Baker & Taylor Launches Publisher Services Business

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Baker & Taylor, a premier worldwide distributor of digital and print books and entertainment products, today announced the launch of Baker & Taylor Publisher Services (BTPS). This new business unit will offer children's, trade, K-12, higher education and academic publishers economical solutions for warehousing and order fulfillment, sales and marketing support, inventory management and virtual inventory programs, book manufacturing including offset and digital short run, POD, and editorial services. 

Baker & Taylor is uniquely positioned to serve client publishers using its existing distribution network, which includes the ability to ship to most U.S. readers in one to two days, manufacturing resources and the knowledge and market data that comes from being a leading supplier to public and school libraries, higher education retail stores, the general book trade and specialty retailers. Providing meaningful and actionable insights for publishers, BTPS clients will work with a partner who can help them navigate through and grow in an ever-evolving bookselling marketplace.

Mark Suchomel has joined Baker & Taylor as Senior Vice President of Sales & Client Services and will jointly lead this new business unit with Ken Fultz who has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Operations. Mark was previously President of Client Services for the Perseus Book Group and President of Independent Publishers Group.

"Launching Baker & Taylor Publisher Services was a natural choice when you consider our strength in diverse markets and trusted role as a partner to many publishers. With the market position and experience of Follett and Baker & Taylor, we'll be an obvious choice for publishers of academic, educational, and children's titles, and we'll provide an advantage to trade publishers through the utilization of our regional distribution centers. We are focused on collaborating with our publishers to give them the right mix of services so we can grow as they grow." explained Baker & Taylor President David Cully.

"Our goal is to foster long-lasting partnerships with publishers and grow our business by helping to grow theirs.  Our unique market position, sales network in the trade and special markets, economies of scale and ability to reach most U.S. accounts in a day or two will position our clients for growth. BTPS is not about upselling services to clients. We're about partnering to grow business together." noted Mark Suchomel.   

Suchomel will work closely with the Global Publishers Services team, led by Chitra Bopardikar, to provide client publishers with a truly holistic domestic and international solution.

BTPS will use the existing distribution assets of Bookmasters and will retire that brand as it relates to distribution and client services. The Bookmasters name will continue to represent the printing and manufacturing business, under Ken Fultz's leadership.

Publishers interested in Baker & Taylor Publisher Services should contact Mark at [email protected].

About Baker & Taylor
Baker & Taylor is the premier worldwide distributor of books, digital content and entertainment products from approximately 25,000 suppliers to over 20,000 customers in 120 countries. The company offers cutting-edge digital media services and innovative technology platforms to thousands of publishers, libraries, schools and retailers worldwide. Baker & Taylor also offers industry leading customized library services and retail merchandising solutions. For more information about Baker & Taylor visit www.baker-taylor.com. Baker & Taylor is part of Follett Corporation, the world's largest single source of books, entertainment products, digital content and multi-media for libraries, schools and retailers. Follett is headquartered in Westchester, Illinois. For more information about Follett, visit www.follett.com.

About Follett Corporation
Follett is a $3.4 billion privately held company headquartered in Westchester, Illinois. As a leading provider of education technology, services and physical and digital content, Follett works with 70,000 schools and operates more than 1,250 local campus stores and 1,600 virtual stores. With the 2016 acquisition of Baker & Taylor, LLC, Follett's reach also extends into the public library and global retail markets. For more information, visit www.follett.com. For more information on our OER partnership with Lumen Learning, visit www.follett.com/lumen.

SOURCE Baker & Taylor

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