10.10.18 Free


At the Frankfurt Book Fair 2018.


Hall 6.0, Stand C104


Redmayne defends global publishing policy in keynote speech at The Markets


CHARLIE REDMAYNE HAS BEEN HARPERCOLLINS UK C.E.O. SINCE 2013


H


arperCollins UK c.e.o. Charlie Redmayne used his keynote speech at yesterday’s The Markets Conference


to robustly defend HC’s global publish- ing policy, call on publishers to ramp up consumer insight and urge publishers to work beter with existing retail channels. Part of his speech was a response to Andrew Wylie, founder of The Wylie Agency, who delivered the keynote at The Markets last year. In that address, the super-agent said that HC and other conglomerates’ models of acquiring world rights to publish in all territories were “bewildering”, and not in the best interests of authors. Yesterday Redmayne said he disa- greed with Wylie’s “excellent” speech, arguing that publishing across the world meant HC could “exploit the global reach of new and social media, engage with global communities of fans and readers, support global author brands and optimise sales, pick trends up and look at different ways of publishing, and share


lessons globally that we learn locally”. Redmayne


added: “This is not a threat to authors and agents. It is just a choice. And we believe it is an opportunit to do things beter, more effectively and, subsequently, more profit- ably for our authors.”


The physical book never did go away but, equally, I am not seeing any great resurgence across the market in physical book sales


Charlie Redmayne, HarperCollins UK


Six- figure début


He also argued that those who theorised a decade ago that the physical book was dead were wrong. But Redmayne underscored that the industry should not be overly celebrating: “Yes, the physical book never did go away but, equally, I am not seeing any great resurgence across the market in physical book sales. The truth is that we have arrested decline and we are maybe seeing some small gains in the past couple of years, but I believe much of this has to do with some exceptional publishing.”


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Consumers may be looking into other new digital media, Redmayne said, but “that’s OK, because it can help drive people back to books”. To facilitate that, however, publishers must “create content in the form that fits with what consumers are looking for”, aſter harnessing consumer insight to inform publishing choices and aid editors’ instincts, the HarperCollins UK c.e.o. said. Content must be made available through as many digital channels as possible, Redmayne added, highlighting the explosion of audiobooks and podcasts as an example: “We must constantly create new opportuni- ties for audio products, whether that be audio-first or audio originals. I’m fine with bringing out audio [editions] earlier than the book [editions]: it is a different product, targeting a different market.”


But traditional retailers play a crucial part of the puzzle too, Redmayne said. “We need to work beter with traditional retail channels by continuing to invest in the independent [bookselling] sector, as well as the chain bricks-and-mortar stores, supporting them however we can.”


Reporting Tom Tivnan


Prize-winning Djinn Patrol goes for big cash


Deepa Anappara’s début Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line has been sold for a six-figure sum in the UK and Germany. In a joint acquisition with Penguin Random House India, Chatto & Windus publisher Clara Farmer signed UK and Commonwealth rights from Peter Straus at RCW. She heard of the news when “on platform 6a in Brussels Midi en route to Frankfurt”. The Bookseller


understands that a UK pre-empt of more than £300,000 was turned down before


the auction. German rights (to Rowolht) went for €125,000 and, as The Bookseller went to press, the novel—set in the slums of an Indian city—had been sold to seven other publishers, including Random House (US), Companhia das Letras (Brazil) and Destino/Planeta (Spain). University of East Anglia PhD student Anappara won the second annual £10,000 Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Award, run by RCW in honour of its late co-founder.


Wednesday


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