Berkeley, Calif.

Matt Steinmetz is the publisher and brand director of Publishing Executive.

While no publisher can realistically abstain from the online retail behemoths when it comes to book selling, there is no reason why selling directly to consumers cannot be a viable option, especially if publishers work to build relationships with readers. In the tips below from five different publishers on how they have found success with direct selling, certain themes recur: building trust with readers, smart audience targeting and cultivating an overarching brand sensibility.

Ten Speed Press, a Berkeley, Calif.-based independent publisher of nonfiction books, has been acquired by Random House Inc. The purchase was completed late last month and the terms of the agreement between the two companies, which are both privately held, were not disclosed.

In business since the 1970s, Nolo––a Berkeley, Calif.-based trade publisher specializing in legal publications––established a presence on the Web in 1994 and has been aggressively pursuing online opportunities ever since. Mary Randolph, the company’s vice president of editorial, recently spoke with Book Business Extra about Nolo’s stance on controversial topics such as Open Access and Google Book Search, and why the company believes in giving away a lot of its content. Extra: What do you feel are the biggest challenges your publishing segment is facing right now? Mary Randolph: We are primarily a trade publisher, and our main markets are bookstores and libraries. As we

Many independent U.S. book publishers breathed a sigh of relief after a Delaware bankruptcy court ruled in favor of the Perseus Books Group taking control of the distribution contracts for more than 120 clients of the now-defunct Publishers Group West (PGW). The New York-based Perseus Books offered to pay 70 cents for every dollar of pre-bankruptcy claims owed to publishers who were distributed under PGW, a Berkeley, Calif.-based division of Advanced Marketing Services (AMS). The bid to help bail out AMS from a pile of debt claims was approved by Judge Christopher Sontchi Feb. 19. Perseus President David Steinberger says the company began

The good news is that book marketing professionals have more channels through which to promote their titles than ever. But with so many choices and decisions to be made, crafting an effective, far-reaching multichannel marketing campaign is more confusing than ever. Book Business spoke with several book marketing gurus to get their takes on what makes a multichannel marketing campaign work. 1. Take advantage of all available marketing channels. Noreen Henson, marketing manager for Demos Medical Publishing, says her biggest difficulty today is “the electronic revolution in information delivery”—and her constant challenge is to ensure Demos’ campaigns take advantage of this evolution. Among

Anthony Crouch has a long line of publishing blood in his family, and now a major industry award under his belt. Anthony Crouch has lived and breathed publishing all his life. "I was drawn to the world of print and publishing through strong family connections," Crouch recalls. "My grandfather was a typesetter … and my grandmother was a bookbinder. My parents were both heavily involved in publishing." As an adolescent, Crouch founded a newspaper for his middle school. He was a bit apprehensive, however, when it came to pursuing publishing as a profession. "I tried several other possible career paths in England before

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