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PUBWEST 2013 THE INNOVATIVE PUBLISHER November 8, 2013

PUBWEST 2013 THE INNOVATIVE PUBLISHER November 8, 2013. HOW TO SUCCEED BY INNOVATING IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR BUSINESS What Small and Medium-Sized Publishers Can Do. Steven Piersanti, President and Publisher Berrett -Koehler Publishers. 1. Eat Our Own Cooking 2. Company Ownership

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PUBWEST 2013 THE INNOVATIVE PUBLISHER November 8, 2013

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  1. PUBWEST 2013THE INNOVATIVE PUBLISHERNovember 8, 2013

  2. HOW TO SUCCEED BY INNOVATING IN EVERY AREA OF YOUR BUSINESS What Small and Medium-Sized Publishers Can Do Steven Piersanti, President and Publisher Berrett-Koehler Publishers

  3. 1. Eat Our Own Cooking 2. Company Ownership 3. Author Relationships Publication Agreement Editorial Practices Marketing Systems Digital Publishing and Marketing Community Building Company Governance Compensation Practices 10 Areas of Innovation

  4. Founded 1992. Steve was previously CEO of Jossey-Bass. $8 to 9 million in revenues/year. Profitable 10 years in a row. Publish 30 to 40 new books and new editions per year. 500+ titles in print, over 40have sold 100,000+ copies 25 employees. Main office in San Francisco. Some employees work from home offices in San Pablo, Carpinteria, Perth. Berrett-Koehler Publishers

  5. Three publishing agendas: BK Life: individual change and development BK Business: organizational change and development BK Currents: societal change and development Mission: Creating a World That Works for All

  6. 1. Eat Our Own Cooking Learn from and Apply Our Book’s Ideas in Our Company

  7. Berrett-Koehler is owned by our stakeholders: *Employees *Authors *Customers *Suppliers *Service providers *Sales partners *Publishing supporters 2. Company Ownership

  8. BK Authors Cooperative: • Annual Authors Retreat • Annual Marketing Workshop • Authors Mentoring Authors • BK Authors Collaboratory • Bill of Rights and Responsibilities • for BK Authors • “Author Day” for each new book 3. Author Relationships

  9. Author-friendly, power to authors: • Author can take rights back if author is not happy • No competing works clause or right to next book • Author involvement in decisions • No bait-and-switch in royalties • High discounts to authors • Same advance for all authors • Shorter, simpler, clearer contract 4. Publication Agreement

  10. BK community involvement: • BK authors as book scouts • Outside reviews for all manuscripts • Hundreds of manuscript reviewers • All book titles market-tested • Editorial work is front-loaded • Learning exchanges with publishers • Open Book Editions self-publishing 5. Editorial Practices

  11. Authors are full partners in marketing: • Set realistic expectations -- “The 10 Awful Truths about Book Publishing” • Full info on what BK will/won’t do • Market through 20+ channels • Detailed reporting on actions/results • Coach/help authors to market well • Open access to all BK staff • Authors support other BK authors • Unique catalog: BK news, partners • Unique newsletter: BK Communique 6. Marketing Systems

  12. 2007: “digital community builder” 2008: strategic plan: dive into digital Placed digital staff in editorial dept., with cross-departmental digital team Many experiments: apps, videos, enhanced ebooks, self-assessments Digitized almost all titles; sell through 50+ digital distributors 7. Digital Publishing and Marketing

  13. Build and involve community in many ways: • Hundreds of BK stakeholders participate in strategic planning • Guests at Author Day lunches • BK community dialogues • BK Authors Cooperative • Berrett-Koehler Foundation • Annual shareholders meetings 8. Community Building

  14. Power shared among stakeholders, social mission driven: • First publisher to become a certifiedB Corp • Creating a BK Constitution • Staff together make many decisions • Staff meeting is highly participative • Board of Directors has employee, author, customer, service provider, sales partner, social mission, management, shareholder members 9. Company Governance

  15. No class systems: • Entire staff approves, revises compensation system • Same compensation system for executives and employees • ESOP • All staff receive same annual incentive compensation • No secrecy; staff know all salaries • No annual performance reviews 10. Compensation Practices

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