What Is Contract Publishing and What Does Land & Marine Offer?

Contract publishing is when an organisation commissions an external publisher to create a publication that carries the client's own brand rather than the publisher's. Land & Marine, established in 1992, is an international contract publisher that specialises in this work — particularly, though not exclusively, for the tourism, airline and maritime sectors. It offers clients an integrated service covering editorial, design and sales.

How contract publishing differs from ordinary publishing

In standard publishing, the publisher owns the title, decides the content and keeps the commercial upside (or absorbs the loss). In contract publishing, the client commissions the work and the resulting material is the client's, produced under the client's brand.

That shift changes who the publication serves:

• Audience — the client's customers, passengers, guests or members, not a general newsstand readership.
• Purpose — to inform, represent or add value to the client's own relationship with that audience.
• Branding — the client's identity leads; the publisher's role is largely invisible to the end reader.

A useful way to picture it: an airline's onboard magazine or a ferry operator's passenger guide looks like the airline's or operator's own product. Behind it may sit an external publisher handling the writing, layout and advertising sales.

What Land & Marine provides

Land & Marine describes itself as a leading international contract publisher creating unique material for its clients. Its stated offer is an integrated solution delivered by a team of:

• Editors — writing and content production
• Designers — layout and visual presentation
• Sales specialists — commercial and advertising sales

Because these functions sit together, a client can commission a publication as a single package rather than assembling separate writing, design and sales suppliers.

Which sectors it focuses on

Land & Marine specialises in three areas, while noting the work is not limited to them:

The common thread is travel, transport and the sea — industries where a captive or travelling audience makes a branded publication useful.

When this model suits an organisation

Contract publishing tends to fit organisations that:

• Want a publication under their own name but lack in-house editorial and design capacity.
• Need advertising or sponsorship sales handled alongside content production.
• Operate in a sector where a magazine, guide or brochure supports the customer experience.

If you are weighing whether to build an in-house team or commission an external publisher, the deciding factors are usually whether publishing is core to your business and whether you want to carry the fixed cost of specialist staff. For occasional or brand-supporting publications, the commissioned route keeps that capability outside your payroll.

What to check before commissioning

The site does not publish pricing, package tiers or turnaround times, so those specifics need to be confirmed directly with Land & Marine. When you make contact, it is worth asking:

• What the scope of an integrated package includes (editorial, design and sales).
• Who retains rights to the finished material and any advertising revenue.
• How the publication's frequency and format are agreed.
• Whether your sector falls within their tourism, airline or maritime focus or outside it.

Land & Marine has been operating since 1992, which gives a long track record to ask about — request examples of comparable publications in your sector before committing.