051021 Peer Reviews And Improving Perfromance Management Amp Confernce 22nd Nov
Steve Piersanti of Berrett-Koehler Publishers - Keynote Address at PubWest Confernce 11-8-13
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Transcript of Steve Piersanti of Berrett-Koehler Publishers - Keynote Address at PubWest Confernce 11-8-13
PUBWEST 2013THE 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 PublisherBerrett-Koehler Publishers
10 Areas of Innovation
1. Eat Our Own Cooking2. Company Ownership3. Author Relationships4. Publication Agreement5. Editorial Practices6. Marketing Systems7. Digital Publishing and Marketing8. Community Building9. Company Governance10.Compensation Practices
Berrett-Koehler Publishers
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 40 have sold 100,000+ copies
25 employees. Main office in San Francisco. Some employees work from home offices in San Pablo, Carpinteria, Perth.
Mission: Creating a World That Works for
AllThree publishing agendas:
BK Life: individual change and development
BK Business: organizational change and development
BK Currents: societal change and development
1. Eat Our Own CookingLearn from and Apply Our Book’s Ideas in Our Company
2. Company Ownership
Berrett-Koehler is owned by our stakeholders:*Employees *Authors *Customers *Suppliers *Service providers *Sales partners*Publishing supporters
3. Author Relationships
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
4. Publication Agreement
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
5. Editorial Practices
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
6. Marketing SystemsAuthors 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
7. Digital Publishing and Marketing2007: “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
8. Community Building
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
9. Company Governance
Power shared among stakeholders, social mission driven:• First publisher to become a
certified B 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
10. Compensation Practices
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