News - Vendors

Big crowds were moving through the trade show floor all day Saturday collecting galleys, autographs, and totebags.

On April 24, La Vergne, Tennessee-based Ingram Book Group announced that its Customer Care staff would expand from 12 hours per day to 24 hours per day, seven days a week. The new hours should benefit booksellers, said Keel Martin, spokesperson for Ingram. "Booksellers are spending most of their time serving their customers," he said. "Being able to call after hours should be a great new convenience."

The Book Sense family of Publisher Partners continues to grow with the addition of two new Partners, just in time for BEA: Continuum International and Hyperion Books for Children.

Book Sense is very pleased to welcome Independent Publishers Group and Toby Press as the newest members of the ever-expanding family of Publisher Partners. Independent Publishers Group (IPG) was founded in 1971 as the first master distribution company of its kind. It was "reborn" in 1987 when it was purchased by Chicago Review Press and has since then been one of the fastest growing companies in the book business.

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.

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.

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.