Publishers and booksellers in Jamaica got a rare chance to interact with representatives from the finance and investment community during a business session organized as part of the Kingston Book Festival.
Billed “The Business of Books: Business and Investment Opportunities in The Jamaican Book Industry” the session was co-hosted by the Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ), Jamaica Trade and Invest (JAMPRO) and CaribLit at the JAMPRO offices on Thursday, March 8.
“We realize that many decision makers in the finance and business community don’t understand the business side of the book industry,” said BIAJ Promotions Director, Tanya Batson Savage. “The goal of today’s session was to bring everybody to the table -- explain how the book industry works, how money is made and to talk about opportunities that we’re missing because of access to capital.”
Batson Savage and fellow BIAJ Directors Frank McGibbon and Kellie Magnus (CaribLit Coordinator) presented an overview of the global publishing industry and a detailed breakdown of the Jamaican industry, looking at the number of local publishers and booksellers as well as challenges facing local companies. Key among these were access to capital, high operating costs, inconsistent editorial quality and marketing and distribution support.
Billed “The Business of Books: Business and Investment Opportunities in The Jamaican Book Industry” the session was co-hosted by the Book Industry Association of Jamaica (BIAJ), Jamaica Trade and Invest (JAMPRO) and CaribLit at the JAMPRO offices on Thursday, March 8.
“We realize that many decision makers in the finance and business community don’t understand the business side of the book industry,” said BIAJ Promotions Director, Tanya Batson Savage. “The goal of today’s session was to bring everybody to the table -- explain how the book industry works, how money is made and to talk about opportunities that we’re missing because of access to capital.”
Batson Savage and fellow BIAJ Directors Frank McGibbon and Kellie Magnus (CaribLit Coordinator) presented an overview of the global publishing industry and a detailed breakdown of the Jamaican industry, looking at the number of local publishers and booksellers as well as challenges facing local companies. Key among these were access to capital, high operating costs, inconsistent editorial quality and marketing and distribution support.
Ian Randle Publishers’ Christine Randle Wray.
The BIAJ presented a range of potential models for private sector partnership with the local book industry bulk purchases for donations of books, commissioned works, customized publications (including business memoirs and publications based on the content generated by local companies) and joint marketing campaigns.
The association plans to hold follow up meetings with representatives from the participating agencies, including Jamaica’s ExIm Bank and the Jamaican Business Development Corporation to forge more collaboration between the publishing and finance communities.
See related story in the Jamaica Observer; download the full BIAJ presentation.
The association plans to hold follow up meetings with representatives from the participating agencies, including Jamaica’s ExIm Bank and the Jamaican Business Development Corporation to forge more collaboration between the publishing and finance communities.
See related story in the Jamaica Observer; download the full BIAJ presentation.
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