Thinking Ink
It’s not yet five years since Sean O’Keeffe and Peter O’Connell started Liberties Press, and a phenomenal 36 books down the road business is booming. PHOTO:Liberties Press directors Sean O'Keeffe and Peter O'Connell with author Annie Ryan at the launch of 'Comrades - Inside the War of Independence'
But despite out-performing many of their larger competitors, this giant-killing number of titles is not the best measure of success in publishing. And despite being a new venture, an amazing 34 of their books have made money, but then profits don’t really reflect their achievement either. It’s all about the quality of the read, and it is here that Sean and Peter can take pride in the space they have made for themselves in Dublin’s literary tradition. Their books have captured the public imagination.
Sean had been working for Mercier Press for five years when they set about closing up their Dublin office. He had gained a reputation for bringing out the best in the books on which he worked, and among those impressed by his talent was the legendary journalist Con Houlihan. The notoriously demanding Kerry man insisted there was nobody better to compile and publish his collection of writings on sport, ‘More Than a Game’, and his instinct paid off handsomely.
The much-loved collection of newspaper articles became one of the top-selling non-fiction titles in Ireland in 2003 at put Liberties Press firmly on the book world’s radar. It’s still a big seller, and it helped Sean and Peter establish a template that has continued to serve them well.
“The plan in the beginning was simple,” explains Peter, who came from a language teaching background. “We wanted to publish books on compelling topics of Irish interest, ideally by authors who had a public profile.”
“The marketing spend for books, particularly by non-Irish publishers, is huge,” says Peter, who focused on the more commercial aspects of the business. “There are over 100,000 titles published in the UK and Ireland each year. You can’t compete with Nick Hornby or JK Rowling, but say you have a book on the 1916 Rising, or your author is someone like Con Houlihan or Brody Sweeney (founder of the O‘Brien’s Sandwich Bar chain) who are well-known, then you can approach the media and the interest is huge. All of our books, without exception, have got great TV, radio and print media coverage which hasn’t cost us a penny. But great publicity will not sell a book on its own, the book has to be solid.”
As with any start-up, it was hard work in the early days. “For the first two years we did everything ourselves from home with a study and a kitchen table,” says Peter. “Within six or seven months we were putting in 40 hours at Liberties and still squeezing in our other jobs.”
The momentum behind the business eventually meant they had to commit full-time. “We did one book the first year and three books the second, then seven, then twelve,” says Sean. “Things eventually reached a critical mass.”
The two have remained on a modest wage - “If either of us were driven by money, we wouldn’t be in publishing,” says Peter - and while the business is a commercial success, they are also finding plenty of job satisfaction to spur them on. “You start with nothing but an idea, and to see it through to something - a book being launched - is very rewarding,” says Peter. “And it’s a nice business to be in. I’ve been gob-smacked by people’s helpfulness. Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowen have both launched books for us, Dermot Bolger wrote an introduction for us. It’s amazing, people hear you’re doing something and they say ‘Oh I’ve got material’. They lend you their experience or their expertise. We did a book on the Pope’s visit and we were getting punters sending us paraphernalia like the missal from Drogheda, photographs, those sort of things. Irish people like to help, but especially when it comes to producing books.”
Their first title was part funded by a bank loan, and while it was wonderful to have an instant hit on their hands, publishing is a business which is always looking for the next big thing.
“We approached Dublin City Enterprise Board and they gave us an export grant which went towards a trip to the London Book Fair two years ago, where we secured distributors in the U.S. called Dufour and James Bennett/ InBooks in Australia.” says Sean. “They continue to support us in that regard.”
The sale of the international rights to Liberties Press titles should be a valuable stream of revenue in the years ahead, particularly as all the hard work on the books has already been done.
“We also applied for an employment grant which we didn’t get,” Peter adds. “That was disappointing, but DCEB were enthusiastic about the business and felt we were over-performing and under-capitalised. They took preference shares in the company, which was a great boost in confidence. It helped cover the cost of taking on one full-time and one part-time member of staff, which we did in the last year, and allowed us to expand. It worked out very well for us.”
There are another 12 or so titles due out this year, along with a couple of reprints and new editions. Thankfully for readers, the story of Liberties Press is set to continue far beyond the last full stop.
© 2008 Dublin City Enterprise Board. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without the permission from the D.C.E.B.
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