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April 12 – April 15, 2010 Edition Penguin to Launch Global Business Book Imprint
London and New York/Authorlink News/April 12, 2010–Penguin is to launch a global business book imprint by rolling out its Portfolio imprint this autumn in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa. Portfolio is a market-leading business imprint in the US, and has expanded to India in the last few years.
Penguin Chairman and CEO John Makinson said: Business publishing is increasingly global in reach, and in Portfolio we have one of the worlds strongest and fastest-growing business book imprints. So we are delighted to launch Portfolio Penguin in the UK and our other major English language markets this year. It will enable us to develop authors and serve the demands of readers both locally and globally, across all print and digital formats.
Penguin is already the largest trade business book publisher in many of these English-language markets, including the UK, with bestselling authors such as Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers), Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Black Swan) and Levitt & Dubner (SuperFreakonomics) published on its Allen Lane list. The business books sector has proved to be resilient in the face of economic uncertainty, with UK sales up 10% in 2009 (Nielsen BookScan) as people turned to books for explanations of unprecedented economic events. This upward trend is reflected around the world, fuelled by the internet and the growth of English as the language of business.
In the UK, the Portfolio Penguin list will be headed up by Joel Rickett, who will also continue his role as Editorial Director of Viking. He said: Business is now front-page news, and the best business books are picked up by everyone. Readers demand books that really deliver and help them get ahead. Were delighted to be taking Portfolio to the world, collaborating on publicity, marketing, events and digital publishing. Together well build a global business list thats stronger than the sum of its parts.
Portfolio founder & Publisher Adrian Zackheim added: With the addition of the Portfolio Penguin international imprint, we will be able to greatly expand our worldwide offerings in the business category, while complementing the business book publishing activities of other Penguin imprints. The result, we hope, will be to develop the careers of many more writers, and to establish a much bigger footprint for Penguin in the business sections of bookstores throughout the English speaking worldand to offer writers a unique opportunity to reach a global audience.
Portfolio Penguin will encompass topical narrative non-fiction and books on leadership, careers, finance, sales, marketing and life skills. It will launch with five titles in the autumn, growing to around 20 new books a year by 2012, all available in print and digital formats across the UK & Commonwealth, as well as many other markets. While the majority of the books will be acquired and published simultaneously with Portfolio in the US, the new imprint will also become a platform for UK business books, and for local business titles in Penguins main markets around the world: Australia & New Zealand, India, South Africa, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Penguin has recruited a dedicated Communications Manager, based in London, to create national and global publicity and marketing campaigns. Richard Lennon is currently sales director for Dow Jones Consumer Media, where he works on titles including The Wall Street Journal Europe, Financial News and Wealth Bulletin; he joins Penguin on 12th April.
The lead Portfolio Penguin launch titles will be:
Getting More: How You Can Negotiate to Succeed in Work & Life Stuart Diamond (September) A jargon-free, practical, inspirational guide to negotiating. Stuart Diamond teaches the most popular course at the worlds top business school Wharton, he advises Google and governments on conflict resolution, and he is the man who settled the Hollywood Writers Strike.
Secrets of the MoneyLab: Profiting From The New Frontiers Of Psychology And Economics Kay Yut-Chen and Marina Krakovsky (October) You loved Freakonomics, Blink and The Black Swan; this book shows you how to take those ideas and make money out of them. Kay Yut-Chen is the chief experimental economist at Hewlett Packard.
Get the Job You Really Want James Caan (January 2011) How to land your perfect job by the Dragons Den star who made his fortune in recruitment consultancy.
The Personal MBA: A World-Class Business Education in a Single Volume Josh Kaufman (February 2011) This book, which began life as a blog, distils the essence of an MBA into a few hours reading.
The other launch titles are: Hacking Work: Breaking Stupid Rules for Smart Results by Bill Jensen and Josh Klein (October 2010), Islands of Profit in a Sea of Red Ink: Why 40% of Your Business is Unprofitable and How To Fix It by Jonathan Byrnes (November 2010), and The Wisdom of Bees: What the Hive Can Teach Business About Leadership, Efficiency and Growth by Michael OMalley (November 2010).
Portfolio Penguin bestsellers available in paperback on launch will include: What They Teach You At Harvard Business School by Philip Delves Broughton, The Greatest Trade Ever by Gregory Zuckerman, The Go-Giver and Go-Givers Sell More by Bob Burg and John David Mann, Madoff by Erin Arvedlund, and Seth Godins two classics Purple Cow and Small Is The New Big.
About Portfolio:
Portfolio was founded by Publisher Adrian Zackheim in 2001 as a dedicated business book imprint within Penguin US. It publishes distinctive books in the fields of management, leadership, marketing, business narrative, investing, personal finance, economics, technology, and career advice. The imprint has grown to around 45 new hardcover titles a year, along with around 20 paperbacks.
