A publishing "marriage".

A Publishing "Marriage"

At half past the hour the caterer and florist arrived. As busy waiters set the tables, the anxious host carefully distributed place cards, making sure each table had a good mix of people from both "families." Though not exactly a traditional wedding, the celebration was a marriage of sorts between the American Association for Counseling and Development, Alexandria, Virginia, and Kendall/Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, Iowa. The festivities heralded a new book, Adult Children and Aging Parents, written by AACD President-elect Jane Myers and co-published by AACD and Kendall/Hunt. A first for AACD, the joint venture called for a celebratory luncheon to launch the book and toast a new professional relationship.

One might wonder why two potentially competitive organizations would team up to publish a book. AACD has been publishing professional books for years. With an eight-member publications department, desktop publishing capability, and a marketing department, AACD produced 10 new titles and grossed more than $200,000 in publications sales during fiscal year 1988-89.

Kendall/Hunt, internationally renowned for top-quality academic texts, has been highly successful in the college and university market for more than 40 years.

Nevertheless, Kendall/Hunt Associate Editor Ray Herndon saw mutual benefits in a joint publishing venture. "We |discovered' associations about 10 years ago," explains Herndon, and learned that associations could provide authoritative authors and manuscripts, which saved Kendall/Hunt the often costly burden of scouting and acquisition.

Even more importantly, says Emmett Dingley, Kendall/Hunt director of association/business publishing, although Kendall/Hunt can seek its own manuscripts, it still finds itself competing with the proliferation of association texts. "So instead of trying to beat 'em," says Dingley, "we decided to join 'em."

AACD Director of Publications Mark Hamilton echoes the thought. "We may have the capability to publish quality books and to market them successfully among our membership, but Kendall/Hunt has the reputation in the academic marketplace...and that's the one market we really need. It's when one of our books is adopted by college and university professors as part of a curriculum that it becomes a best-seller."

Hamilton acknowledges that although AACD has a well-staffed marketing department, commercial companies such as Kendall/Hunt have the all-important sales force needed for the arduous and costly task of marketing AACD titles on campuses across the country.

There are other pluses as well as some cautions to consider in a joint publishing venture. AACD's experience is illustrative.

The players

AACD's membership comprises 57,000 individuals, practitioners, educators, and students of counseling and human development. Although the association has grown significantly since its inception in 1952, the number of members has stabilized in recent years, creating a need for new sources of the nondues revenue that now accounts for more than 46 percent of the operating budget.

Concurrently, AACD has struggled to support a proliferation of service departments--government relations, public relations, continuing education, conventions, and so on--all looking for a piece of the $5 million budget pie. Such competition often leaves the publications department short of resources to accomplish goals such as expanding its book market.

Enter Kendall/Hunt. For many years it and other publishers faced very little competition from associations. But that began changing as associations began to display more entrepreneurial spirit to supplement dues income and support expansion.

Books such as AACD's best-seller Developing and Managing Your School Guidance Program make commercial publishers take notice. Kendall/Hunt editors went one step further and approached AACD.

The preliminaries

Kendall/Hunt first contacted AACD through a phone call from Herndon who proposed a possible venture. The call was well-timed. Hamilton had a new manuscript about adults who care for their aging parents--a topic he was sure had widespread appeal, if only he could market it beyond AACD's membership.

So Herndon, Dingley, and Hamilton sat down to talk. AACD and Kendall/Hunt were reasonably certain that educators' focus on gerontology and the public's increasing awareness of age-related issues would benefit sales. In addition to the completed manuscript, AACD offered a respected author, a well-staffed publications department, and its own order fulfillment system.

Not all associations have so much to offer in a potential joint venture, but some commercial publishers will enter into agreements with associations that can provide only a vision and some expertise in a subject area.

Kendall/Hunt will, for example, put up all the money to publish and market a book. The difference is worked out in the amount of money that Kendall/Hunt receives from each sale. (This amount is agreed to in advance.) The more resources and financial backing Kendall/Hunt puts into the venture, the more it recoups; the same goes for the association.

According to Dingley, the association must agree to buy, at a previously arranged price, any copies left in Kendall/Hunt's inventory after two years. The association retains the copyright.

The union

A few months after the initial meeting, a conservative print run of 2,000 books rolled off the production line.

Dingley stresses the importance of a conservative approach when launching a new academic title, no matter how popular the topic promises to be.

"Many associations make the mistake of doing a large print run in order to get a low unit cost," says Dingley, "and they wind up with a large inventory with dust on it."

Even worse, according to Dingley, when associations get "burned" in such a way, they may lose their ambition to try again.

Hamilton notes there are also hidden costs an association may have to pay when a print run exceeds demand. These include warehousing and possible damage to books that are stored too long.

With the bound books in hand, AACD launched its usual promotional campaign consisting of in-house newspaper and journal ads, direct mail, and press releases. The Kendall/Hunt sales force directed its marketing efforts to campuses, using telemarketing, advertising, direct mail, and personal contacts.

Although the full success of the joint effort cannot yet be assessed, AACD has already grossed nearly $10,000 in sales.

Advice from the pros

Before committing to a joint publishing venture, set aside time to do the research necessary for a lasting union. Hamilton urges that a lawyer review all contracts and documents related to the publishing agreement. He reminds associations to take a close look at the financial status of the company with which they are negotiating.

Some sources worth checking include the publisher's annual report to see if the company is publicly held, financial statements from its accounting department, and The Literary Marketplace--a "Who's Who" of the publishing world, compiled by Booker, Inc., and available in most public libraries.

Another important facet of a suitable arrangement is similarity of expertise between the association and publisher. "Not just any commercial publisher will meet your needs," says Hamilton. "It has to be a publisher with experience in the marketplace you want to reach." Hamilton advises associations to do their homework first to find out which publishers are respected by their customers.

Both Hamilton and Dingley warn associations to be wary of fantastic print run and sales promises from any publishing company. "Commercial book publishing can be highly speculative. It's a tough game to be in," says Dingley. "If any company is pushing large print runs and talking big profits the first time out, you'd better have one hot author," he warns.

On a final note, Hamilton says an integral component of any successful relationship between a commercial publisher and an association is the publisher's ongoing recognition of the association's responsibility to its members. He says, "We [the association] have the expertise in the subject matter, and a commercial publisher has to respect that if the book is going to be a success in your most important marketplace--your membership."

Lauren Shceib is manager of public and media relations for the American Association for Counseling and Development, Alexandria, Virginia.