PUBu 2008

Recommended for:
Publishing executives, acquisitions editors, rights managers, sales managers
Space is Limited

Session 3:
Economics for Publishers

Are you equipped to apply the core economic principles of publishing to the challenges of your business? Paul Mathews will discuss a few key economic questions that publishers manage every day. How do we determine what royalty to pay on a product, and what drives the retail price? What are the fixed costs versus the variable costs in our business? How do the margins and returns risks differ for the various channels in our industry? Why does our industry allow returns and how should a publisher evaluate its returns policy?

How do you measure and manage the profitability of the titles you publish? Jeff Johnson will discuss the steps in presenting a new product for approval for publication. He will walk attendees through a template Product Proforma P&L with projections of revenue, cogs, royalty, and marketing expense. He will also provide a test for understanding key financial publishing concepts and a Product Profitability Report to use at one year from publication. This report shows what worked, what didn’t, and what can we learn.

Session Topics:

Determining royalty rates
Fixed costs vs. variable costs
Returns
Managing profitability per title
Approval process for publication
Product proforma
Key financial publishing terms
Product Profitability Report

Presented by:
Paul Mathews and Jeff Johnson, Tyndale House Publishers

Paul Mathews has been at Tyndale House Publishers for 31 years and serves as their Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. As such the parts of the company that report to him are Sales, Operations, Production, and the Financial areas. Paul has served on the Board of Tyndale House Foundation and is currently on the Board of Tyndale House Publishers and Greater Europe Mission. He and his wife Shirley have been married for 34 years and have two married sons and love being grandparents.

Jeffrey Johnson has served at Tyndale House Publishers for 22 years in various capacities including VP, Publishing Services, Director of Human Resources & Administrative Services, and Assistant Distribution Manager. In his current role as Chief Operating Officer, he is responsible for all aspects of Tyndale’s publishing program. Jeffrey along with wife Carole, and their two children reside in West Chicago, Illinois.