An Indie Publisher at 50: Kogan Page’s International Language of commercial

Due to digital initiatives and a strong list of titles, the 50-year-old UK publisher continues to grow its business, despite increasing competition external to traditional publishing.


Even as we hear from Kogan Page’s leadership today in regards to the rights landscape within this independent house’s business and management specialty, the ways to access several titles the company is presenting for rights sales. You will discover those at the conclusion of this story.-Porter Anderson
Chinese Rights Sales Now Leading
China has become Kogan Page‘s best rights territory, because UK publisher marks its 50th anniversary.
Founded by Philip Kogan in 1967, it’s got remained independent throughout its half-century, and it’s run today by Philip’s daughter Helen Kogan, who’s managing director.

The business recently made industry headlines using the timely purchase of two cyber-attack titles, announced in the same week because global ransomware attack. Those two titles are scheduled for spring 2018:

Cyberwars: The Hacks that Shook the World is by former Guardian technology editor Charles Arthur and will glance at the dramatic inside stories of some of the world’s biggest cyber-attacks like the Clinton election campaign along with recent global events.
Cyber Risk Management, is by Richard Benham with the UK’s National Cyber Skills Centre and will, as outlined by promotional copy, offer “vital assistance with how to evaluate threats and communicate a cyber-security technique to assist in preventing the trillions of dollars which are lost globally each and every year.”
Publishing Perspectives spoke to Helen Kogan regarding how the company has was able to remain independent, its current rights activity, and how the field of Buy Business Books publishing is beginning to change.

‘Discoverable Any place in the World’

Publishing Perspectives: As Kogan Page enters its sixth decade, bed mattress business?
Helen Kogan: We’re using a great year. We’re almost at the conclusion of our financial year and we’re seeing double-digit growth across all revenue streams. We’ve also won two transformational publishing contracts using the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development as well as the Chartered Institute of Banking for academic and professional development titles.

We’re about to launch a searchable digital platform for B2B customers and we’re also about to launch our first online courses. It’s been an extremely exciting breakthrough year following 4 years of refocus and growth and development of our value proposition.

PP: Exactly what is the particular focus to your rights activity?

HK: The expansion and further expansion of Beijing Book Fair has been particularly great for us, as well as the sale of Chinese rights is now our best territory.

However, we have our titles translated into 50 different languages now and, interestingly, this isn’t just confined to our very popular general business titles. We’ve had success by incorporating individuals more specialist titles too, in neuro-scientific logistics and recruiting.

We’ve forever been internationally-focused and currently sell our titles into 90 countries with key territories being North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, the very center East, Australia, India, and China.

We have offices in the US and India and a wide network of agents globally. We’re fortunate to publish in English-the international language of business-and that business and management is really a global subject. We’ve really rooked global supply chains in recent times and, through the growth and development of digital bibliographic and marketing feeds, are in possession of the great capability to make our titles discoverable around the globe.

‘A Very Crowded Marketplace’

PP: Do you know the main issues facing business and professional publishers?
HK: A major problem is that we’re now in the middle of content producers.

It’s merely traditional publishers that disseminate business content, and it’s a really crowded marketplace. Coaches, member organizations, business schools and management consultancies a few of the serious non-traditional competition we have to think of. However, we’ve spent the last 3 years defining our value proposition and points of difference and think we still have an engaging and competitive business with significant potential for further growth.

PP: How much of a threat is open access? The ‘knowledge needs to be free’ camp can be quite persuasive. Should it create an atmosphere in which students will be more unwilling to pay for content?

HK: I do think it’s difficult to persuade students to purchase content when they’ve been utilized to ‘free’. We actually have to have the educational institutes to compliment us within this and make the case that at the conclusion of the queue can be an author who’s made the book and really should be compensated accordingly.

As much as “free” is really a challenge I additionally believe that the threat to non-linear narrative, through other media formats, is problematic. We’re considering the way we can provide a lot more three-dimensional and interactive expertise in the future to contend with changing consumer reading habits.

PP: How has Kogan Page was able to stay independent?

HK: Bloody-mindedness, resilience, opportunism-all those actions and even more.

PP: The amount of employees have you got and what’s your turnover?

HK: We have 35 staff and growing. Our turnover is ?4.5 million (US$5.6 million) however in the following financial year this will grow to around ?5.5 million (US$7.Two million) through organic growth as well as the inclusion of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development’s list. There was to look at a hit on the top line over the last couple of years once we refocused a part of our activity on specialist areas however this year we’re seeing the fruits of that work and have a 12-percent growth.

Benefitting From the Weak Pound

PP: What effect do you consider Brexit may have?
HK: It’s challenging to say at this time. We must hope that we won’t suffer from tariffs simply because this will clearly involve some impact. Costs of materials can be a concern and we’ll must keep an eye on this. We hold English-language world and digital rights on the majority of our list and this should mitigate being forced to contend with US editions in Europe (an expanding concern amongst other publishers).

Hopefully sanity will prevail as well as the threat hanging over our European colleagues’ right to be in the united states will probably be managed swiftly as opposed to deploying it like a bargaining chip.

About the plus side, we’ve certainly taken advantage of the weakness with the pound contrary to the dollar.

PP: Where do you sell the majority of your books?

HK: Seventy percent individuals sales still feel the traditional supply chain-bookshops, trusted online retailers, wholesalers, and the like. However, our Site sales are increasing and we have a thriving B2B sales activity for member organizations, author networks, and corporates.

PP: What’s the split between digital and print in your business?

HK: Digital is the reason 25 % of revenue using the balance of the being delivered from digital licensing to academic library suppliers, aggregators, and corporate content suppliers. Our ebook business has stayed fairly stable at approximately 8 percent of overall revenue.
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