which awards books to 15 readers 3 times a month. Ben noted that it has been a great way to get feedback. Boris told the group that it is important to show genuine enthusiasm for recommendations, noticing that publishers are trying to start a successful trend in literary fiction. Mickey answered that big names are everywhere right now because of the fall season, but that they like to try and fit in smaller, lesser known writers as well.

When asked what other books pages the reviewers look to, Ben answered that he typically reads the New York Times, but with general trepidation that he missed a great book that the Times did not, because planning reviews so far ahead leaves them ‘blind’ to the future. Boris reads Atlantic Monthly and Book Forum, and Mickey told that group that he reads Elle, but then noted that he tries to distance himself from other review pages, especially because there are so many out there.

The YPG then posed their most burning question of how often the reviewers are contacted by publicists, and how they would respectively prefer to be contacted. After a general consensus that they all get a daily barrage of emails, Ben remarked that he tends to feel a low-level guilt over the fact that he cannot respond to all of them, and hopes that publicists don’t resent him. He says that publicists he most likes working with are those who can telegraph 3-4 books per season about which they genuinely feel strongly. Too often, he has to spend much time trying to divine where a publicist’s genuine enthusiasm lies, and often looks to galley letters for background information and clues as to whether or not they truly believe in the book. While Boris can’t manage to read every email sent to him, he doesn’t want them to stop flooding his inbox. Like Ben, he tries to ascertain where a publicist’s true enthusiasm lies, and likes to hear from them early on—in general he finds that they do have their favorites, and will be forthright about them. Mickey is the exception to the panel’s rule in this case—he reads every email received and any galley letter that accompanies a book. He also doesn’t mind receiving phone calls.

Boris Kachka, as Contributing Editor at New York Magazine, helps determine and writes much of the coverage of books and theater in the Culture Pages. Kachka writes and edits features and various other elements of the pages, as well as Q&As and profiles of authors, actors, playwrights, and theater directors. Writing book reviews and news items he has also contributed to Salon and is currently working on a project for Conde Nast Traveler. He has been at New York magazine since graduating from the Columbia Journalism School.

Mickey Rapkin, 28, is a senior editor at GQ where he covers pop culture. His recent stories include a profile of Kevin Federline, a piece on the new James Bond film and a Q&A with the creators of "South Park." He also edited the fall books package. Rapkin was previously a staff writer at Details, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly. He lives in New York City.

Ben Dickinson of Elle started out in magazines (after a severely prolonged adolescence) as an editorial assistant at Esquire, working primarily on its “Man at His Best” section. Following a stint at the late, lamented Civilization magazine, first as book review editor and later as executive editor, he has been a senior features editor and point man for the publishing industry at Elle for the past six years.

September 2006

Christina A. Harcar, Vice President and Director of Subsidiary Rights at St. Martin's Press on Subrights
Thursday, September 21st at 12:30, at Random House

This September, the Young to Publishing Group tackled subsidiary rights with Christina Harcar, Vice President, Director of Subsidiary Rights at St. Martin's Press. Prior to joining St. Martin's, Ms. Harcar was the Editorial Director of Random House Audio Publishers, and prior to that she was the Director of International Rights for Sanford J. Greenburger Agency and Nicholas Ellison, Inc. Given the range of her experience acquiring and selling rights at publishing houses and agencies, Ms. Harcar covered subsidiary rights from all angles.

To understand subsidiary rights, it helps to have a crash course on the evolution of publishing over the past 30 years. Vertical integration, or the process by which a number of companies (usually within the same industry) are grouped together under one owner in order to create synergy and maximize profits, has been the general trend within publishing. One of the most obvious examples of vertical integration would be the combination of hardcover and paperback houses under the same ownership. In the 1970s, some of the largest deals a subsidiary rights department would negotiate were made between hardcover and paperback houses. They created a lot of buzz and profits. Hitting seven figures was hardly rare, and the larger houses regularly did multiple deals of this size a week.

As paperback and hardcover houses were brought under the same ownership and houses moved toward integration in a variety of other ways-audio and large print publishers are also good examples-there were fewer places to buy and sell rights. So what about those multimillion dollar deals? They certainly weren't lost. Rather than make the profits up front with the sale of rights, they are now made on the back end with sales of books.

Getting an edge in an industry with a relatively low number of companies that have similar access to market data is always difficult, but subsidiary rights are first and foremost about relationships. When a particular outlet is brought under a corporate umbrella, they simply seek out another one. Library markets and foreign publishers are a couple places where sub rights departments have recently sought such relationships.

One of the most unique aspects of subsidiary rights is that it can actually generate profits before there is a final product. The importance of these early sales of rights cannot be overstated. With an eye on the bottom line, sub rights departments can recoup some, if not all or even more, of a house's initial lay down for a work by selling it into other markets and formats. Not only do these sales put money in the publisher's hand, they also build a house's and the industry's confidence in a book, thus paving the way for its successful introduction into domestic markets.

August 2006

Steve Wasserman: The Role of the Literary Agent
Thursday, August 22nd

Steve Wasserman spoke at our August Brown Bag Lunch and gave a retrospective of his remarkable career as an editor, reviewer and agent. Before his cross-coast move to take on the role of director of Kneerim & Williams, Wasserman served as editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review for nine years. He has also worked with such companies as New Republic Books, Hill & Wang, and the Noonday Press. He has had vast experience in both the book publishing and journalism industries, and now applies such experience in his role as a literary agent.

For him, the biggest question that publishing faces today is the challenge of cutting through the avalanche of noise created by a busy culture and new media to draw attention to books. Potential readers only have so much time in their day, and many times they choose to do other things rather than read. Moreover, bombarded by other forms of entertainment many readers, used to hour or half hour television segments, have also lost the stamina to withstand longer narratives.

But not all hope is lost. Wasserman spoke of his surprise to find so many foreign investors involved in American publishing. While it seems that many American companies have given up on the printed word, Wasserman suggested that these foreign investors might have a longer world view. Publishing may indeed be falling to other media forms, but Rome did not fall in a single day; it took 800 years. And really, the printed word, the book, will never disappear.

June 2006

Book Selling & Book Buying with Michael Burkin
Tuesday, June 27th

On June 27th, Michael Burkin spoke at our Sales Brown Bag Luncheon. Michael drew from over 15 years of publishing experience to give YPG members an overview of the Sales department's various responsibilities such as communicating with national vs. independent accounts, launching paperback originals and dealing with a returnable product. He also spoke about emerging trends like the ever-growing used book market and the issues surrounding e-books. YPG members were so engrossed in Michael's speech that the lunch hour seemed too short!

If you attended this BBL and had further questions for Michael, please contact him at mburkin@nyc.rr.com.

May 2006

Living Legend Phyllis Grann
Tuesday, May 16th

Phyllis Grann has been in the business for almost 50 years. Beginning in 1958 as Nelson Doubleday’s secretary she rose to become CEO and President of Penguin Putnam, Inc. from 1996 through 2001. She has now returned to the editorial foundations from whence she sprung, and is currently working as a Senior Editor at Doubleday.

Here's a wrap up of the event from Patty Park, a Publicist at Random House: