The Corner Office: Growth Through Acquisition

How have you integrated these acquisitions into your current business?

Bottorff: It's been very smooth. Now that we've done [acquisitions] a couple of times, we have a model and experience doing post-acquisition integration. It actually wasn't our intention to be doing acquisitions; but after we were presented [with] the first one, we realized that it's something where we can provide a good solution for other owners of publishing assets.

We've got a model for the types of books that we're looking to bring into our catalog. But as we bring these assets into our platform, we can enhance the value of them through great marketing and great sales channels.

Did the difficult economic climate make Turner Publishing hesitant to make these acquisitions?

Bottorff: I wouldn't describe it as being hesitant. I would say we were focused on publishing great new books. And when people saw the quality of the platform that we have, they saw that it made sense to sell the assets to us because we can provide a great home for authors.

How do e-books fit into Turner Publishing's business model now and going forward?

Bottorff: The strategic shifts that are happening in the industry related to e-books are one of the most exciting components of the business. E-books are an integral part of our program going forward. In addition to that, there are other offerings, in the form of apps, that we believe can even be the next phase beyond the e-book revolution. We're very focused on adding e-books as a distribution channel for our content to our end users.

What are your overall impressions of the publishing industry in regard to print versus digital?

Bottorff: The entry of this new technology is going to have both positive and negative effects for publishers. But the effects will be significant. The challenge will be to take advantage of all of the wonderful things that e-books can offer, while minimizing the negative effects it's going to have on our business.