Newbie and would-be publishers to follow in footsteps of Ladder Club alumni on 1 Dec
The ladder is back in place to help fledgling greetings publishers climb up into the card industry with bookings taking off for the first one-day seminar in four years on 1 December.
Taking place at London’s Business Design Centre, the Ladder Club – the brainchild of much-missed industry legend Lynn Tait and PG’s Jakki Brown – returns after a four-year hiatus to nurture would-be and newbie publishers.
The packed agenda will cover the rudiments of greeting card publishing – avoiding the common pitfalls; how to price your cards to make sure you’re making money; production quandaries; how to get your cards to market, what retailers want; and what makes agents tick, as well as making the most of trade shows, plus where licensing, export and brokerage come in.
The vision for The Ladder Club has been embraced by key trade suppliers, existing card publishers, retailers, agents, the GCA and other industry experts who have given their time to speak at the seminars and offer support.
Hundreds of publishers, including Wrendale Designs, Paper Salad, Megan Claire, Tache, AfroTouch Designs, Lola Design, Redback Cards, Bewilderbeest, and Go La La! among many others, have all been through the club and give it a full thumbs up.
Here is what Amanda and Frank Mountain, co-owners of Lola Design, had to say…
What was the value of The Ladder Club to you/your business?
“The Ladder Club was of huge value to us at the beginning of our journey into greeting card publishing. We literally turned up with a blank piece of paper and all of our notes from the two days helped us to plan how to go about setting the foundations for Lola Design today.
“Being in the same room as key suppliers and hearing from key retailers such as House of Cards who were really generous to share their time with us and share insight into their selection process and key captions. Meeting and hearing from established publishers and understanding the pitfalls was of course invaluable too.
Can you share some lasting memories/stand-out moments?
“The standout thing for me at the time was Lynn explaining the 2.4 calculation to work out the invoice price working back from RRP. At the time we didn’t know where to start! Also, Brainbox Candy’s Mark Williams and Ben Hickman presenting their pie charts – we were in stitches!”
Advice to would-be Ladder Clubbies?
“The world has changed enormously since we started and there are many routes into greeting card publishing now– licensing, selling B2B or B2C, or even a combination of these. It can be really confusing and overwhelming and hard to know where to start. Having access to the Ladder Club is an amazing opportunity as there are not many industries that are so helpful in supporting start-ups. We would highly recommend it – it’s really one not to miss.”
Loyal Ladder Club sponsors, such as G.F Smith, The Imaging Centre, Loxleys and Enveco, have already pledged their support for this year’s seminar, as has the GCA.
Among the confirmed speakers are Ged Mace, md of The Art File, who will take attendees through how to cost out their cards; Sally Matson, owner of Red Card in Petworth, will explain what she as a leading indie looks for in publishers and their products; and Bewilderbeest founder Iain Hamilton will share what he has learned as a growing publisher.
The cost of attending The Ladder Club seminar is £90 plus vat – the same price as it was in 2019. To book your place, head to the dedicated secure site www.max-tickets.net or you can contact Max’s Jim Bullough, who is looking after the bookings, on jimb@max-publishing.co.uk or call him on 07734 111633.
Though not included in the price of attending, there will be a casual meet-up dinner the evening before The Ladder Club, which is especially useful and enjoyable. This will be held in a venue close to the BDC.
And, unlike previously where there has been a day two seminar for more established publishers, it will not be the case this year as the GCA covers these issues.
For more information about The Ladder Club contact PG’s Tracey Arnaud on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk or call her on 01234 740051 or 07957 212062, or email Jakki Brown on jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk or call her on 07525 634405.
