By Charline Maher, Public Relations, Corwin Press
Editor Robin Najar speaks at the meeting
Over two hot, dusty days in August, the Sales, Marketing, and Editorial teams at Corwin gathered at the Westlake Village Inn to discuss what the future of professional K-12 publishing looks like. The theme of the meeting was “publishing beyond the book.”
Corwin’s core strength has always been in connecting authors who have great ideas to school districts in need of solutions. In the past, the mode of communicating those ideas was in the form of a book. Today, books are still at the center of what we do, but schools and publishing technology have evolved, and so has Corwin.
With our new focus on multimodal publishing and professional development services, our sales managers are able to offer school districts not just books, but also digital collections, online courses, author workshops, institutes, and webinars. Instead of one-off sales, we are focusing on long-term involvement and a comprehensive suite of products.
“Our goal is to move from being a publisher of books to being a true partner with school districts on their professional development initiatives,” says Mike Soules, President.
This summer saw the launch of several new Learning products, including Read 2 Earn, the Cultural Proficiency Institute in August, a new eStudy course for the best-selling book Failure Is Not an Option by Alan M. Blankstein in September, and the Common Core Institute in mid-October. Other products scheduled to launch this year include eLibrary—which is currently in beta testing—and a new consulting service with Corwin authors.
“Now that these products are available, we will be able to offer larger, more dynamic bundles of products and services to fit our customers’ needs,” says Elena Nikitina, Executive Director of Marketing. “Our focus on publishing beyond the book enables us to have deeper involvement with our customers and become more invested in their success.”
Under the traditional publishing model, Corwin’s interactions with a school district ended with the sale of the book. Today, we can begin to move from a transactional relationship to a long-term, consultative one.
These new ventures in publishing represent a significant shift from traditional professional K-12 publishing to publishing and related services that are nimble, multi-faceted, and customizable. Corwin’s success will depend on the success of our customers. Ultimately, this will bring us closer to our founding mission of helping educators do their work better.
