That?s how the founder of Sage, Sara McCune, describes herself. Publishing isn?t the easiest of enterprises. And perhaps none more than the ultra niche of academic publishing, where leading universities have been the pioneers and continue to hold sway. But it was here that McCune decided to make her mark more than 40 years ago when she and her husband set up the publishing house that is acknowledged globally.
With her father and all her brothers in businesses, it was natural for her to explore the area as well, she says. ?I was with Macmillan and Fergusson Press earlier, where I learnt what not to do!? she says with a chuckle during her recent visit to India. ?I borrowed money from my paternal grandfather,? and thus began the journey for Sage. The name incidentally derives from the syllables of her and her husband George?s names.
While Sara started with journals, which still continues to a pillar of the publishing house, it has expanded from social science research to expand in the science, technology, and medicine, besides business and management. It also publishes more than 460 journals in the Humanities, Social Science, and Scientific, Technical, and Medical fields. In 2006 Sage acquired Westminster and Hodder Arnold. ?Finding authors was never a problem for us, but we focussed on nich?s,? she says about the early years. ?We were really well connected from the beginning.
Even India, which was the third country Sage came to, their first author was a coup. The legendary VKRV Rao agreed to publish with them. And he signed with them in a houseboat in Kashmir, where the McCunes had been vacationing, with the founder editor of Sage, Tejeshwar Singh looking on in surprise, she recollects.
?I am all for growth and change.? Though the septuagenarian McCune is no longer involved in day-to-day activities of Sage. But she retains her acumen for nosing out the growth areas and points out that Sage India is not only very strong in development studies, it also has a growing market for its books across many markets. ?George always expected the India unit to do well. For the initial few years, people were skeptical, but then the numbers started to grow.? She also points out the current slowdown in the publishing sector will not affect the company much as ?we anticipated the market before most other publishers did.? And that?s perhaps a key to why she has been able to steer Sage so successfully over decades.