Outside Editorial

Since my boss, Jeevan, is out of town for a couple of weeks, I get the pleasure of finding out more about the departments of the company, outside of editorial. Today, I had meetings with the VP of sales and marketing, Kristen Frantz, the digital community builder, Bonnie Kaufman and the director of subsidiary rights, Maria Jesus Aguilo. It was fascinating to get the different perspectives from these experienced professionals. After talking with these women, I was able to better understand the essential aspects of the publishing company which surround, interact with and support the editorial process. Each of the departments visited has a crucial role in the success of the books Berrett-Koehler publishes. The Vice President of marketing does a lot of the communication and management of getting the book distributed to retailers and properly promoted in the marketplace. The digital community builder creates and develops an online space where authors and readers alike can find great information and interact with one another, as well as promote the books in the online arena. The director of subsidiary and foreign rights is a job I find quite intriguing and complex. She has to make and maintain relationships with publishers all over the world and sell the rights to the books in often competitive environments. Spreading the word of great books and pitching them to book pubs at international book fairs around the world seems like a challenging but sweet job!

Overall, I have a better understanding and appreciation for all the hard work put into releasing a book, what a task! And there's more, next week I find out about organizational sales, publicity and production.