You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Faber has launched an all-in-one digital service for independent publishers to compete directly with publishing technology companies.
Faber Factory will provide text digitisation, digital distribution, free storage and sales reporting. Eighteen UK publishers are signed up to the scheme which has been in development for months. The service will be offered to publishers worldwide post-Frankfurt, targeting the Anglophone world, and those publishing in Latin languages. Faber developed the distribution management system with publisher technology company Infogrid Pacific (IGP), which is based in India.
Stephen Page, c.e.o. and publisher at Faber, said: "Faber offers services to other leading independent publishers, so it is natural, given the digital skills we have recently developed, to offer these as a service to the community of independent publishing, and to create a business that enables our independent partners to reach a wide market digitally."
The publisher currently spearheads the Independent Alliance, the sales group with 10 leading UK indies, and has in the past few years launched a range of digital products and businesses.
Simon Blacklock, previously range director at Waterstone's and supply chain director at Ottakar's, will be joining Faber as head of Factory sales. He will be the only bespoke staff member working on the project, with sales and marketing director Will Atkinson and director of publishing services Nigel Marsh also part of the Factory team.
Atkinson said: "Just as the Independent Alliance did five years ago, Factory brings together a significant selection of independent publishers in one easily accessible place." Atkinson said that Faber's publishing experience was key. "Everything is done with a publisher's sensibility and priorities. We are in the industry, rather than being a software or hardware company that has alighted on books," he added.
The publishers currently signed up have a combined annual turnover of £50m. But when asked about the proportion of turnover that digital sales will represent, Blacklock said: "It is hard to predict. If we take the US as a guide, it was 3% last year, between 6%–8% this year, and next year the prediction is 10%, so there is significant growth. The UK is behind that curve but it would follow that scale of growth."
The full list of Faber Factory publishers is: Accent Press, Allison & Busby, Anthem Press, Aurum, Beautiful Books, Constable & Robinson, Crown House, Elliott & Thompson, Flare, Gallic, Gibson Square, Loose Chippings, Nick Hern, No Exit, Old Street, Quiller, Short Books and Templar.