London-based Nicholas Brealey Publishing, which bills itself as "the world's smallest publishing multinational," is trying to increase its U.S. presence beyond the toehold it's had here for the past six years. Its U.S. expansion program began last summer with the appointment of Trish O'Hare as president of NB, North America and publisher of Intercultural Press in Yarmouth, Maine. And on April 12, NB, North America opened its first office in Boston in the Sears Crescent Building.
"The office is a significant step in a global plan, and Boston with its many educational institutions and long publishing tradition is the right place. The level of investment is not inconsequential," said O'Hare, not only referring to the expense of leasing and furnishing the new office but also adding staff. The first new hires for the North America group are director of sales Chuck Dresner, who previously held sales and marketing positions at Harvard Business School Press, Random House and Applewood Books, and executive editor Erika Heilman, who was promoted from project manager.
Unlike many small and mid-sized U.K. publishers that, O'Hare says, "put all their book eggs in the trade basket," NB, North America has three imprints, which provide the company with entrée into different publishing channels. In addition to Intercultural Press, which concentrates on cross-cultural academic titles, there is Nicholas Brealey, which publishes trade titles such as John Whitmore's Coaching for Performance and James O'Loughlin's The Real Warren. Nicholas Brealey International publishes professional books.
"We have three solid channels to play on. This gives us a lot more flexibility to expand," said O'Hare, who will increase the number of titles published this year. Her goal is to release 35 to 40 books across all channels, up from 28 to 30 in recent years.
