1. The Changing Role of Editors:
From Acquiring Books to Assembling
Digital Asset Portfolios
Bruce Shaw
President & Publisher
Adam Salomone
Director of Digital Initiatives

2. Some Quick Background
• The Harvard Common Press
– Founded in 1976 in Harvard, MA
– Bought by Bruce Shaw in 1981
– Primary focus on cookbooks and pregnancy guides
• Highly focused niches
– Expansion to digital both with ebooks and beyond

3. Our Traditional Publishing Program
• The linear book
– Flow from editorial to production to marketing
• Each bringing unique expertise to the process
– Each title as an individual product
– Focus on front-list vs back-list
• Digital has become the next step in this chain,
but still an offshoot of the process

4. Rethinking Content Acquisition…
• No longer about each book
– Breaking down walls between front and back-list
– Focusing instead on each of our verticals
• Understanding what content we have access to
• How does what we acquire strengthen our database of
content as a whole?
• Knowledge base of individual team members expands
beyond departments
– While individual sales potential is a key factor, much
more about how we are enhancing our content
portfolio

5. …And Author Acquisition
• Not only rethinking the books we acquire, but
also the authors
– Not enough to have a manuscript in hand
• Authors have to have a new understanding of content
– Ranging from videos, photos and audio and beyond
– Trying to get as much as possible supplied by authors
– And reworking contracts to allow for repackaging and reuse
• And platform building on social media sites and blogs
– More than just about building a brand, also about creating
ancillary content from current events and conversations

6. Putting Assets to Work
• After you’ve identified the core assets of the
company, what do you do with them?
– Repackaging as new products
• Either internally or through a consumer facing portal
• Websites
• Apps
– Developing new marketing and distribution
channels with partner companies
• Cornerstone of our success at HCP

7. Assembling Digital Portfolios
• We’ve identified emerging companies within our verticals
who have an interest in our content
– Completely new way to reach consumers outside of our
books/ebooks
• On the parenting side:
– BabyCD
• Tangible giveaway to expectant moms with content from our books
– Independent pregnancy platform
• Consumer-facing pregnancy website
• On the cooking side:
– Yummly
• Platform for intelligent recipe search
• Vision to become a premium content platform for cookbooks

8. Why This is the Point of No Return
• A deeper content understanding is needed to
maximize backlist potential
– Beyond editorial - company-wide, requires a
rethinking of traditional roles
• Includes the author – contributing content, building
platforms, identifying areas for business dev
• Allows publisher greater flexibility, but
requires investment in management resources
and distribution systems

9. Thank you!
The Harvard Common Press
www.harvardcommonpress.com
Bruce Shaw
@bruceshaw
linkedin.com/in/bpshaw
Adam Salomone
@adamsalomone
linkedin.com/in/asalomone