Last November, the Publishers Association of the West (PubWest) and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) voted unanimously to combine into a single entity. That change goes into effect July 1, when members of PubWest will be welcomed to the IBPA—which caters both to established publishing houses and author-publishers—in a new membership tier requiring a book distributor, multiple published authors, and an established backlist.
The exact requirements are still to be determined, IBPA CEO Andrea Fleck-Nisbet told PW at the final PubWest annual conference, held in New Orleans February 11–13. The event attracted 140 attendees, including publishers, exhibitors, and students from the Portland State graduate publishing program, many of whom work for Ooligan Press, the program's own publishing house.
Addressing the conference on the first day, Fleck-Nisbet made it clear that the new organization would accommodate the various needs of the PubWest community. "In the months ahead, we will be sharing more about the new established member type that IBPA will be launching in April ahead of the July combination, and our plans to incorporate Pub West programs, events, and benefits,” she said. “As I always say to IBPA members when we get together: this is your organization."
Amy Barrett-Daffin of C&T Publishing led the opening keynote, on best practices for financial strategies and digital optimization at independent publishers. She was joined by Deborah Weisser, publisher of Sentient Publications, and Molly Merkle, publisher of AdventureKEEN.
"We've built a really big backlist of titles, so that's the foundation for stability," said Merkle. "When we're looking for growth, that comes from investment in our front list.... There's lots of budgeting at the micro and macro levels."
Weisser offered a different approach. "In our company, the creative trumps the bottom line as a generality," she said. "If we need to bring in a cover design and it costs extra, that's worth it. We might have to make up for that in other decisions in the production process."
When it comes to author relationships, Weisser emphasized, "we're not able to offer big advances to our authors, and we're really upfront about that.... We approach it from a place of fairness and integrity, and we do what's best for both parties. We're all writers in our company, so we can see things from both sides."
Partnerships, panelists agreed, also help small presses expand their market presence. Barrett-Daffin pointed to its partnership with Open Road Integrated Media for helping it boost sales. "We have seen a tremendous amount of growth compared to just doing our regular marketing effort," she said, noting that "an uplift of probably 15% to 30% in e-book sales" helped to "not only generate revenue but drive sales in print books."
Merkle, whose company focuses on guidebooks for hiking and other outdoor activities, described AdventureKEEN's partnership with a phone app called Far Out as an effort to find more customers in digital spaces. "We've been partnering with them with app editions of some of our travel guide books," she said. "That's been working really well."
At a session called "Maximizing Efficiency and Profitability," moderated by Mountaineers Books publisher Tom Helleberg, panelists discussed workflow efficiencies and print buying strategies at small presses—where best practices, the speakers agreed, almost always involve keeping nimble.
"I'm a production guy-turned-CFO-turned-publisher. Our editor-in-chief was a bookseller, turned publicist, turned editor. It all works, and is awesome,” said Helleberg, noting how many hats Mountaineers’ 22 staffers have worn throughout their careers. Amanda Krause, editorial design and production manager for University of Arizona Press, emphasized the importance of maximizing existing staff skills at small organizations, which requires taking a flexible approach to staffing.
The discussion also touched on how approaches to print strategy have changed with the market due to post-pandemic supply chain challenges and inflation. Krause pointed out that her press has prioritized offset printing as much as three years of inventory, rather than focusing on just-in-time short print runs. Helleberg's strategy at Mountaineers is similar, with the publisher pivoting toward "an aggressively old-school print model" to ensure it has enough existing stock on hand to meet variable demand and cope with unpredictable market conditions.
Doug Symington, a print services provider with facilities in Pennsylvania, Bosnia, and Slovenia, emphasized that printers needed to work together with publishers on making the best product possible—even when that means not maximizing profits. "If we get a quote and we think, 'if we just alter this trim size just a little bit, it's going to save you some money,' we're going back to you with that type of thing," he said.
Print production decisions emerged as a key focus area of the conference, which marked the debut of the Publishing Collective, a group of eight independent publishers created, in part, to negotiate more affordable printing. A panel on the printing business—featuring representatives from Marquis Book Printing, RPI PRint, Sheridan, and Walker 360—examined the comparative advantages of print-on-demand versus offset printing for publishers of different sizes.
The conference concluded with a keynote conversation on financial management during company growth phases featuring two members of the Publishers Cooperative: Keith Riegert, of Ulysses Press and Perfect Bound, and Pete Schiffer, of Schiffer Publishing. Special events included the presentation of the Rittenhouse Award, to John Szabo of the Los Angeles Public Library.
Michele Cobb, executive director of PubWest—whose role with the combined organization is still to be determined—summed up her feelings on the conference succinctly. "It was great to go out on a high note," she said.
