WHO ARE WE?
Murdoch Books is an independent, international book publishing company, under private Australian ownership.
We have traditionally published high quality, predominantly illustrated non fiction, in the Leisure/Lifestyle categories, particularly Cooking, DIY, Gardening and Craft. More recently we have been extending our range to include other lifestyle categories such as health. The successful launch and development of our Pier 9 imprint will herald further growth in the general narrative non-fiction area.
Although based in Australia, with a strong presence in our specialist categories in this market, we are an international publishing company. We have our own sales and marketing operation in the UK, two rights sales people handling the European market, who work from that office, and a number of agents and sales people working throughout the USA and Asia. Some 65% of the company's turnover is generated from these international sales.
THE TEAM
Kay Scarlett is the Publisher and heads up a team of highly skilled editors and designers, some of whom work permanently in-house, supplemented by a diverse group of talented freelancers. With food being a particular area of strength, we have our own test kitchens on site and every recipe in every book is double tested in these kitchens.
Amanda Roberts is the Sales Director for the books business, both domestically and internationally. She has wide experience in illustrated publishing, both in Australia and New Zealand, and the USA and UK, and is able to coordinate international sales throughout the world, allowing Murdoch Books to benefit from the economies of scale of large print runs, and to therefore price the list very competitively.
Andrew Leake, Commercial Director, is responsible for our production, distribution, finance and general administration areas of the company. He is skilled in the areas of strategic analysis and supports the company with financial analysis, strategic planning, contractual and other issues.
As the CEO of Murdoch Books, I have had 20 years experience in book publishing, covering most categories including fiction, non-fiction and illustrated publishing.
HOW DO WE WORK?
With a skilled in-house design and editorial team, Murdoch Books is in a unique position to work closely with our authors, to produce a book that captures their vision. We are able to work quickly to develop a concept, in consultation with our authors, and the team are very flexible and open in the way in which they develop a book. This is only possible because, unlike most traditional trade publishers, our authors can work directly with the creative team, avoiding delays and other problems which can arise in a more distant working relationship.
Our sales and marketing team are well trained and very experienced, with good relationships with the key accounts. As a result, Murdoch Books is a very significant non-fiction supplier to both the traditional and non-traditional outlets.
Every book that our sales team handle is a Murdoch book, produced from this office. As a result, they are very involved in the publishing process from the earliest stages and are able to bring a level of focus to the titles that is not possible in a larger, more varied publishing programme.
MURDOCH BOOKS' ACHIEVEMENTS
Murdoch Books offers an alternative to other large, multi national publishing groups, having many of the advantages of these companies, without the issues of size and overseas ownership that can complicate the publishing process.
- Murdoch Books is International with a proven record of successful co-edition publishing worldwide.
- Murdoch Books is the Number 1 Publisher in the Food and Drink category in Australia and the 6th largest publisher in this same category in the UK.
- The books are translated into more than 20 languages throughout the world.
- All books are produced by the creative team in Sydney, providing the opportunity for a flexible and involved publishing relationship for authors.
- The list is focused and high quality, and as such attracts a strong in-store presence in both the UK and Australia.
- Murdoch Books is a category leader in the areas of publishing which are its speciality, which further attracts strong retailer support.
- We are selective in the books that we publish, to ensure that we are able to deliver the maximum benefit to our authors.
- Our food titles are renowned for their accessibility and reliability, made possible by the commitment to testing every recipe that we publish on site.
- This same emphasis on quality of content is applied to the other categories on our list, to ensure that the information given is accurate and easily followed.
Juliet Rogers
CEO
Murdoch Books
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