Kiwi Women Publishers Take on the World

Whatdo you get when you combine two dynamic business women, 40 years of bookpublishing experience, vast educational and parenting nous, and good old Kiwiingenuity?  Clean Slate Press – a 100 percent New Zealand owned and operatedpublishing company, with a ‘skite sheet’ of prestigious North Americancustomers, including Scholastic Inc (U.S.), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (U.S.)and Nelson Education (Canada).

Busyworking mothers and professional women, Frances McBeath (nee Bacon) and SandyRoydhouse, are the power house behind CleanSlate Press, a business they founded in 2005. Within a year they had establisheda thriving international educational publishing business and had developedthree unique book series.

Theirfresh and innovative approach has secured some of the biggest names inchildren’s writing. At the end of 2007, McBeath and Roydhouse approachedworld-renowned author Joy Cowley in the hope of becoming her new educationalpublisher. Despite being approached by a number of large publishers, Cowleychose Clean Slate Press.

Jugglinga successful business and family commitments takes energy, passion andtenacity; qualities McBeath and Roydhouse have in spades. As McBeath says, “Our client base is largely in theNorthern hemisphere, so I view every day as a 24-hour slot. Family, a longworking day and sleep all need to fit in, it's just a case of when. I'm veryflexible on the 'when'."  

Fromthe outset, McBeath and Roydhouse had their sights set on making a globalimpression –and a financially viable one – before focusing their energies onthe New Zealand market. They did so by selling their product range in far-flungterritories, including the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea and the UK.Signing Cowley to their list was a master-stroke; her most famous character, Mrs Wishy-Washy having sold more than 40million copies worldwide.

CleanSlate Press now provideshigh-quality educational resources for New Zealand schools and McBeath andRoydhouse publish the work ofmany of New Zealand’s best-loved and acclaimed names, including writers such asJoy Cowley, Justin Brown, Frances Adlam, Tanya Batt; and illustrators PhilipWebb, ElizabethFuller-Fulton, Jenny Cooper and Richard Holt.

Clean Slate Presshas enjoyed exponential growth over the past five years and grown from athree-person team to 20 full-time and contract staff, including a team of NewZealand sales representatives. Between 2007 and 2009 their turnover doubled;between 2009 and 2011, it doubled again.

”Growing a successful smallbusiness has involved us wearing a lot of different hats”, say McBeath andRoydhouse. “We've folded many flyers and written many books. From lugging boxesof stock around the warehouse to presenting at international conferences –we've done it all."

CleanSlate Press’s productranges have been specifically designed to meet the achievement objectives ofthe New Zealand curriculum and to set a gold standard in educational publishing.Their range recognises the importance of providing teachers and students with top-qualityproducts that have been made by New Zealanders, for New Zealanders. 

Clean Slate Press publishes books and products that promote dynamiclearning across the New Zealand curriculum. In addition to their own innovativeliteracy products, they have also republished Joy Cowley's well-known earlyliteracy series, previously known as StoryBox®. This series has been revamped and re-branded as The Joy Cowley Collection and contains the titles, as both ‘BigBooks’ and ‘Small Books’, on which many early literacy programmes have beenbuilt, including The Hungry Giant, Mrs Wishy-Washy, and Meanies.

Clean Slate Press is the New Zealand distributor for The Think Tank mathematics activitycards, produced by academics and educatorsat Origo Education in Australia.

FrancesMcBeath has worked inbook publishing for more than 17 years, including senior management roles ineducational publishing.  She holds a Bachelorof Arts in English, has written more than 100 children’s books, and is ashareholder and director of Clean SlatePress. Frances lives in Auckland with her husband, three daughters andstepson.

SandyRoydhouse has worked inbook and magazine publishing for over 25 years and as well as working as asenior manager for a large educational publishing company, has also owned herown education magazine.  She is ashareholder and director of Clean SlatePress, has three children and lives in Auckland with her husband.