Setting an achievable publishing strategy for your list
Rebecca Lovell is the Commissioning Editor for Humanities at Cambridge Learning for Schools (UK & International). In more than ten years in publishing she has worked in the educational sector and consumer books. Here are her five top tips for a sound publishing strategy.
1. Dive into the data
The foundation of any good strategy should always be accurate data. It can tell you so much and enable you to take stock of your current performance and position before you decide on your next moves. You can drown in it though, so focus only on the data that will help your decision-making.
I always think of my strategy as telling the story of my list. Present the data clearly and allow it to help tell that story by analysing and evaluating what it tells you. Ask yourself, what will you do with this data?
But understand data’s limitations; you must also apply insight and instinct to it, and this comes from knowledge of your customer and trends in the market.
2. Always consider your customer
Your customer should be at the heart of your publishing plan – so get out and talk to them! Who are they? What do they need and how can you help them more than a competitor can? Appraise your strengths and weaknesses and decide whether your strategy needs to segment your customers into different groups according to differing needs – creating customer profiles will help with this.
3. Put it all into context
What is happening in the market that might make your customers behave differently in the future? Monitor trends in the market and read around your list by signing up to relevant newsletters and following appropriate news channels or blogs.
Think carefully and honestly about your competitors – both traditional and new. Anticipate where they might move next by considering what you would do in their shoes.
The point of a strategy is to help you focus your thoughts and create a plan that will strengthen the position of your list. You can’t fight on all fronts so decide where to focus efforts for the biggest or quickest wins (be realistic about resourcing and investment).
4. Utilise strategic techniques
It’s all too easy to believe that you should be investing (or not investing) in a certain project when you look at it in isolation. Using strategic tools like SWOT analysis, a BCG grid or Ansoff’s matrix will help you to see how a project fits into your list as a whole and where you should take it. This forces you to be objective and impose priorities on your publishing plan. You will see that some areas of your list require a defensive strategy, whilst others may need offensive tactics.
5. Put your strategy into action
Your strategy document should be ‘live’. Once it has the approval of the management team, refer to it frequently to keep your work on course. Every project proposal should be contributing towards you achieving specific strategic goals. Trust in your plan; if you have analysed the data, listened to your customers and considered your place and direction in the market, it will anchor your workload for the coming year.
Learn how to make your publishing list a commercial success
The PTC's virtual course Publishing Strategy Toolkit is ideal for anyone who is responsible for publishing strategy within educational, academic, professional or trade publishing. Delivered by Kay Symons, you'll discover new ways of thinking and gain tools to make your publishing list or market segment a commercial success. Find out more and book here.
We also have a free PTC Guide, Commissioning and List Management for Educational Publishers, written by Paul Cherry, Publishing Director, UK Curriculum at Hodder Education. Here, he shares his experience of what's needed to be successful commissioning editor.