
SALES
Sales in publishing, as in any other business, is the department who makes sure there is money coming in! Sales are a big decision making team in the acquisition of titles too! They decide how likely a title is to make a profit, and whether it is a good move for the publishing house!
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SATURDAY 21st AUGUST
Retailer Sales (A Lecture)
11:30am-12:30pm - (Meeting Room 2)
Presented by Robert Waddington, Group Sales Director at Penguin Random House
One of the foremost authorities on everything sales in the world of publishing, we are very lucky to welcome Robert Waddington the director of sales at Penguin Random House to join our festival and give a rundown on how the biggest publisher in the UK handles its sales.
An understanding of sales is fundamental in entering the world of publishing and where better to learn than from the best of the best. Come with a question prepared and join us for this Q&A, with a brief lecture, and learn everything there is to learn about sales.
Robert Waddington Graduated Warwick University in 1996 and after a few years of working on the supermarket end of sales, he moved to Penguin Random House. Now 17 years on, he holds the role of international sales director and is one of the country’s best when it comes to his field.
International Sales (A Lecture)
1pm-2pm - (Members Room)
Presented by Lisa Finch, Senior International Sales Publishing Consultant
Are you interested in working with markets all over the globe? If you have a love for publishing but might be more business minded then international sales will allow you to explore both your love for books and sales. International sales ensures that publishers know the markets that their books are going into months before the book is even completed by the author. International sales ensures that everything runs smoothly and on time whilst also being responsible for organising budgets and forecasts for the publisher.
Lisa Finch joins us to explain the realities of international sales. Both rewarding and difficult, this challenging career direction provides as many glamorous moments in countries all over the world as it does nail biting races against the clock.
Lisa Finch graduated from the University of Liverpool before working at Bloomsbury as head of Export for over 12 years. She now has a role at Canongate Publishing where she now works as head of international sales.
SUNDAY 22nd AUGUST
Presented by Tony Roche, Strategic Relationships Manager at Emerald Publishing
Tony Roche comes to us from Emerald to explain how sales work in academic publishing. Tony specialises in working with retailers both online and in store, to endure that they stock Emerald’s newest publishing ventures.
If you are interested in sales and might not have considered an academic path, come to this lecture and learn potential new avenue for your career from one of the best. Tony will be giving an oversight of what goes into becoming successful at a career in retail relationships and also how he got started in this field with Emerald Publishing.
Sales Relationships (A Lecture)
3:30pm-4:30pm - (Meeting Room 2)
Tony Roche graduated university and landed an internship with Emerald Publishing and has been with them ever since. Originally in rights, Tony made the move into strategic relations in 2012 and has excelled there ever since.
Presented by Max Porter at Greywolf
Book fairs are one of the best ways to learn more about the industry and give you a taste of what the world of publishing might hold for you. They give you a chance to experience every department and talk directly with the publishers both big and small to discover what and where the perfect fit is for you.
Max Porter is an author, bookseller and veteran of the book fair scene and joins us to talk about book fairs from the side of the publisher and go through exactly what makes them such important events for those involved in sales. Join us to have all of your questions answered and be one step ahead of potential competition by being able to add extensive knowledge of book fairs to your CV.
Bookfairs and Sales (A Lecture)
12pm-1pm - (Meeting Room 1)
Max Porter is the author of Grief is the Thing With Feathers and One Good Horse, he chaired a lecture at Cheltenham Literary festivals in 2019 and previously worked in sales for Faber and then later with Greywolf Press.