How Publishers work with Learned Societies Sue Corbett Managing Director, Medicine, Wiley- Blackwell October 2007

What societies look for in a publisher Electronic publishing Sales and marketing Financial return Quality and reputation of the publisher’s other titles Production quality and publication times Scholarship-friendly publishing Flexibility and responsiveness to their individual needs All of which will, they hope, maximise the journal’s long-term asset value

Electronic publishing Publishers compete on specific capabilities but not all are used and most platforms are broadly comparable Some societies want two platforms Most societies are as keen as publishers to have backfiles available Some publishers are more effective than others in driving revenue, usage and impact

Sales and marketing Societies don’t understand today’s library market or sales models Some publishers make more effort than others to educate and explain Some societies worry more about the loss of fullrate subscriptions than about extending reach and readership Marketing nowadays is about readership as much as sales

Financial return Societies see financial return as an easy measure of success but don’t always pick the highest bidder Societies are increasingly risk-averse and some worry about the total collapse of the market Publishers differ substantially in how they allocate and report revenue and circulation to society clients

The publisher’s quality/reputation Societies like publishers to have top-ranked titles as long as they don’t compete with their own Publishers can provide better marketing and journal development if they have subject strength Track record with other societies matters The publisher’s reputation with libraries doesn’t always matter as much as it should

Production quality and publication times Societies often understand the needs of authors better than those of customers Publishers vary considerably in the quality, speed and cost of the production services they offer Almost all publishers now provide author services such as online submission

Scholarship-friendly publishing Societies want scholarship-friendly publishing but are no longer sure how to define it

Wiley-Blackwell – the marriage of a sales and a service culture Society publishing is a core activity We treat it as a service industry –through flexibility, responsiveness, leaving clients in control We aim for maximum transparency in subscriptions analysis and reporting –to help educate clients about market changes We have a top tier institutional sales team and marketing database –to expand their sales reach and readership

And…. We are improving service to authors –by increasing the speed and lowering the cost of production We are committed to protecting scholarship –Setting standards for the management of peer review and publishing ethics We publicly defend the role of the society

Wiley-Blackwell’s goal 2007: 800 society partnerships 2009: 800+ of the best educated societies in the world