Publisher News

On March 14, Perseus Books Group (PBG) and Running Press announced an agreement to merge the two houses. The result will be one of the largest independent trade book publishing companies in North America. "This merger will bring together two entrepreneurial success stories in the world of publishing," Jack McKeown, CEO of PBG, said in a press release.

Book Sense is pleased to welcome Oneworld Publications, based in Oxford, England, as its first international Publisher Partner. Oneworld is distributed in the U.S. by National Book Network.

Baker & Taylor [B&T], one of the country's largest wholesalers, is moving into the publishing distribution business. And, if all goes according to plan, that should be good news for small publishers and independent booksellers, according to Arnie Wight, senior vice president of distribution for Baker & Taylor. "As we get to a critical mass of publishers, it will result in greater efficiencies," he said. "Greater efficiencies should mean price competitiveness."

Scholastic has reached an agreement to acquire the noted children’s publisher Klutz from Corus Entertainment of Canada for an initial payment of approximately $43 million. The March 4 announcement noted that the deal was structured to include possible additional payments should Klutz reach certain performance goals over the next three years.

Based on a February 12 visit to the American International Toy Fair 2002, it appears that designing a successful plaything this year involves selecting popular toys and games from three or four decades ago and making them edible or covering them with licensed brand or team names. Another popular option is creating something kids can play together with their parents, or even better, with their grandparents, in the safety of their own homes dressed in facsimiles of the uniforms of firefighters and police officers (also known as community workers).

On Tuesday, February 12, Disney Children’s Book Group, LLC, announced that it was voluntarily recalling the children’s book Zowie’s 123, part of the Rolie Polie Olie book series. Disney made the move, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), after it heard that a 15-month-old boy broke a bead from the book cover and placed it in his mouth. An adult removed the object, and the child was not injured.

Book Sense is pleased to announce the addition of four publishers to the ranks of its Publisher Partners: Rugged Land, Words Distributing Company, Red Wheel/Weiser, and Four Walls, Eight Windows.

Viacom has announced its decision to integrate its Simon & Schuster publishing operation with the Viacom Entertainment Group (VEG). And while Viacom expects the move to positively impact Simon & Schuster, the question remains: What will its impact be on booksellers?

According to Adam Rothberg, vice president and director of corporate communications for Simon & Schuster, it will be business as usual.

As part of an ongoing campaign, Windstone Editions, a company located in North Hollywood, California, supports independent bookstores with an unusual profit-sharing program: It donates 10 percent of the company's profits from the sale of its line of cast stone bookends to independent booksellers associations.

Windstone is the exclusive vendor of bookends, figurines, candleholders, sconces, and other sculptural items designed by artist M. Peña.

Advanced Marketing Services, Inc. (AMS) announced on, January 17, that it had entered into an agreement to acquire Publishers Group West (PGW) for a reported price of about $38 million. Under the terms of the deal, PGW founder Charlie Winton will continue to serve as company president for the next year to implement the transition. AMS -- which has built its business on supplying warehouse price clubs and other large retailers -- had revenues last year of about $700 million, as reported by the New York Times. PGW had sales of over $125 million in 2001.

Random House has begun a reorganization of its company sales group. It is the first company-wide reorganization in three years, and Ruth Liebmann, director of independent bookselling for Random House, told BTW that a major impetus for the changes is that "a lot has changed in the last three years, in the marketplace, in the needs of booksellers, and in the needs of our publishers."

The Bloomsbury publishing house has garnered its biggest industry headlines for signing J.K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter titles have been published in the U.S. by Scholastic. This week the U.K.-based publisher -- which has a U.S. publishing program distributed by Holtzbrinck -- released its first catalog of 19 children's books to be published in America.

In December, Scholastic launched a marketing campaign to promote books as a source of understanding, comfort, and connection. The "Read for Life" campaign -- featuring original artwork by Harry Potter illustrator Mary Grand Pré -- is a part of a continuing outreach by Scholastic in the aftermath of September 11, and it carries the message "Read for Comfort ... Read for Closeness ...

Book Sense is pleased to welcome its newest Publisher Partner, Charlesbridge Publishing of Watertown, Massachusetts.

Founded in 1980 as an educational publisher, Charlesbridge began publishing children's books in 1989 with the release of five nature titles, including the bestselling The Icky Bug Alphabet Book by Jerry Pallotta and illustrated by Ralph Masiello.