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A little over two years ago, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP)—the social and behavioural sciences publisher, with a distinctive voice in the fields of autism and gender diversity—was acquired by Hachette and became an imprint of John Murray Press (JMP), after being independent for three decades.
A little over two years ago, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (JKP)—the social and behavioural sciences publisher, with a distinctive voice in the fields of autism and gender diversity—was acquired by Hachette and became an imprint of John Murray Press (JMP), after being independent for three decades. JKP remains in its Islington office, rather than merging into Carmelite House, but high-profile founder Jessica Kingsley has retired and Sanphy Thomas is now the imprint’s m.d., brought in from a lead marketing role at SAGE some 14 months ago.
The inevitable disruptions of the transition into corporate publishing haven’t held JKP back; 2019 was its best ever year, hitting £7.3m in global sales, according to its own figures, with Nielsen’s TCM results showing increases of 8% in both volume and value. Thomas said the continued strong performance is a testament to the “passionate, engaged workforce” of its 35 UK and six US staff, who kept their focus throughout the transition period, as well as being a testament to the inherent strengths of the list. “JKP is so well-known in the communities that we serve, and 80% of our business is the backlist,” she notes. Titles including The A-Z of Therapeutic Parenting by Sarah Naish, first published in 2018, and Starving the Anxiety Gremlin by Katie Collins-Donnelly, a therapy workbook book for children which dates back to 2014, were both bestsellers last year.
Inevitably, Thomas and JMP m.d. Nick Davies have looked to make changes. Brand-wise, there’s a spruced-up version of the original logo, and a formalised mission statement, since now that Kingsley herself is no longer there, it’s important staff old and new understand JKP’s essential values. Its mission is to “empower individuals to change society through information and knowledge”, its vision “to create social justice through words and ideas that celebrate diversity and equality for all”. Key to the thinking is the creation of “positive perspectives on difference”, and that “everyone’s ideas are worth hearing”. Thomas points out how relevant JKP’s core values are to the emphasis on diversity and inclusion which is currently such a high-profile concern at Hachette, as well as elsewhere. “Our books always have a positive narrative. It’s not about autism as a challenge, it’s about autism as a strength, about empowering individuals. We’ve been doing diversity and inclusion since Jessica founded the company 30-odd years ago, it’s part of our DNA, so it’s really important to us.”
Seizing the initiative
Without Kingsley at the helm making the editorial decisions, staff have been encouraged to take more initiative, and to take it much more widely, within the imprint; they have “really stepped up to it”, Thomas says. She has created more ownership of individual lists, promoting three senior staff to editorial director level with specific areas of responsibility: Stephen Jones is in charge of mental health, counselling and health and social care; Lisa Clark oversees autism and neurodiversity; and in January Andrew James was put in charge of the gender list. James will also take on a remit for product innovation, looking at “content beyond the book”—Thomas suggests we are likely to see more from JKP in terms of author events. But the frontlist has been quite heavily pruned, down from around 300 to around 200 new books a year. “We are trying to be a bit more selective about the sort of titles that we do publish: belonging to a corporate publishing house, you have to be a lot more mindful about taking risks. We have to be a bit more strategic,” Thomas says.
As the fields of mental health, autism and transgender identity become ever more part of the mainstream, Thomas accepts that trade publishers are increasingly straying into areas which were previously the province of specialist houses. “We’re already seeing this,” she says. “But why we’re not worried, why we feel there will always be a need for our sort of publishing, is that the books that parents buy tend to be those recommended by professionals, so the practitioner market remains really important. And future developments will be about finding new communities who don’t have much of a voice at the moment, and giving them a platform. These new communities tend to form at the fringes of existing communities: if you look at our gender diversity list, that came out of our autism publishing, because a lot of gender-diverse people are also autistic. So because our editors and marketing people are immersed in those communities, they are very in tune with what is being talked about, and have a feel for what might be the next new area.” She adds: “We are not just about riding the wave, we are in it for the long-term—and those relationships we have with our communities are so important.”
The field of neurodiversity is complex, including the elements of dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyspraxia. JKP plans to look further into each, Thomas says. When it comes to publishing in areas that can attract controversy—such as the recent headlines around puberty-blocking medical intervention for children and young people—Thomas says JKP’s publishing “has always been about foregrounding the voices and experiences of trans people, and providing access for trans people—as well as their families and the professionals working with them—to the support and guidance they need to make the choices that work best for them... Trans people are some of the most at-risk individuals in society, and we feel it’s important to give them access to the support they need, rather than getting caught up in sensational headlines.”
Thomas has recently been made director of a “professional hub” which caters to John Murray Press as a whole, which means the JKP marketing team will oversee campaign planning across JMP’s other specialist areas of publishing: John Murray Learning, Nicholas Brealey, Sheldon Press and Hodder Faith. JKP is expanding its marketing operation for the purpose, with Tamara Navaratnam newly appointed from SAGE as head of professional marketing. An additional marketing assistant post has also been created.
Meanwhile, in a reciprocal move, publicist Charlotte Hutchinson from JMP’s “trade hub” in Carmelite House will handle PR campaigns for those JKP titles with the potential to garner media coverage outside the specialist press—one such example being the upcoming The Spectrum Girl’s Survival Guide by teenage neurodiversity advocate Siena Castellon, out in March. The trade treatment will not usually extend to the discount levels offered on the books however, Thomas confirms.
“John Murray Press tripled its sales in the past seven years, and as it had this phenomenal growth it was clear that there were two emerging types of publishing. So the hubs were created to maximise the potential of those two different products,” she explains. “[Previously] business books, Bibles and language books were being treated with a trade mindset, which worked to some extent; but in order to really give them the best chance they have, you need a professional or specialist market mindset. The skill-set within JKP is of talking directly to consumers, understanding their needs, and communicating in a way that resonates with them.
Davies sought someone with specialist marketing experience when he hired Kingsley’s replacement. Thomas says: “He was prepared to hire me with no editorial background—although of course, I had worked closely with editors on list development and strategy. I thought that was incredibly progressive, because one of the things I feel passionately about is that in many publishing houses it is the editors who are the ones out there talking to the market, and yet they are not given much training in business thinking, whereas a lot of people I have worked with in marketing teams have a Chartered Institute of Marketing or Institute of Data & Marketing qualification, so they are thinking about the business environment and strategy. What I bring is the ability to look at what is required of a business, and fulfilling market needs.”