Interview With Dawn Bruno
Founder of the Global
Publishing Team, Senior International Trade Specialist, New York City
U.S. Export Assistance Center
1.
Dawn,
what does the US Commercial Service Global Publishing, Media and Entertainment
Team, a division of US Department of Commerce, do? The U.S Department of Commerce’s Global
Publishing, Media and Entertainment Team provides export assistance to the
publishing, printing, and media industries. We help U.S. publishers sell
rights or titles overseas, identify qualified international partners, access
market information and navigate challenges, like intellectual property
protection. Our team consists of domestic and international trade specialists
located in our Export Assistance Centers throughout the United States and in
U.S. Embassies overseas. We have free and fee-based services to help U.S.
publishers sell internationally. Many people do not realize that we exist in
this capacity to help the publishing and media sectors.
2.
What
are the challenges and rewards for what you do for them? Our goal is to help U.S. publishers sell their
content and find publishing partners overseas. We are actually gauged by how
many sales we help companies to make, so the end result is always our focus.
Finding the right partner can be difficult, so a key resource that we provide
is helping companies vet or qualify potential partners. Safeguarding
intellectual property rights is always the major challenge in this industry,
particularly in markets that do not uphold a strong rule of law or prosecute
piracy. For me, the biggest reward comes when we help a publisher sell into a
country for the first time. Many of the publishers we work with are small with
very limited resources, and helping the smaller guys is often the most
rewarding for me.
3.
How
can US publishers take advantage of overseas opportunities? U.S. publishers have many resources at their
disposal through the U.S. Commerce Department. As a starting point, they should
review our free market research guide that features over 30 individual country
reports. We also coordinate multiple educational webinars on industry hot
topics and countries of focus, which provide valuable information. We connect
international and domestic publishers at industry events and help publishers
showcase their titles at overseas trade shows. International trade shows
offer great opportunities for U.S. publishers. The American Collective Stand
coordinates pavilions at many of these events, so publishers should check http://www.americancollectivestand.com/ for
a list of their events. The Commerce Department also offers opportunities for
publishers to showcase their titles at other international book fairs, which
are posted on our website: www.export.gov.
4.
Can
an individual author or self-published writer work with you as well? The majority of our services are geared
towards U.S. publishers – particularly small and medium-sized publishers.
Authors and self-published writers are welcome to access our market research
and participate in our webinars. For individual authors we recommend they
consider exhibiting titles at overseas trade shows with the American Collective
Stand or join associations like the Independent Book Publishers Association: http://www.ibpa-online.com.
5.
Where
can publishers find out more information? I encourage publishers to visit our website at www.export.gov/industry/paper, where they
can learn more about our programs. They are also welcome to contact me at Dawn.Bruno@trade.gov,
and I can connect them with their local trade specialist.
6.
Where
do you see book publishing heading in the coming years? Well, this industry is changing very rapidly and, as an
optimist, I prefer to look on the bright side. I see more channels for small
and independent publishers continue to emerge with print on demand, limited
print runs, self publishing options, etc. I believe that quality always rises
to the top, so although it is harder to get your book noticed, publishers will
continue to be creative about marketing their titles and utilizing social
media. I certainly do not expect print to going away, but rather expect that we
will continue to see a hybrid of print and digital options.
7.
How
do you work with www.pubmatch.com, the first comprehensive
international rights network for the publishing community that
connects publishers, authors, and agents worldwide? We are thrilled to see how PubMatch has
developed as a key industry resource. We work closely with PubMatch and other
industry partners. We view PubMatch as key tool to help publishers connect
internationally. U.S. publishers should use all of the resources available to
them – the U.S. Commerce Department, PubMatch, American Collective Stand, book
fairs, and more. We are in the business of connecting U.S. companies
internationally, so we feel that PubMatch offers a very valuable service.
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Brian Feinblum’s
views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of
his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in
the third-person.
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