Jonathan Ball Publishers has been publishing non-fiction titles in South Africa since the 1970s and they have been known to slaughter a couple of holy cows. One of their first well-known books was an exposé about the Broederbond, The Super-Afrikaners by Sunday Times journalists. The person responsible for publishing many other well-known authors for Jonathan Ball Publishers – including Redi Tlhabi, Van Zyl Slabbert and Sisonke Msimang – is Jeremy Boraine one of South Africa’s leading publishers. Boraine has been now been tasked to spearhead a new imprint for Icon Books in the United Kingdom, a post he will take up in April. Icon Books is an indie-British company that JBP acquired in March 2020. Boraine told BizNews about his plans to take the SA concept of ‘active publishing’ overseas. – Linda van Tilburg
Jonathan Ball Publishers plans for expansion
Jonathan Ball Publishers bought Icon Books around two years ago. In fact, during lockdown but the purchase took a while. The moment it was acquired by Jonathan Ball, we looked at synergies and its part in our growth plan for Jonathan Ball. About nine months ago, I was offered the opportunity to go and join the Icon team and launch a Jonathan Ball imprint [in London]. Icon Books was privately owned until we bought it and has been in existence for something like 20 or 25 years. So, it’s a well-established, albeit small, London-based publisher.
On the lookout for stories that would sell anywhere in the world
For those of you who know the Jonathan Ball imprint, I think we are best known for South African politics, current affairs, biographies. Although, by no means do we limit ourselves to that in taking the imprint to broaden out to the UK and beyond. I cannot simply publish the South African stories. There isn’t a commercial market globally for that. So, my brief is really to look for political, current affairs or biographical stories that are beyond South Africa. So, it may be English or, in fact, broader than that. I think something to understand about the Icon publishers is that 40% of what they publish is exported from the UK, so they have 60% domestic sales. They have a good footprint in the US and Europe, in Australasia. I’m really looking for books that might sell sort of anywhere in the world as opposed to South Africa. That said, I don’t want to let go of Jonathan Ball’s roots in Africa. I do want to acquire and publish some African stories as it were, perhaps history, biographies, current affairs … to retain something of that.
Taking the SA model of active commissioning to the UK
We do our own commissioning of books. We spend time thinking about what would be of interest to the markets; this last book worked, what about this or looking to see who might make a good, biography or unauthorised biography. We do a lot of active commissioning in our South African operation and I hope to bring some of that to the work I do in the UK. A big difference between the UK and South Africa is that the UK has plenty of literary agents, so in some respects, adding that extra dimension into the sandwich as it were. Literary agents spend a lot of time working with authors coming up with concepts. As an editor or publisher in the UK, you can simply work with agents and sign up books. I will have to do some of that but I also would like to take some of what I have learnt in the South African market, which is a far more active commissioning type of publishing. For example, war breaks out, Russia attacks Ukraine … there’s a global result to that and what might sell two years from now. You cannot publish a book tomorrow as you need to find an author, they have to write it, then you have to publish it. So, it is about [finding an idea that will still appeal] once the world has moved on in 18 months or two years.
Megabucks for bestsellers overseas, not quite here
With my move to the UK, I have been taking an increased interest in what sells in the UK and what I have found – and this is a general point – is that many books sell the same quantities here as they do in the UK. But obviously, bestsellers in the UK do far better. For example, [during the pandemic] sales dampened down and it’s quite difficult to sell a book; the sales quantities can be very similar. It is as small as 1,500, 2,000 or 2,500 copies here and in the UK. But as I said, something will take off and it will sell 10,000 or 15,000 copies a week in the UK, whereas here, it may get up to 1,000 copies a week. So, your bestseller opportunities there are so much better as it is a much bigger market.
Always on the search for the next bestseller
Well, that’s always the dream, isn’t it? I mean, every publisher needs to try and find a bestseller. Easier said than done but yes, one is always trying. The publishing model is you go out each year with a quiver full of books. I would argue that profitability depends on getting one or two bestsellers. If you don’t have them, it is quite hard to make budgets and be profitable. That is the ideal. Whether I will achieve that remains to be seen.
Jeremy’s favourite book and the joys of being a ‘midwife’
It is difficult. It’s like asking someone who their favourite child is because as a publisher, you grow attached to many authors, projects and books. It would be unfair to say, “Well, this was my favourite book.” I think with every book you publish, there are different reasons why you may enjoy working on it. In some, it might be the text, and some it may be because it sells so well. I think it’s sometimes about the relationships you form with authors over a long period. I have really enjoyed working with Jonny Steinberg and with Marc Gevisser. I’ve worked with Justice Malala, Margie Orford. There are all things that are in it for the long haul. I’ve really enjoyed being something of a midwife to at least some of their books. So, yeah, I can’t say there’s a single book that stands out.
Read also:
- South African Adventurer Peter van Kets – rowing the Atlantic (twice); racing to the South Pole. Why?
- Pravasan Pillay’s Chatsworth – a masterful reflection of South African Indian culture
- South African author Damon Galgut on winning prestigious Booker Prize
