Clé was founded in 1970 as a response to the need felt by publishers to share expertise and resources in order to benefit from opportunities and solve problems which were of common concern to all. Membership of Clé has grown significantly and comprises most of the major publishing houses in Ireland with a mixture of trade, general, legal, and academic publishers as members.

Who is involved in Clé?

Clé is a cross-border organisation, with a staff of Executive Director and Administrator, a committee drawn from the member companies' staff and various sub-committees and working groups. The Executive Director is responsible for the day to day running of the organisation, and, in consultation with a management committee and the main committee, for policy decisions. Clé is run on the principles of inclusion and accountability, responding to and anticipating members' needs.

What does Clé do for members?

Information
Contact details for Distributors, Agents, Booksellers, Wholesalers, Media contacts, Arts organisations and Sister organisations in other countries are provided free of charge to members on request. Clé also produces a monthly Bulletin and acts as a conduit for information of general interest to the industry.

Marketing
Joint promotions around themed events (e.g. World Book Day), promotional brochures targeted at the trade, free inclusion on the Clé website along with links back to members' sites.

Training
Clé organises inservice training courses at regular intervals throughout the year, covering all areas of publishing. Clé consults the members annually to discover their training requirements. The tutors for these courses have industry and teaching experience both here and abroad. Numbers are limited to allow for individual attention. Clé is the only body providing training specifically for publishers in Ireland.

International
Clé will provide names and details of contact people and useful services in Enterprise Ireland. Clé organises an annual collective stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair and is on hand to provide support at the London Book Fair. Clé is a member of the International Publishers' Association and the Federation of European Publishers, thereby gaining access to comparative information on the industry elsewhere, which can be made available to members.

Statistics
Clé undertakes a bi-annual survey of the Irish Book Publishing Industry. Figures are released on market share, growth (global and by category of publishing) and employment rates. All who participate in the survey receive a statement as to their company's relative performance.

Clé uses these figures in negotiations on behalf of the industry, with Government bodies and agencies.

Copyright
Clé provides training on contracts and copyright for members, lobbies the relevant government departments and liases with the libraries, the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency (of which it is a founder member) and Multimedia Copyright Clearance Ireland on all issues of copyright which affect publishers.

Who is eligible to join?
Full Membership of Clé is currently open to anyone who is a publisher of books (with at least two titles already published) and who can show evidence of a publishing programme, subject to approval by the Clé Committee. People who are engaged in related activities (e.g. freelance proofreading, editorial, publicity or illustration work) can apply for Associate membership of Clé.

Membership Rates
Membership rates are based on annual declarations of Company turnover. Rates range from £175 to £1,120. Members are entitled to avail of all of the services outlined above, to participate in any of the committees and working groups and, of course, are always welcome to suggest new ways in which we can be of help.

For further information, please phone
01-6707 393,
fax 01- 6707 642 or e-mail cle@iol.ie

Members of Clé