21 Publishing Management Tips
From keeping staff motivated to staying out of debt to generating new revenue, the different aspects of publishing management are often difficult in even the best of economic environments. How do publishers survive the ever-changing world of book publishing? BookTech Magazine interviewed several industry leaders to get their tips.
Keith Weiskamp is publisher and president of Paraglyph Press Inc. (www.ParaglyphPress.com). He and a partner formed the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based publishing company in mid 2002 from an offshoot of what he describes as a much larger company that ran into financial hardship. Its flagship books are the "Degunking" series started in 2004 with the best-selling title "Degunking Windows." The publisher has since expanded the series to include consumer-related topics with its first non-technology book, "Degunking Your Personal Finances." Weiskamp's tips …
1 On publishing management: "Our approach has been to strip everything down to just the essentials. We try to work virtually as much as possible, which means that we use as much outside talent [as possible] and we work in different locations. Some tips we've learned from this approach include: Don't be in a hurry to hire people and add overhead. With the right mix of people, you can get a lot more done and keep your sanity …."
2 On time management: "Be really careful about over-committing. Give yourself plenty of room for the unexpected thing that comes up. The more I do this, the easier it has been for me to say 'no' to things that don't feel just right. Most time-management issues that I've experienced were a direct result of trying to do too much."
3 On staying out of debt: "Financial problems start as little things that build on top of each other until you can't see past them. Try to view what you do using this guideline: Everything you produce needs to be profitable. And then spend as much time educating everyone involved in your projects about what each project needs … to stay healthy. Don't let yourself be talked into doing things that don't make really good financial sense. If a book requires too big of an advance or too high a royalty rate to publish it, don't do it. If the marketing cost to get a book into a certain account is too high, don't go there."
