An Introductory Word of Welcome
We were thinking that maybe you are a bit curious, otherwise you wouldn’t have landed on this page. So, on this assumption, we would not only like to simply present ourselves but also, at the same time, to give you a little insight into what each of us individually does in the publishing house. And since we guess you might also be interested to know how books are actually made, we thought, while we’re at it, we’ll cover that subject, too.
Product Management "Non-Book"
As you might have already noticed, our portfolio is not just made up of books, but also includes a wide range of gift articles and toys, to name but a few; in trade, we refer to such items as "non-books".
In order to be able to keep on top of things here at our publishing house, we have split the product management section into three segments, all of which correspond to our catalogues.
Maren Paul, Nicola Schlicker, Daniela Schönkes-Pasch and Jule Caniels are in a very fortune position. Why? Well, they have the opportunity to spend eyery single working day with fun things for kids. Whether it's books, magnifying cups or bread boards - it is original ideas, great design und funny characters that make our products and books "For Younger Readers" so unique and successful.
Product Management Nonbook
But books and gifts for children are not our only stock in trade, in fact, we have a wide range of gift articles and stationary products.
In the jargon of the trade, these are referred to as “non-books“. Kerstin, Börgers, Britta Inhestern, Clarissa Flender and Julia Rateike take care of this field. In fact, the work is a piece of cake. It just means zooming around the world, visiting trade fairs, chatting with product designers and finally arranging for the production of a few nice little items by over a 100 different suppliers worldwide. Meanwhile, there’s a bit of coordination to be done here and there in order to make sure that the correct amounts are delivered, in the right colours at the right time and with the right quality to the right place. Of course, the team can hardly contain its delight when the Indian truck that is supposed to transport our wonderfully colourful and exotic key-ring pendants has landed somewhere in a ditch. Or when the boss, 2 minutes before production is due to start, suddenly decides that he would like to have the script on the packaging 2 mm larger. Oh well, they say a little stress is good for the health.
Product Management "Non-Book"
Let’s start off with an exception: The authors who write the books don’t work in the publishing house at all. Neither do the persons who illustrate the books and take the photos. These are freelancers, sitting at home in their lonely chambers, staring at blank sheets of paper and chewing their pencils. Occasionally, someone in the publishing house gets an idea for a book or a game. Then we ask an author to write it for us. Other times, an author approaches the publishing house with an idea. Then we receive a manuscript, complete with photos or illustrations and thus, so to speak, we have the raw material for a bookor a game. Tanja Mues, Anne Rummenie, Maja Kuss, Ann-Marie Hergenröder and Nina Sadler as copy editors, are responsible for the book and ganes programme of the publishing house. Our copy editors, however, are called product managers because, over and above the classical job of editing, they are also responsible for the design of the book or game cover, the selection of illustrations or photographs, the contracts, monitoring the market and a thousand other things.
Manufacturing
So now let’s assume we have a Word file with the author’s text and – let’s say – a CD with photos or illustrations. This doesn’t look much like a book yet. Now the bell tolls for Jessica Stöhr, Rico Günther, Hildegard Weckmann and Linda Dörk. Being responsible for product manufacturing, they know a number of industrious layouters, adept at compiling the two elements on one page or, of course, on the many pages of a book. They then send the result to a printer, who then finally makes a complete book out of it. And because our colleagues are also responsible to make sure that the whole thing is worth the effort, they calculate and haggle over prices until the right figures come out under the bottom line.
Advertising / The Press
When, eventually, the books are finally printed and are lying in our warehouse, we are proud as punch over the result but, unfortunately, you, as our potential customer, are completely oblivious of all this. This is not on, of course. That is why we inform you via the internet, attend trade fairs, print catalogues, insert advertisements and do a good many other things. We call this, somewhat exaggeratedly, “Marketing”, for which Friederike Wehse, Sarah Nühlen and Anna Beckmann are responsible. And just to keep them from being bored, we publish two new catalogues each year. Since catalogues are not much different from books, we know what we’re about in this respect. Photos and texts relating to a couple of hundred items are compiled so expertly that … Well, you already know all about that, don’t you?
And when they`re not in the middle of working on a new catalogue, they take care of our press and public relations. This means they inform all the journalists working for newspapers, magazines, radio and television about our fantastic books. The journalists see these reports and print articles about them. (If only it were as easy as that!) So, if you should read an article about us in the newspaper in the near future, you can be sure that Mrs. Wehse, Mrs. Nühlen and Mrs. Beckmann are behind it.
Sales and Distribution
So now our warehouse is full and the catalogues have been printed. But, alas, our customers don’t automatically start beating at our door, instead we have to offer our products on the market. Of course, at the end of the day, you are our customers, but meanwhile there are, naturally, the bookstores, toyshops, museum shops and a host of others. To these we chase out our sales representatives, our sales manager Till Zander, his sales assistance Tina Mönchhalfen, Kirsten Hendricks and Lisa Tewordt. They really have a thankless task, for when the sales are booming, everyone says that our excellent books are selling themselves, but when the sales aren’t so super, it’s their fault, of course! Fortunately, however, our sales are actually such that they always manage to escape unscathed. Therefore, if you are one of our customers and we can do anything for you – Mr. Zander, Mrs. Mönchhalfen. Mrs. Hendricks and Mrs. Tewordt would be very happy to take your call.
Order Processing
Assuming that, so far, we have pressed all the right buttons and pulled all the right strings, mountains of orders now start tumbling in. Much to the delight of Andrea Gieb-Athanasopoulos and Carole Müller who are, namely, responsible for processing our orders, printing invoices and also making sure that the money comes in. You’d like to place an order by phone? Then these three ladies are the ones to speak to. If you are not a bookshop and would like to place an order online, then your order will land on the desk of Regina Bildstein and Brigitte Simonsen. They look after all private customers. Regina Bildstein also looks after the direct sales from stock. That's why we call her the mother of the bargain sales department.
General Office Administration
Andrea Kron and Lara Räthel are responsible for a huge range of tasks: From “A” administrating the filing system, ordering notepaper, etc. to “Z”, and including everything in between. On top of this, they deal with the mail, the cash account, the payment of travel expenses, the telephone switchboard and everything commonly referred to as “general office administration”. No-one knows exactly what this entails, but if it doesn't work, the whole house crumbles. Thank you Andrea! Thank you Lara!
Accounts Department
At the end of each day, we all clear our desks. Then we chuck any bit of paper with a number on it onto the desk of Dagmar Stadler, Iris Janssen and Anna Schneider who then has to check whether everything has been properly booked. You remember: cash to inventory and such like! After all, someone has to keep the overview.
Warehouse
Order is half the battle! That is the motto of the warehouse and dispatch department. But, of course, order is not an end in itself. It just makes it possible to ensure that our direct customers may count on the reliable and prompt delivery of their orders. This is taken care of under the leadership of Gabriele Gräser by: Sabine Strombach, Elisabeth Beser, Evelyn Dokowicz, David Toch, Jutta Ketelaers, Heike Louven, Alexander Borger, Konstantin Borger and Monika Baum. Here in our warehouse, we receive not only books but, of course, all the other products in our range, which come from all corners of the earth.
This means maintaining order amid the chaos! Unpacking, packing, re-packing, packing displays. And, naturally, the customers’ orders have to be dispatched - so make it snappy! No problem. This tough team has everything under control!
The Management
Gerd Herterich and Achim Tebartz are the two partners of the publishing house. They belong to the small tolerated minority of men in the company. And because men, even at an advanced age, are still children, they are highly suitable for the job of running a publishing house for children’s books. Apart from that, the two of them need to have broad shoulders because that is where the overall responsibility must rest. As managing director of the publishing house, Gerd Herterich, always on the lookout for new, promising ideas and developing innovative products, makes sure that we don’t come to a standstill. For it is only when we ourselves draw pleasure from our books and products that we can be sure our assortment will give pleasure to others. And we are only satisfied when you, as our customers, are satisfied, too.
Rights / Licences
Have you read the novel „Den femte kvinann“? No? But perhaps you know the “The Fifth Woman” by Henning Mankell? This is the English title of the novel. And as you are not able to read the original – due to your somewhat awkward Swedish –, a British publishing house has acquired the rights from the Swedish publisher, has had the text translated and has brought it to the market. This way of doing things doesn’t just apply to novels, it also works for non-fiction books – and even for children’s books. Consequently, we can sell the publishing rights to successful books in foreign countries. This is one of the reasons why, for instance, our book “365 Experiments for Every Day” is available even in China, Korea, Greece and many other countries – in their respective languages of course.If you now wish to acquire – let’s say the rights for Papua New Guinea, please do not hesitate to contact Julia Bösing-Rensmann, our foreign rights expert. She would be only too happy to make you a competitive offer.