Richard Charkin has always been forward thinking. I was lucky enough to witness this first hand at Heinemann which published many of my early novels. Lord they were so forebearing with a new author who was inundated with 4 children, and probably whiffed of fish fingers. Nonetheless, led by Charkin, they all, and my fabulous editor Sue Freestone, taught me all I know. He is also superb company but that goes without saying. Now, as CEO and Founder of Mensch Publishing he breaks exciting ground yet again, as he tells Frost Magazine that all titles will be produced and distributed using PoD technology and decentralised distribution, in partnership with Ingram Content Group.
in partnership with Ingram Content Group from 1st December. Charkin, who is also co-chair of the IPA’s climate committed programme ‘Publishing 2030 Accelerator’, described the decision as driven, most importantly, by the much lower environmental impact, as well as high quality production values and global, constant availability. After working closely with Bloomsbury over the last four years, the move marks an important next step as the business expands.
Richard Charkin, said: “In four years Mensch has grown with a roster of authors and books to be proud of and has developed a number of innovations in the speed and processes of the book industry. I couldn’t be happier with the unstinting and brilliant support from Bloomsbury worldwide without which we could never have achieved our and our authors’ goals. Now we are starting a new chapter in keepingwith the necessity to build a more environmentally sustainable business whilst growing sales. We have been working with IngramSpark in parallel with Bloomsbury and now is the time to take the plunge and
use Ingram’s global comprehensive distribution and production infrastructure for all our titles, past, and future. In addition we shall be using state-of-the-art automated advertising in conjunction with Shimmr enhancing discoverability and sales.”
David Taylor, Senior Vice President at Ingram, said: “We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with Mensch and it’s exciting to be able to help them even further as they grow their publishing programme. Ingram’s growing global network of wholesale distribution points linked to state-of-the-art print-on-demand allows publishers to get books to their readers in ever more effective and innovative ways. Simultaneous global publishing in multiple markets and formats is a powerful tool for publishers to use – and they are increasingly doing so. Mensch are in the vanguard of this trend.”
Mensch has been responsible for numerous successes in recent years, including I Fear for this Boy, a memoir by renowned jewellery designer Theo Fennell, which was named 2022 Book of the Year by Spectator World and reviewed by William Boyd and Stephen Fry; Delia Smith’s You Matter, a call to action for self-awareness and confidence in the 21st century from Britain’s most-trusted food expert; and We Danced on Our Desks by former Sunday Times Magazine writer, Philip Norman, about his experiences at the publication during the height of its popularity in the 60s and 70s.The first book to be published under the partnership will be Good Scammer by Guy Kennaway ( today – 7thDecember), whose backlist with Mensch will be simultaneously released in paperback.
Described as one of the UK’s best new writers, Kennaway’s previous books include Bollinger Wodehouse Everyman Prize for Comic Fiction winner The Accidental Collector, his acclaimed memoir about assisted suicide, Time To Go, and his most recent memoir Foot Notes, co-authored with his relative Hussein Sharif. So on soars Mensch, going from strength to strength – why are we not surprised. Bravo Richard Charkin.