John McRobert
Managing Director, CopyRight Publishing
Written by Anna Rallos on 2010-10-08
John had an unlikely start in the publishing industry. The bleak economic circumstances of 1987 saw him swap his hardhat as BHP’s Chief Engineer of Mining Services, for a book as Managing Director of CopyRight Publishing. The company motto ‘A book is forever – the perfect gift’ is based on the philosophy that books serve as a lasting legacy, therefore should not be rolled out on the press until all loose ends are tied up.
Describe a typical day at CopyRight Publishing.
There is no typical day. Authors arrive out of the blue with all sorts of manuscripts from the good, the bad and the ugly sides of life. As a small company, we have to prioritise manuscripts and eliminate options in crowded markets that are dominated by large publishers.
Best and worst part of your job?
The best parts are seeing the authors’ faces when they see their book in print and the worst parts are the times when the authors go through the labour pains. We refuse to roll the presses until we are happy that all the loose ends are tied up.
If you had to give one piece of advice to a professional entering the publishing industry, what would it be?
Be Prepared – clearly my Boy Scout training has been a great guide through life.
What challenges (if any), does your company face in regards to new technologies?
Since I founded the company in 1987, I have searched for the best emerging technology. I went from compression systems to floppy disks to digital tapes to magneto-optical disks to CDs to DVDs to the wonderful system we use today with a 1 Terabyte external hard drive running a continuous backup and a Mac program called Time Machine…but who knows what they are working on now.
What do you believe sets apart small publishing companies from larger conglomerates?
We become closely associated with the authors during the production process, and more interactively produce what they had envisaged; often exceeding their expectations.
Describe one of the most memorable book launches associated with your company.
Our latest literary event was to celebrate the publication of Bold Bhutan Beckons by Tim Fischer and Tshering Tashi, held in Old Government House at QUT, and attended by the Governor of Queensland and the Australian Ambassador to the Holy See. We have launched books in Longreach at the Stockmans’ Hall of Fame, Samoa, Sydney and other places relevant to the book being launched.
What’s next for CopyRight Publishing?
We have some great books in production or just being delivered from the printer. These include Magnificent Monarchs, The Pearls of Boome and Understanding Ourselves and Others, a companion book to Dr Phil Jauncey’s successful Managing Yourself and Others which we published in 2003 and which has sold around 8,000 copies.