As a result of digital initiatives as well as a strong list of titles, the 50-year-old UK publisher keeps growing its business, despite increasing competition from outside traditional publishing.

Even as we listen to Kogan Page’s leadership today about the rights landscape on this independent house’s business and management specialty, we have several titles the company is presenting for rights sales. You can find those after this story.-Porter Anderson
Chinese Rights Sales Now Leading
China has grown to be Kogan Page‘s most productive rights territory, because the UK publisher marks its 50th anniversary.
Founded by Philip Kogan in 1967, it’s 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 with the timely acquiring two cyber-attack titles, announced inside the same week because the global ransomware attack. Both these titles are scheduled for spring 2018:

Cyberwars: The Hacks that Shook the entire world is simply by former Guardian technology editor Charles Arthur and can look at the dramatic inside stories of a few of the world’s biggest cyber-attacks like the Clinton election campaign along with recent global events.
Cyber Risk Management, is simply by Richard Benham from the UK’s National Cyber Skills Centre and can, according to promotional copy, offer “vital tips on the best way to evaluate threats and communicate a cyber-security tactic to help alleviate problems with the trillions of dollars that are lost globally each year.”
Publishing Perspectives spoke to Helen Kogan about how precisely the company has was able to remain independent, its current rights activity, and just how the concept of Cheap Business Books publishing has been evolving.

‘Discoverable Any place in the World’

Publishing Perspectives: As Kogan Page enters its sixth decade, how’s business?
Helen Kogan: We’re having a great year. We’re almost after our financial year and we’re seeing double-digit growth across all revenue streams. We’ve also won two transformational publishing contracts with the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development along with the Chartered Institute of Banking for both 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 web based classes. It’s been a really exciting breakthrough year following four years of refocus and growth and development of our value proposition.

PP: What is the particular focus for your rights activity?

HK: The expansion and further development of Beijing Book Fair may be particularly great for us, along with the sale of Chinese rights has become our most successful territory.

However, we have our titles translated into 50 different languages now and, interestingly, this isn’t just restricted to our popular general business titles. We’ve had success with a few of our more specialist titles too, in neuro-scientific logistics and recruiting.

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

We now have offices in the united states and India as well as a wide network of agents globally. We’re fortunate to share in English-the international language of business-and that business and management is a global subject. We’ve really used global supply chains in recent years and, over the growth and development of digital bibliographic and marketing feeds, now have the great capacity to make our titles discoverable around the globe.

‘A Very Crowded Marketplace’

PP: What are main issues facing business and professional publishers?
HK: A serious dilemma is that we’re now encompassed by 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 are a few of the serious non-traditional competition we should instead think about. However, we’ve spent the last 36 months defining our value proposition and points of difference and think we have a persuasive and competitive business with significant opportunity for further growth.

PP: The amount of a threat is open access? The ‘knowledge must be free’ camp can be extremely persuasive. Should it create a breeding ground through which students are more unwilling to purchase content?

HK: I do believe it’s tough to persuade students to purchase content when they’ve been accustomed to ‘free’. We actually require educational institutes to support us on this and increase the risk for case that after the line can be an author that has made the book and really should be compensated accordingly.

As much as “free” is a challenge Furthermore, i believe that the threat to non-linear narrative, through other media formats, is problematic. We’re looking at how we can provide a more three-dimensional and interactive experience of the longer term to tackle changing consumer reading habits.

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

HK: Bloody-mindedness, resilience, opportunism-all those things plus more.

PP: How many workers are there and what’s your turnover?

HK: We now have 35 staff and growing. Our turnover is ?4.5 million (US$5.Six million) but in the subsequent financial year this can grow close to ?5.5 million (US$7.2 million) through organic growth along with the addition of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development’s list. There was to consider a winner on our top line over the last couple of years as we refocused a part of our activity on specialist areas however year we’re seeing the fruits of the work and expect to have 12-percent growth.

Benefitting From the Weak Pound

PP: What effect you think Brexit will have?
HK: It’s difficult to say at this stage. We have to hope we won’t experience tariffs because this will clearly possess some impact. Costs of materials are often an issue and we’ll have to monitor this. We hold English-language world and digital rights towards the vast majority of our list this should mitigate the need to tackle US editions in Europe (an increasing concern amongst other publishers).

I hope that sanity will prevail along with the threat hanging over our European colleagues’ right to remain in this country will likely be dealt with swiftly instead of deploying it being a bargaining chip.

Around the plus side, we’ve certainly benefited from the weakness from the pound up against the dollar.

PP: Where does one sell your main books?

HK: 70 percent of our sales still have the traditional supply chain-bookshops, online retailers, wholesalers, etc. However, our Web site sales are growing and that we possess 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 for 25 % of revenue with the balance on this 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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