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By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘The Most Impact for Our Publishers’
Because they share initials, the Independent Publishers Guild (called IPG) of the United Kingdom and the Independent Publishers Group (also called IPG) of the United States at times can be confused by some players in international publishing.
The States-based IPG, the Independent Publishers Group, distributes not only for American publishers but also in the States for publishers in the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, France, Spain, and Israel, among others. It counts itself among the 10 top suppliers of book content to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, independent bookstores, specialty markets, and libraries, as well as to retailers outside the United States.
Founded in 1971, the Independent Publishers Group is a marketing and distribution operation for titles from independent publishers. It was acquired in 1987 by Chicago Review Press, and in 2021 acquired the United Kingdom’s United Independent Distributors (UID) and subsidiaries including Eurospan, Marston Book Services, and Orca Book Services.
The company’s news released Friday (February 2) is that Tim McCall has been named vice-president of sales, charged with leading the US sales team to develop and apply new sales strategies. McCall is also to manage IPG’s Barnes & Noble account.
In a prepared statement, IPG CEO Joe Matthews is quoted, saying, “I’m very enthusiastic about bringing an experienced new leader to the business.
Joe Matthews
“I hope to see the sales team become more publisher-centric and focused on those customers and special sales that make the most impact for our publishers and the authors they serve.”
Scott Hatfill has an expanded role as vice-president of international trade sales and is expected “to lead an initiative to establish domestic United Kingdom trade accounts.”
Hatfill is also to “collaborate with IPG’s business development team to open new international distribution channels and sign new publishers to IPG’s portfolio.”
Michelle Zappa
The current UK head of sales, Michelle Zappa and the domestic UK sales staff is to continue to drive academic and professional sales in the UK, Europe, and elsewhere internationally—except for the States—through IPG’s Eurospan program.
Mark Noble, how has been the company’s vice-president of operations for more than a decade, is to oversee that department again “as part of an expanded interim role.” In addition:
- Brooke O’Donnell becomes senior vice-president of international business development, signing publishers, as before, to IPG’s Trafalgar Square Publishing and Spanish-language program.
- Sidney Thompson is to become business development manager, tracking IPG’s new business, drafting and reviewing contracts, and providing a point of contact for IPG’s publishers.
- Clark Matthews has been appointed to oversee the IPG Chicago warehouse and the digital print group, while continuing to serve as the vice-president and general manager of book manufacturing and distribution center services.
Personnel Change Coverage
As our readership knows, our policy on covering personnel changes in publishing and in industry organizations is based on two factors: the level of the roles involved and the potential international influence of those roles, in alignment with Publishing Perspectives’ publishing mission—coverage of issues and trends in the international publishing sphere.
More from Publishing Perspectives on issues in distribution is here, more on independent publishing is here, and more on the United States-based Independent Publishers Group (IPG) is here.
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