Tuesday 30 April 2013

UK Publishing

 I came across this on the UK Trade & Investment website...makes you proud!

 Publishing: marketing message 1

The UK publishing industry has one of the most productive outputs of any publishing industry in the world and makes a significant commercial contribution to UK plc.
  • Publishing is the UK’s largest media sector, employing more people and adding more to the country’s bottom line than any other.
  • The UK publishing sector has a combined turnover of some £19 billion.
  • Of all the UK's creative industries, publishing makes the largest contribution to the country's Gross Value Added (GVA). In 2009, it generated nearly £11.6 billion in GVA. (1)
  • The UK publishing industry employs over 243,800 people in 9,700 businesses. (1)
  • The UK publishing industry is one of the most successful in the world for the breadth, depth and quality of content it creates, as well as the multiple ways in which that content is brought to market.
  • In terms of turnover, the UK has the second-largest publishing industry in Europe and one of the largest in the world. London is considered one of the world’s leading publishing centres.
  • The UK book publishing industry is one of the most productive in terms of new title output, producing well over 150,000 new titles a year.
  • 151,969 new book titles were published in the UK in 2010, the highest number in Europe. (2)
  • The UK accounted for 29 per cent of new European book titles in 2010, compared to 16 per cent in Germany, 8 per cent in Spain and 7.6 per cent in France. (2)
  • UK publishers sold an estimated 739 million books in 2010.
  • The UK is a leading publisher of newspaper and periodicals titles.
  • The UK customer publishing industry is the most developed in the world. It is worth over £904 million and is expected to grow a further 15 per cent by 2012. (3)
  • More than 7,500 magazine titles are published in the UK. (4)
  • Consumers spend approximately £2 billion on UK consumer magazines each year. (5)
  • An estimated 1.4 billion magazine copies are circulated/distributed in the UK each year. (6)
  • The demise of the UK’s Net Book Agreement in 1997 enabled best-selling books in the UK to be sold at heavily discounted prices and prompted the entry of overseas booksellers into the UK market.

Sources

All facts and figures sourced from The Publishers Association, apart from:
1. Creative Industries Economic Estimates, DCMS, December 2011
2. European Book Publishing Statistics 2011, Federation of European Publishers
3. Association of Publishing Agencies
4. Brad, 2010
5. KPMG, 2010
6. ABC J-D, 2010

and there's more... 

Publishing: marketing message 2

The UK publishing industry is the most successful exporter of its kind in the world.
  • Publishing accounted for the highest proportion of UK exports of creative services in 2009 (£2.63 billion), making up 3.1 per cent of the total. (1)
  • The UK is the world’s largest exporter and re-exporter of books by value.
  • UK publishers exported 293 million books in 2010, worth over £1.25 billion.
  • Almost half of the UK book publishing industry’s revenue is generated by export sales.
  • The value of book exports from the UK grew by £51 million (4.3 per cent) in 2010.
  • The value of UK book exports rose every year between 2006-2010, and was 23 per cent higher in 2010 than 2006.
  • Export sales account for 40 per cent of total UK publisher sales.
  • Key export markets for UK publishers include the US, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and Canada. Exports are also growing strongly in the Middle East.
  • UK authors and illustrators - from JK Rowling and Ian McEwan to John le CarrĂ© and Quentin Blake - are read and celebrated around the world.
  • Three of the four highest-grossing movie franchises are based on British books: James Bond, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. Between them, they have grossed over US$13 billion to date.
  • The UK book publishing industry earns substantial revenue from the global licensing of publishing rights, subscriptions to electronically delivered content and the remittance of profits from overseas subsidiaries.
  • UK publishers have a much more broadly based export business in books than the US, its closest competitor. 57 per cent of their exports go to the top 10 markets, as opposed to 83 per cent for the US.
  • The UK publishes over 20 per cent of the world's scholarly journals.
  • Scientific and technical books and journals published in the UK can be found in classrooms, libraries, laboratories and offices on every continent.
  • UK academic publishers can sell as much as 70 per cent of their output in overseas markets.

Sources

All facts and figures sourced from The Publishers Association, apart from:
1. Creative Industries Economic Estimates, DCMS, December 2011

...and even more... 

Publishing: marketing message 3

The success of the UK publishing industry has had a global impact, driven by the dominance of the English language.
  • The international importance of the English language gives the UK publishing industry a powerful competitive advantage. New opportunities for UK publishers in non-English-speaking countries are being created as English increasingly becomes the preferred second language in many markets across the globe.
  • UK publishers have well-established networks of partners in overseas markets.
  • The UK has outstanding educational publishers. UK-based publishers have been very successful in adapting or developing materials for educational systems worldwide.
  • The UK is home to a world-class academic publishing industry, both in terms of the content it creates and the innovative access models that it has pioneered. The UK is an international leader in the production of Scientific, Technical and Medical (STM) research journals and databases, professional data and training and business-to-business information.
  • The UK is an international leader in children’s fiction, picture books and children’s information publishing. JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series is arguably the world’s greatest children’s publishing success story of recent years.
  • UK publishers have played a leading part in the development of the international market for work in English from other cultures, such as African, Caribbean and Indian literature.
  • The annual London Book Fair is one of the world’s leading events for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. Some 23,000 publishers, booksellers, literary agents, librarians, and media and industry suppliers from over 100 countries attend the fair every year.

Saturday 27 April 2013

The Prince...a few more thoughts..



Not much more I'm afraid..replaced the dog, jollied up the bear
and there's a frog where the mouse was...this will all become clear 
when the book is finished!
This could be quite long by the time it's finished!


Friday 26 April 2013

The Prince....

Rockpool Children's Books 
published 'the Princess who couldn't sleep' in 2008. 


It ended on a cliffhanger...which I won't
disclose...but I'm delighted to say, a sequel is
in production as I type!
I thought it might be of interest to share the 
the 'rough's' process of the cover.
This is a development process so what you see may not
be the final cover...but then it might be...

This was the initial rough several years ago...


...that became the Princess...one has to be flexible as
a publisher and as you can see, by request, the gender changed.
But now, we've written a new 'Prince' story, that suits
a prince much better....


This cover is work in progress, and is by no means finished,
and, as I said, could change...but I think drawing it
in the same composition as his sisters book
will create a 'family likeness'. 
As time goes on and the cover develops, I'll
post more illustrative developments!



Thursday 11 April 2013

The Potty Book



 The Potty Book is also new for 
The London Book Fair.
No long winded potty training in this book, 
just brightly coloured potties and fun rhyme 
that will delight, inspire, 
and gently coax the newest of pottygoers.
With reusable stickers 
to help celebrate potties 
and the little people who use them!

The Little Bookworm



‘The little Bookworms favourite treat,
  Is eating books, sheet by sheet,
  BIG books, small books,
  bath books, toy books,
  All are yummy, and good to eat!’

 New title for the Bologna and London Book Fairs,
the Little Bookworm is a delightful picture book...about books.
Written by Stuart Trotter and Illustrated by Sam Walshaw,
it follows the gastronomic tastes of our Little Bookworm
as he munches his way from front to back on all manner
of books. Gentle rhyme, and bright clean illustration this
is an excellent book.

London Book Fair 2013

Rockpool Children's Books will be attending,
but not exhibiting at, the

Should you wish to meet to discuss any
of our books, please contact me through 
the Contacts page on our website
or, on Monday call or text
+44(0)7711351691

Rockpool Children's Books
wishes everyone an enjoyable 
and successful book fair.

Updated Catalogue

The Rockpool Children's Books full fat Catalogue, 
as opposed to
the Rockpool Children's Books Lite version,
that you may have taken home from the book fair,
is now updated and ready for viewing as a PDF.


 I still need to add Nosey Barker, which I'm currently
working on...that will be done in the next few weeks.