Different approaches for giving your U.S. titles an international reach.

By James Sturdivant

Think Global, But Go Local

If we’ve learned anything in this global business environment, it is that while we need to be internationally involved and focused, we also need to know when to call on those who are more locally savvy. Many managers let their desires to be “global” blind them to their misunderstandings of foreign markets. Their want and expectation to remain in control can often thwart their ability to properly leverage global publishing opportunities, when simply sharing these assets with localized experts would ultimately provide greater and more sustainable success in these markets.

The following six principles can help you maximize your success in foreign markets:
1. Publishing success depends on pull marketing, where customers request the products.
2. Pull marketing depends on local exposure. Customers in foreign markets won’t buy the book if they don’t know about it.
3. Local exposure depends on trusted sources. Customers in foreign markets rely on trusted sources (e.g., advertising and media sources they are familiar with).
4. Trusted sources come from understanding the foreign market in which you are trying to sell.
5. Understanding comes from cultural awareness.
6. Cultural awareness comes from being local.

Thus, publishing success comes from being local. Don’t confuse printing with publishing, though. While the rights may be held by a U.S. publisher, and that publisher may use its might to get good (global) printing prices, it still should not expect to “get the books out” without the help of a local publisher of strength and repute, whether corporately tied or an independent entity. The local firm should call the shots. It needs to be in the position to use its local knowledge to choose titles, suggest print runs and to participate financially in the success or failure of its activities. It would be the near-sighted publisher that tries to direct operations from afar with limited local insight.

Seth D. Gershel is a publishing consultant. He holds an MBA in International Management from the top-ranked Thunderbird School of Global Management. He resides in New York City and can be reached at SethGershel@gmail.com.

When the “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” series decided to go global with its newest edition, “The Remarkable … Revealed,” the company took a chance by tweaking the typical foreign publishing model. Rather than licensing full publishing rights, as many publishers do, Ripley chose to handle printing and work directly with foreign distributors.

“We’re finding that, with licensing, [foreign publishers] don’t [always] have the commitment we do,” says Norm Deska, executive vice president of intellectual property, Ripley Entertainment. “We’re looking to better establish our brand with a high-quality annual book, and the only way to do that was to do it ourselves.”

Ripley, whose books––based on museum exhibits––feature flashy graphics and complex cover images, works with a single Chinese printer for nearly all worldwide editions, an arrangement worked out in partnership with Spokane, Wash.-based international sales and distribution firm Mint Publishers Group.

“We put through one print run, and we get the benefit of scale, and the publisher and distributor in other countries get the benefit of that scale in terms of the price we charge them,” explains Morty Mint, president and CEO, Mint Publishers Group.

At the same time, Mint adds, Ripley controls its content and brand, which is important to a company looking to establish and increase its profile beyond the United States.

Despite such advantages, this approach is not common in publishing, given the logistical hurdles of managing multiple language editions and complex distribution arrangements.

“[As a foreign publisher, you typically] receive the rights and [handle printing and distribution],” says Jorge Pinto, publisher of international publishing house Jorge Pinto Books Inc., of the most common types of foreign publishing deals. “Some have clauses where [the foreign publisher] sends the [translated] manuscript back to the [U.S] publisher, but usually [the foreign publisher] handles everything, and gives the [U.S.] publisher and writer a copyright fee. It’s a good source of income for [the U.S. publisher] and for the writer.”

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