In Depth
An Oxford education
12.07.07 Caroline Horn
Kate Harris has a robust, welcoming smile when I arrive at Oxford University Press' elegant sandstone home—but she is quick to admit that she would rather that this interview wasn't taking place. She does not take gladly to having the spotlight shone in her direction. This reluctance surprises people who know her—she was, after all, happy to stand on a table at the Bologna Book Fair to raise a glass to OUP Children's Books' 100th anniversary. But that spotlight was on the firm's success, rather than her own.
Harris took over as m.d. of OUP's Children's and Education division in 2002. Her background, as former m.d. of HarperCollins' Children's, Education and Directories divisions, gave her the experience to take the helm at OUP Children's Books, which comprises around 75% educational and 25% trade publishing. OUP's literary heritage includes great names, from J M Barrie to Astrid Lindgren, and its anniversary party earlier this month was attended by current writers including Brian Wildsmith, Geraldine McCaughrean and Tim Bowler.
Since her arrival, Harris has raised the profile of the trade list, with a greater emphasis on sales and marketing. But she hesitates when asked if she was brought in by OUP's then new chief executive to "commercialise" its children's offer. "They wanted someone with outside experience, who had worked in different markets, and who could bring fresh perspectives," she says. "They already had a prize-winning list; they just wanted to make it more accessible."
The publication of Geraldine McCaughrean's Peter Pan in Scarlet last year showed that OUP can use its literary heritage to create modern bestsellers. OUP hopes to replicate that success this autumn with a lavish gift edition of Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Longstocking, illustrated by Lauren Child; trade reaction suggests it is on track to do so.
Lucky breaks
Harris describes the move to OUP as the latest in a series of lucky breaks, starting with her first job in publishing. "I had come back from teaching English in Kenya, living in a village where the nearest Tarmac was 40 miles away and there was no electricity or running water." She saw an ad for a desk editor job at HarperCollins. "My friend Katy, who worked in publishing, suggested I should try it. 'You'll like publishing.' So that's what I did—and she was right."
Harris remained at HC for the next 20 years, so when she moved to OUP she keenly felt her lack of history. "I grew up there [at HC] and I understood how the company breathed and how people would react to things. Here I found myself without a history and that was tough because at HarperCollins people had trusted me to be well-meaning. They might not have agreed with me but they would have known that any decision I had made would be taken in good faith. When I wanted to make changes here in the structure or with people, it was quite difficult because I didn't have that history."
She describes those changes at OUP as an evolution rather than a revolution. "I'm not really a revolutionary, but a number of people chose to leave, or retired." Among the early high-profile departures was children's publishing director Fiona Kenshole. The list of new appointments include a picture book publisher, non-fiction publisher and head of design, although children's publisher Liz Cross has remained at the helm throughout. Richard Hodson, who became business director for children's and trade in 2006, brought a sales and marketing edge.
Harris says that the publishing has become "more focused" for both schools and trade, where OUP is publishing some 20% fewer titles than it was five years ago. "We are publishing fewer, but bigger, books" There is also more "creative management" of the backlist and a crossing of the boundaries—for example, the trade version of schools programme Oxford Reading Tree.
Uniquely, all books acquired by OUP are first cleared by the university's academic "delegates".
"They can come back and ask for more information about a book, but it doesn't happen often," Harris says. "One example is when we were publishing a book that featured a clone; they wanted to ensure that we were correct about the science surrounding cloning." And while the charitable status of university presses is under government review, Harris says OUP can easily show that its profits are fed back into the business or the rest of the university.
Life in Oxford has been a complete contrast to Balham in south London. "It's very beautiful, and because of the university there's a lot going on," Harris says, "but I do miss the buzz of living in London and its diversity. Oxford is more academic and less multicultural."
Back to school
Alongside the anniversary celebrations, Harris is actively planning for the next five years. On the children's side OUP will continue publishing to its literary strengths, but there will be greater emphasis on books for readers aged eight to 12, and on developing its picture book list.
However, the greatest challenges on the horizon are on the educational side. Following a wholesale government review of secondary education, a new school curriculum will roll out between 2008 and 2010. "It is the biggest ever change we have seen taking place at one time. There are opportunities, but dangers if we get it wrong."
She believes that the industry needs to take a much more proactive approach to schools. While spending on resources is likely to increase as a result of the curriculum changes, this is "no guarantee", she warns. "Over the past couple of years, schools funding has been pretty robust and yet schools have chosen not to spend on teaching resources."
She believes that schools are instead investing in hardware, buildings and teachers. "We as an industry need to ask ourselves why we aren't making a completely compelling case for what we do in teaching and learning. Schools spend about 1.5% to 2% of their budgets on learning resources, so only a small increase in spending could make a big difference in the classroom."
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