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Paperback push for Quercus

29.04.08 Alison Flood

Quercus c.e.o. Mark Smith expects the independent publisher's growth to be driven by its paperback division over the next few years, as it aims to more than double turnover to £20m in three years.

Headed up by former Random House Group director of range sales Ron Beard, Quercus's paperback division is looking to develop its sales to the book chains and the supermarkets. "The economics of the industry mean the paperback will always make a higher gross margin than the first hardback edition. If we can crack into the mass market, paperbacks should contribute substantially to both our revenue and profit margins," said Smith, speaking after Quercus announced a 140% lift in sales to £8.6m in 2007, compared with £3.6m a year earlier. "We really see paperbacks as the engine of the company over the next few years," he added.

The paperback division will also oversee Quercus's plans to relaunch its illustrated list of non-fiction titles, originally created by its contract division, in smaller, less expensive formats for the trade. Quercus will publish eight titles in this format, priced at £12.99, this year, with plans to publish a further one or two titles a month going forwards.

Smith said he expected the paperback division to eventually account for a third of Quercus's sales, alongside its trade and contract publishing divisions.

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