As a veteran business publisher, I’ve seen my share of ups and downs, booms and busts. The deepening shadow of the current economic crisis promises unprecedented difficulty for all businesses, including ours, in 2009.
But now I’m taking a moment to savor the extraordinary achievement of our brilliant authors, and our hardworking staff, to make an unprecedented success of 2008, in the teeth of a deepening recession.
Despite reduced store traffic through the year, Portfolio reported topline sales growth of 22% and gross margin growth of more than 50%. Nearly half of our new titles achieved margin target in the year of publication. We placed two books on the printed New York Times bestseller list, and several more on the extended Times list, the Wall Street Journal list, the BusinessWeek list, and other bestseller compilations.
Among the highlights of our year:
- Free Lunch by David Cay Johnston, January, five weeks on the Times bestseller list.
- The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann, January, sales approaching 100,000 [93,298 in print] and translation rights placed in 16 countries. WSJ and BW lists.
- The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam, March, cited by Amazon.com (#5 of the Top 10 Books 2008: Business and Investing), by BusinessWeek as the Best innovation & design book of 2008, Fast Company’s Best Business Books of 2008, and many others.
- The Ten Commandments for Business Failure by Donald Keough, the legendary former President of Coca Cola, July, one week on the New York Times bestseller list, translation rights sold in 20 markets.
- The World is Curved by David M. Smick, September, 6 weeks on the New York Times extended list, translation rights sold in 10 countries.
- It’s Not About the Coffee by Howard Behar with Janet Goldstein, January, 0ver 40,000 shipped, 10 translation rights sold.
- Reality Check by Guy Kawasaki, a new compendium of killer advice from the original apple evangelist, Time, “This tome is obviously not intended for a sitting; rather, dip in and out as the subjects move you. Kawasaki more than meets his stated goal of providing ‘hardcore information to hardcore people who want to kick ass.’ ” translations sold in 5 countries.
- Tribes by Seth Godin, October, sales of 100,000+ and translations sold in 13 countries. A breakout from the master that’s both a marketing primer and a leadership manual. #11 on the NYT Advice/How-To List.
- Inside Steve’s Brain by Leander Kahney, April. Wired editor Kahney gets inside the managerial mind of the mad genius behind Apple and Pixar. The book appeared on the New York Times extended list and was named one of USA Today’s Best Business Books of 2008, where it was lauded as “a rich, essential read for (fans) to get inside Jobs’ head and discover what makes Apple insanely great.” In 2009-2010 you will see many more installments in this series including Inside Rupert’s Brain, Inside Larry and Sergey’s Brain, Inside Bill’s Brain, and Inside Barack’s Brain.
- Talent is Overrated by Fortune Senior Editor at large Geoff Colvin, a surprise hit in October, with sales [gross 54,751] 68,355 in print, and translations placed in 6 markets so far. A BusinessWeek and WSJ Bestseller, also on the NYT extended list. “Excellent”—The Wall Street Journal, “Provocative”—Time, “Colvin convincingly argues that top performers in business as well as in sports, in science, and in the arts owe their success to the intense practice of key skills rather than to some unique genius.”—Newsweek, “Talent is Overrated, a provocative title for a fascinating book.”—Charlie Rose.
- Billion Dollar Lessons by Paul B. Carroll and Chunka Mui, September, The Globe and Mail’s Best Business Book of 2008 and one of Inc. magazine’s Best Books for Business Owners. Five translations already sold.
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