Offset

With a battered economy dragging down just about every retail sector, a salient fact making headlines has been the ability of discounters to maintain sales growth—a sure sign that the “Wal-Mart Effect” has permeated every corner of the business world, and that raising prices is probably not the way to realize profits. This leaves cost-cutting, which, for obvious reasons, book publishers would like to pursue aggressively without sacrificing either product quality or valued employees. Here are some tips from a cross-section of the publishing world for reining in costs without sacrificing too much in the process.

Now in its 21st year, the Gold Ink Awards call attention to the print industry’s finest projects. 2008 was no exception, as North American Publishing Co. (NAPCO; parent company of both the Gold Ink Awards and Book Business) received more than 1,400 entries for this year’s competition. As always, a talented team of judges hailing from diverse backgrounds across the industry poured through the submissions, awarding Gold, Silver, Bronze and Pewter honors in 46 categories. In all, 488 entries were selected for awards. Nearly two-dozen judges sorted and sifted through the finest print pieces, submitted by publishers and printers alike, over the course of

Imagine being able to tell your grandkids that you worked on the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper” album, or on “Star Wars”—playing an important role in the creation of a cultural phenomenon that anyone would be proud to claim as the capstone of their career. Francine Colaneri, the book industry’s 2008 Publishing Executive Hall of Fame inductee, is just that lucky. As vice president of manufacturing and supply chain at global children’s education and media company Scholastic Inc. (New York), she was instrumental in coordinating the manufacture and distribution of all seven books in the “Harry Potter” series published in the United States. “We

Brainerd, Minn.-based book manufacturer Bang Printing has acquired Delta Printing Solutions, a book manufacturer located in Valencia, Calif. According to Bang, the combined companies will take advantage of dual-facility benefits, including plant-load balancing, employee cross-training and increased purchasing power. Bang Printing’s Minnesota facility produces approximately 10,000 titles each year. Combined with Delta’s output, this number will increase to more than 15,000 titles. Together, the two facilities will employ 350 people. The 109-year-old Bang Printing provides web and sheet-fed printing, complete bindery services, and fulfillment and storage. Delta Printing Solutions, which has been in business for more than 50 years, is the largest provider

Biographies of political hopefuls typically see a significant bump in demand during presidential election years. But a sudden spike in orders wasn’t something Publisher Kent Sturgis expected for Epicenter Press’ 2008 biography of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Kaylene Johnson’s “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down”—the one and only biography of the 44-year-old politician in print at the time. That all changed Friday, Aug. 29, when Sen. John McCain announced that Palin would be the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Almost immediately, Sturgis and his small publishing house, which consists of himself and three part-time employees, mobilized to meet the sudden, overwhelming

Edwards Brother Inc., a book and journal manufacturing firm specializing in medium, short and ultra-short runs, has received chain-of-custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for both its Ann Arbor, Mich. and Lillington, N.C. facilities. FSC certification verifies the source of papers utilized in manufacturing and tracks these certified products throughout the inventory and distribution process. To become certified, companies work with accredited, independent certification agents who evaluate both forest-management activities and chain-of-custody tracking of materials passing through mills, manufacturers and distributors. “This new certification is part of a larger, ongoing effort at Edwards Brothers to be responsible corporate citizens and to better

Despite the rising costs and tight supply of paper, increasing fuel costs impacting shipping prices, and growing pressure to cut inventory and increase turnaround times, among other challenges facing book publishers, two Book Business articles reveal positive news for the book manufacturing industry. In the June issue, the “Top 30 Book Manufacturers” feature showed that revenue for 23 of the 30 book manufacturers listed had grown over the previous year. According to Book Business’ 2007 ranking (in the June 2007 issue), just 17 book manufacturers had reported revenue increases. In this issue, in Book Business’ first compilation of leading digital book printers

PublicAffairs, an imprint of The Perseus Books Group, recently found itself with an enviable problem—not enough books to fill orders for a runaway best-seller. The book was Scott McClellan’s White House memoir “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception,” but luckily for Perseus, the appearance of McClellan’s face everywhere on TV this spring coincided with a propitious meeting at BookExpo America between John Ingram of Ingram Book Group, owner of digital printer Lightning Source, and Perseus Publisher Peter Osnos. “Demand went vertical, and there was a period of time when orders were coming in and they [didn’t have] any

Armonk, N.Y.-based Visant Corp. announced that it will permanently close its manufacturing facilities in Pennsauken, N.J., as part of its effort to consolidate its book cover and component manufacturing operations. Manufacturing will continue at the company’s Milwaukee, Wis.; Hagerstown, Md.; and Rockaway, N.J., plants. The Pennsauken plant was one of the manufacturing locations for the Visant company Lehigh, a book component and overhead transparency manufacturer. While Visant’s Milwaukee plant also produces Lehigh products, it is unclear whether the closing of the Pennsauken facility will bring an end to the Lehigh brand. Paul Carousso, Visant’s vice president of finance, says that the company has “not

ARMONK, NEW YORK, June 25, 2008 — Visant Corp. today announced the decision to consolidate its book cover and component manufacturing operations. As a result of the decision, the company will permanently close its operations at its Pennsauken, New Jersey manufacturing facilities and consolidate operations into its Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hagerstown, Maryland and Rockaway, New Jersey facilities later this year.