THE LONDON BOOK FAIR DAILY WEDNESDAY 16TH APRIL 2008
Crunch on coeditions
Tom Tivnan
Coedition publishers at the
London Book Fair are struggling
to sell into markets
in western Europe as pressures
from shifting retail
landscapes, the economic
downturn and fluctuating currencies
take hold. Publishers
at the fair say that dramatic
shifts in exchange rates are
upsetting the old order.
Andrew Welham, deputy
c.e.o of Octopus Publishing,
said LBF coedition sales were
“challenging in traditional
markets such as France”. He
added: “French publishers
across the board have cut
back on buying coeditions
from British publishers. We
are looking elsewhere, such
as Latin America and eastern
Europe.”
Andrew Phillips, chief
operating officer of Dorling
Kindersley, agreed that the
markets that seemed the
slowest were the “older, European
ones”, with booksellers’
difficulties straining the markets.
He added: “The Nordic
areas and France in particular
are slower. There is a lot
of consolidation on the retail
side in these territories and
publishers are feeling some
pressures.”
Though many of the larger
traditional markets are struggling,
Welham said that new
areas were continuing to
open up: “We are looking at
markets such as Poland and
Bulgaria, and newer ones
such as Romania and the Baltics
where we can genuinely
develop new business.”
US publishers are feeling
the effects of their country’s
economic woes, with the fluctuating
value of the dollar
making acquisitions tough
to complete. Marcus Leaver,
president of New York-based
Sterling, said: “The weakness
of the dollar makes it
very, very difficult to bring
books in.” However, international
sales are up, he added:
“I would say it is still a buoyant
market in general for the
right books. As publishers
we can’t just throw some old
rubbish against the wall and
make it stick.”
Christian Frederking,
Thames & Hudson’s international
rights director, said
that consolidation within the
German book trade was having
an effect, with publishers
much more cautious. “They
Travel publishers slam Lonely Planet model
Rival travel publishers
have blamed Lonely Planet’s
commissioning methods
for the revelation that
one of its authors plagiarised
and made up large sections of
his books, and dealt drugs to compensate
for poor pay.
Lonely Planet has responded to
the claims, which appear in Thomas
Kohnstamm’s memoir Do Travel Writers
go to Hell?, by undertaking a thorough
review of any books still in print
that Kohnstamm contributed to. Tom
Hall, travel editor at LP, said: “We are
obviously concerned about the integrity
of his work as he has breached his
contract and misled us. If there are any
problems with content we
will take whatever steps
necessary.”
But fellow travel publishers
at the London Book
Fair suggested LP’s methods for signing
up authors and putting its guidebooks
together could have played
a part in the scandal. Andy Riddle,
Footprint m.d., said the news would
give LP “pause for thought about the
way they commission and manage
authors”.
Bradt m.d. Donald Grieg said that
the way authors are paid has an effect
on the nature of the guide produced.
“All our authors are on royalties,
which sets a different tone from the
LBF: a coeditions
crunch?
www.thebookseller.com The London Book Fair Daily | 16 April 2008 1
have had such a change in
retail in Germany, particularly
with pressure from Amazon.
de,” he added.
The overall Canadian market
has suffered as well from
the declining US dollar and
the relative strength of the
Canadian dollar, with export
values hit hard. Carolyn
Wood, executive director of
the Association of Canadian
Publishers, said: “This can
make a dramatic, drastic difference,
with the American
market making from 30% to
50% of some of our members’
businesses.”
thebookseller.com/international
start of any contractual agreement.
They have an ongoing interest in the
book and are involved right the way
through.” Ella Gascoigne, PR executive
for Crimson, said the claims
would be “hugely damaging” to LP.
Hall defended LP’s methods, saying
the publisher was happy with the
quality of its authors. “All our authors
have passed our entry procedures.
We trust them to follow our policies;
they sign a contract and there are
specific requirements that their facts
are true or reliably accurate. Our editors
review the quality and content of
all the work. While you can never be
100% certain, we take all reasonable
steps to make our content accurate.”
The Bookseller is the leading UK
and international book industry
magazine and website
Visit us: Stand J355
www.thebookseller.com
What do these
companies have
in common?
Publishing and
Klopotek software
Visit us at stand R555.
www.klopotek.co.uk
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.