as well as the fact that the subject mater—it is set in Ireland following the collapse of the country’s Celtic Tiger economy in 2008—has unexpectedly had “incredible resonance right now”.
Haslum describes the past couple of years growing the publisher in the UK as “an amazing journey”. He is joined in the UK operation by marketing and events manager Rosie Baldwin, and recently appointed head of editorial and production Muna Reyal, who was previously a food and lifestle publisher and editorial director at Headline, BBC Books and Ebury. Starting in the new role on 1st August, her remit will be to “look for today’s inspiring new voices with big ideas and a passion to create change”, as well as overseeing the publisher’s UK editorial and produc- tion functions. The three-strong team is supported by two contractors, UK commissioning editor Jonathan Rae and UK operations manager Bev Blee, with a paid intern, Harshita Lalwani, also starting in August.
Targeted markets The UK team moved over the bridge from its Waterloo base into Somerset House on the Strand a year ago, and is beginning to commission. It published two UK original titles in 2019 and has eight coming out this year, with an ambition to eventually release 12–15 titles a year to comple- ment the US list. Haslum says CGP is thinking about how to localise its publishing for the UK market, and target areas it can be strong in. He defines these areas as nature and conservation writing, resilient sustainable living, “big ideas” non-fiction, politics, complementary health and CGP’s “farm to table” list, “which covers everything from soil health right the way through to food titles”. Though CGP is seeing “a lot more competition” in its traditional specialist areas, Baldwin feels it still has an advantage over bigger publishers, as they “don’t have the deep background that we do in these subject areas, so they oſten don’t really get it right”. Haslum agrees that the publisher’s strength lies in its experience, and its different approach. For example, CGP oſten discovers authors in non-traditional spaces, such as agricultural and regenera- tive farming conferences. He says: “We aren’t necessarily coming up against lots of other houses looking for that work, but we know there’s an opportunit there because we know our audience.” Baldwin notes differences between trends in CGP’s niche area of publishing in the UK and US. In the US, there is “a very strong farming agriculture line of books” not found in the UK, while nature writing is “much stronger in the UK than it is in the US”. Haslum identifies gardening and small-scale growing as an area where CGP can have quick growth in the UK. Baldwin
adds: “I think there are more subtle differences in terms of price points and what sells where... we’re still learning all of that. That’s why it’s great to have Mat on board because he comes at it from a different vantage point.” Looking ahead, Haslum predicts “probably the most
People are really interested in growing their own food, being more self- sufficient and rethinking what an economy that takes care of everyone looks like
Margo Baldwin
congested autumn in the history of our business”. CGP is publishing several big autumn titles. In September alone, it will release Material: Making and the Art of Transformation by craſtsman and first-time author Nick Kary, which Haslum describes as “a lovely meditation on what makes us human through what we craſt with our hands”. It also has slated Bank Job by artist Hilary Powell and film- maker Daniel Edelstn; it tells of how the duo launched a project to cancel more than £1m of debt from their local communit by printing their own money in a disused bank in Walthamstow. Towpath: Recipes & Stories comes from the founders
of the Towpath Café on Regent’s Canal in Hackney, Lori
De Mori and Laura Jackson; and Baldwin calls Derek Gow’s forthcoming Bringing Back the Beaver “a wonderful natural history story” about restoring beavers to the UK. Another eagerly awaited title is the first new book in eight years from award-winning author Sandor Katz, Fermentation as Metaphor (15th October), which the publisher describes as a “treatise on the meaning of fermentation”.
Ethics and sustainability
As a business, CGP is driven by ethical and sustainable practices. As such, it prints in North America and the UK exclusively, while all its paper stock is either FSC-certified, recycled or responsibly sourced and non-toxic. Haslum says: “We’re very passionate about that, which can sometimes provide a challenge for price points.” CGP UK’s sales are currently looked aſter by Watkins. When it comes to marketing books in the UK, one of the aims to grow the business is to establish stronger connections with non- traditional and high-street retail outlets. Another strategy is to work with key organisations, such as conference and events partners, and to pitch authors for publicit and events on an ongoing basis. The US branch of CGP has spent a lot of time on its direct-to-consumer (D2C)market- ing, which has resulted in the growth of its web sales, and Baldwin says the next stage in its UK growth will be to develop a D2C marketing and website programme. Though Baldwin jokes that CGP does not “even show up on the radar of the publishing scene in New York Cit”, she feels that the publishing scene in the UK is “much friend- lier somehow”, with independent presses “more visible and [the market] not so dominated by the huge corporate houses”. Haslum continues: “When you take a step back and look at it, an independent house like CGP deciding to open an office in central London seems like quite an odd thing. Usually you’d associate that with a company in a major metropolitan area, rather than a small town in snowy Vermont, which is quite a lovely story in itself.”
TheBookseller.com
CGP’s Top Three
01
15,157 units
The Art of Fermentation Sandor Ellix Katz June 2012, £20.97, 9781603582865 Katz presents the concepts and processes behind fermentation.
02
4,503 units
The Heal Your Gut Cookbook Hillary Boynton and Mary Brackett October 2014, £16.39, 9781603585613 Diet experts Hilary Boynton and Mary Brackett offer more than 200 straightforward, nutrient-dense and appealing recipes designed to heal your gut.
03
4,354 units
Wild Fermentation Sandor Ellix Katz September 2016, £16.29, 9781603586283 Subtitled “The Falvor, Nutrition and Craft of Live- Culture Foods”.
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