Summary of Publishing Department Report to BARC

BARC #23 American Library Association Summary of Publishing Department Report to BARC

 FY16 actual results through 3rd Close o Total revenue budget shortfall - $1,194k o Net revenue budget shortfall - $551k; primarily due to Editions ($330k) and Neal Schuman ($57k) o Overhead contribution to the General Fund - $3,032k  Notes on FY16 o Rubin (Neal Schuman best-selling textbook): July/August sales didn’t materialize o Subscription Equivalent in American Libraries is $187k better than budget o Takeaways: . Editions/Neal Schuman - open positions, disruption in Publisher position and lack of consistently applied Publishing Strategy have contributed to shortfalls . Graphics - product acquisition deficit in FY16  Looking Forward o Publisher for ALA Editions in place – making progress toward rebuilding the business o Staff additions in FY17

. Marketing Manager to focus on sales growth and customer service . Acquisitions Editor to increase number of frontlist titles o Technology improvements in FY17 - new online store targeted for Spring 2017 o Operational efficiencies planned for FY17 . Consolidated editing-design-production to minimize costs and maximize time to market . Order Processing / Fulfillment vendor stabilized, synchronized and cost efficient o Neal-Schuman textbook releases . FY17 – 2nd best-selling textbook – Cassell: Reference and Information Services . FY17 – Evans: Academic Librarianship . FY18 – 3rd best-selling textbook – Evans: Management Basics o Partnering with AASL on the FY18 September publication of AASL Standards o Changes to FY17 Budget . Total revenue budget $473k less than FY16 . Net revenue budget $183k less than FY16 . Overhead budget $60k less than FY16  Key Metrics o Maintaining improved production schedule (time to market) - reduced from 12 to 6 months  Challenges / areas of focus o Building frontlists o 2 year publishing timeline o Stabilizing financial recording process o Activating sales reports from the new Order Processing/Fulfillment vendor