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What is BPR?
The Business Publishers Roundtable is an international association of business book
publishers, each representing one language. Our aim is to contribute to the progress,
freedom and welfare of the world through the dissemination of ideas for business in
different languages. This is translated into practice by exchanging information on
authors’ rights, providing advice to fellow members on their publishing activities and
by carrying out co-publishing or joint venture projects in order to gain greater visibility
and recognition among authors, readers and other publishers.
Though the association was legally established in July 2007, informal gatherings had
taken place at the Frankfurt, London and US book fairs since 1999, each time
attracting more members.
As a not-for-profit association, the BPR sparks projects, with members participating as
they wish. One of the most successful has been the creation of Knowledge in Action,
the company that owns www.bluebottlebiz.com (bbb), currently the biggest, best and
fastest growing digital library of business books, with close to 100 publishers and
more than 10.000 books, discovery paths, learning paths, videos and other resources.
Several members of BPR were among the founders of bbb.
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Members
To become a publisher-member, you must publish at least five business books a year
in a language not already represented within the BPR. You must also be introduced to
the group by at least two current members and be approved unanimously by the
Executive Committee or by simple majority in the General Assembly, which normally
takes place at the Frankfurt Bookfair on Thursday at 10h00.
The duties of members are to provide advice to fellow members, to try to cooperate in
group or bilateral projects and to support and promote the BPR.
There are no fees and the BPR is financed by the voluntary contributions of members ,
which covers the website and minor legal and accounting costs.
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Current members
Danish
Dutch
English (American)
English (British)
Finnish
French
German
German (Swiss)
Greek
Italian
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Portuguese (Brazilian)
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Gyldendal
Atlas Contact
Harvard Business Review Group
LID Publishing
Talentum
Leduc Editions
Carl Hanser Verlag
Midas Management Verlag AG
KLIDARITHMOS Publications
EGEA
Hegnar Media
PWN
Sabedoria Alternativa
Saraiva
Publica
Olympus Business Publishers
LID Editorial Empresarial
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How do you benefit? (1 of 3)
Publisher
If you are a publisher and your language is already covered by a current member of BPR, sorry, we
can only accept one publisher per language. However, you can always collaborate with that
publisher for joint editions or contact the Secretary General of the association to show your
interest in case there is an opportunity in the future.
If your language is still available, you may wish to consider becoming a member in order to:
•Exchange ideas and information about new books from third parties, how well they are selling and
so on.
•Buy rights on your own or together with other members and gain greater visibility with literary
agents and foreign publishers.
•Sell rights to other members and to third parties more effectively and get help in promoting your
own authors.
•Participate in projects supported by the association, e.g. bluebottlebiz.
Media
If you are looking for information on business books at an international level, or would like a quote
from a business book author in one of these languages, please contact the publisher of your
choice from the member list.
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How do you benefit? (2 of 3)
Author
If you are an author of a book on business, current affairs or similar, you may find within BPR a
reputable publisher for your language. These publishers have been selected by their peers to
represent each language in the most important international association of business books
publishers. By connecting with one of these publishers you will have easier access to publishers in
the other languages and, therefore, a higher chance of getting your book published in languages
other than your own.
Literary agent
If you are a literary agent, you will find within the BPR a reputable publisher specialized in
business books for each key language. Once you have sold a book to one publisher, your chances
of success with the others will increase significantly. Even if the first publisher you contact is not
interested, we could probably tell you who could be more interested in a particular title, since we
know each other well.
We collaborate with each other on titles for which various members have bought the rights so that,
for example, for an American author, we can organize a single trip to Europe to promote their book
in say two or three different countries, thus saving on time and expenses for everyone. We also
exchange marketing and promotional ideas always with the aim of increasing sales all round.
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How do you benefit? (3 of 3)
Corporate sponsor
If you are a company or association looking to promote your ideas, projects or products on a
international basis, a book can sometimes be the best means of achieving this. You will be
surprised at how effectively we can work together to prepare a full and comprehensive
communication plan. Each publisher-member has considerable experience in promoting authors
and ideas and through the BPR you can easily tap into a wide network of resources.
If you have a target group in the world of between 2,000 and 200,000 people, and a message to
communicate that you wish to add an international flavour to, a book published simultaneously in
several languages under a common marketing plan can easily be the most cost-effective and long-
lasting instrument. Each of us is a specialist in its own language and territory, so you can work
through BPR to achieve both a global and local presence. Please contact either the publisher in
your country or the Secretary General.
Translator
If you are a translator, you will find some publishers who may be interested in your services. Please
contact the publisher for your language directly, stating that you got their contact details from the
BPR site.
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Meetings
The Group meets three times a year :
•London Bookfair (March/April). Meeting of one hour during the second day of the fair
at 10h00. We also have a members’ dinner during the fair (usually the first day) at
19h30 in which honorary members, prospective members and friends are also invited.
•Frankfurt Bookfair (October). Meeting of one hour during the second day of the fair
(Thursday) at 10h00. We will also have a members dinner that day at 19h30 in which
honorary members, prospective members and friends are also invited.
•Summer summit. This, as with all the other meetings, is a voluntary one. Taking place
either in June or September, and hosted by one of the members, the summit consists
of at least one full day of work on a Friday, during which views on each market, our
successes and failures and potential joint projects are exchanged. It also helps to
strengthen our personal relationships over the weekend.
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Contact us
If you require more information about the association itself or are interested in
becoming a member please contact the Secretary General
sg@businesspublishersroundtable.org
