The Pound Weighs Heavily in London
By Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 4/14/2008 9:03:00 AM
The high cost of doing business was the early topic of conversation at this year’s London Book Fair as Americans were confronted with $100 cab rides in from the airport, $25 lunch bills and $10 cups of coffee. The weak dollar also had an impact on the cost of exhibiting. Janet Fritsch, president of the American Collective Stand, said exhibiting expenses were up about 5% this year, with half due to the decline of the dollar and the other half due to higher prices.
On the deal front, agents were divided on the best way to approach the currency issue. Trident president Robert Gottlieb said that his agency now sells foreign rights in pounds or euros only. As Trident foreign rights director Lara Allen explains it, “deals in pounds are very beneficial,” particularly in terms of authors’ royalties. The skyrocketing GBP is having a ripple effect in this regard even on foreign deals a few years old; today’s payout from a British publisher to an American author is worth that much more.
For that reason, foreign publishers may find a deal done in dollars more enticing at the moment. This is the thinking behind the Park Literary Group’s recently adopted policy on selling foreign rights. This year, generally, unless an author feels differently, “we’re happy to do it in dollars,” says foreign rights director Abigail Koons. “Publishers feel they’re getting a deal.”
All of this may be a moot point, however, given what many say is a rough time for British publishing. “They’re not buying as much generally,” said Brian DeFiore of DeFiore & Co., who suggested the question of exchange rate might be more relevant in healthier foreign markets.
Mark Suchomel, head of Trafalgar Square which distributes U.K. publishers in America, said that while pricing has become more complicated, Trafalgar has benefited from the low dollar. Some U.K. publishers who are unwilling to sell rights at low prices are opting instead to have the books distributed in the states by Trafalgar. The company has not signed new clients, but has added more titles.
