Carry every title from manuscript to printed stock, sales, returns and author royalties.

A publisher manages a list of titles, each at a different stage. A few are in editing. Another is at the printer. A third is selling steadily, and a fourth is coming back from shops as returns, with credit due to the distributor. Authors expect accurate statements, issued on time, with every sale, return and reserve explained in a way an agent can check line by line. They notice errors.

Most houses track this across a schedule sheet, a contracts folder, a stock file and a royalty workbook that someone rebuilds twice a year, usually under pressure and often late. Our planning session follows one title across all four.

Commissioning editors acquire titles and agree terms with authors or agents. A contract sets the advance, the royalty rates, the formats and territories licensed, and the delivery date. Managing editors then set a schedule for editing, copyediting, design, proofs and files for the printer or the digital release.

Production staff request print quotes and place the order. They follow the job to delivery at the warehouse. Sales teams take orders from distributors, bookshops, libraries and direct customers, and record returns. Marketing teams plan launches. Rights staff sell licences.

Finance adds up sales and returns by title and format. Royalties are then worked out against the contract and any unearned advance, a calculation that differs for every author on the list. Periodicals and digital publications also manage subscribers, renewals and advertising, which adds recurring invoices and dates that have to be watched every single month. Reconciling all this is a recurring task, repeated every period by finance staff who must also answer authors, agents and distributors who each want a different view of the same sales.