After the Book Expo

Thursday I took in the Publisher's Marketing Association's "Graduate School" one-day conference. At first it seemed a tad expensive, but as always, the two or three things I took away from it were worth the time and money.

I enjoyed spending time with other publishers, people who share the same concerns, interests and challenges I do. As a matter of fact the relative isolation independent publishers work under was a recurring theme during the open discussion periods. Another was that all of us are looking for new out-of-the-bookstore markets for our titles. Strangely, very little came up about digital publishing, in its many guises, the current topic in many publishing articles.

One of the most open and giving speakers there was Steve Piersanti, publisher and president of Berrett-Koehler a book publisher out of San Francisco. BK is best known for excellent business books but they also publish BK Currents, books that "advance social and economic justice" and BK Life, books that "help people create positive change in their lives."

Piersanti is likely unique in the world of publishing executives in that he works from nearly exclusively from home—and has since he founded the press in 1992. BK has a staff of about 20 which Piersanti oversees. He says working from home allows him to do the editing which he loves and also eliminates the daily commute, which he didn't love when he worked for Jossey-Bass.

I found a number of things Piersanti told us about BK interesting:

• BK has sold more than 1,600 subsidary rights
• BK has had 27 books that sold over 100,000 copies and 3 that have sold 500,000 plus
• One out every three titles sells more than 20,000 copies
• Of the approximately 20 BK employees, 9 are in sales and marketing
• BK doesn't pay author advances
• BK acknowledges the people and organizations that help BK to be the success by listing them in the back it its catalogs—everyone from the company they use to print postcards to their insurance agents.

Last night we ate Thai with Dave Husley, vice-president of sales and marketing for Sports Publishing. I'd met Dave once before and am impressed with his clear-eyed appraisal of the many opportunities book publishing offers. He has a sound grasp of what it takes to move books and a deep knowledge of where to do it.

Afterward, we walked at least a hundred blocks to the PGW (Publisher's Group West, a distributor now in transition due to it's parent company's recent bankruptcy) party. An invitation only event, it was held in an old theater at 23rd and Lexington. A large dance floor fronted the stage with cash bars on either side. A band was scheduled to start at 9, but, just before, I asked Josh and Dave how they would feel about finding somewhere quieter where we wouldn't have to sit theater style and have our conversation drowned out by loud music (I'm afraid my years of owning a rock and roll club fulfilled my need to have my eardrums assailed by decibelly dangerous music.)

We ended up at the Wheeltappers, a local pub where we continued our conversation solving all the world's problems over a couple of brews.

—Steve Mettee