Skyhorse Publishing, which earlier this year bought the assets of Arcade Publishing, has added Allworth Press, acquiring the New York City indie for an undisclosed price. Founded in 1989 by Tad Crawford, Allworth has a backlist of over 300 titles focusing on business and self-help books for artists, photographers, graphic designers, and interior designers as well as for filmmakers, performing artists, and authors.
Allworth has published 18-20 titles annually, a number Skyhorse president and publisher Tony Lyons said will increase to 40 to 50 by 2012. Crawford will continue to serve as publisher of the Allworth imprint and most of the Allworth team will move to Skyhorse's New York office January 1. Lyons said Allworth is the type of niche publisher that will help Skyhorse build a dynamic backlist. Although Skyhorse has had two New York Times bestsellers this year, it is backlist that had led Skyhorse to a record year, Lyons added, with sales expected to top $11 million. With the addition of Arcade and Allworth, Skyhorse, founded only in 2006, now has over 1,100 titles, and is in the process of converting its titles to ePub to make them available on as many platforms as possible. Lyons said he expects strong growth from Skyhorse's digital initiatives in 2011.
Allworth has had average sales of over $1 million and finished 2009 with revenue of $1.4 million. “I’m very pleased that our publishing program has found a home with a company as dynamic and growth-oriented as Skyhorse Publishing. The union with Skyhorse Publishing should create synergies and opportunities that boost the Allworth revenue stream,” Crawford said in a statement.
Lyons said he is using the cash generated by Skyhorse's good year to look for additional companies to buy and could close on two or three deals within the next year.
