Chicago-based IPG, the distributor affiliated with Chicago Review Press and Triumph Books, confirmed it is laying off nine employees this week, including five of Chicago Review Press's 13 employees and one of Triumph Books' seven.
The five CRP employees being laid off include Kara Rota, who has worked at CRP for four years, serving as executive editor since March 2022; and Alicia Sparrow, an acquisitions editor who has worked at the press for the past two years. In addition, an assistant project editor and associate designer have been let go, while another assistant project editor was laid off from CRP but will reportedly remain an IPG employee.
At Triumph Books, sales manager Tom Galvin, who joined Triumph in 2012, will be laid off, along with Kelly Peterson, IPG director of digital strategy for the last four years.
IPG CEO Joe Matthews told PW the company remains committed to its 50-year-old publishing programs but that "the current market" required adjustments.
"IPG made the decision to reduce the title count for 2023 after disappointing sales in 2022 for its in-house publishing division Chicago Review Press. CRP is now reducing headcount in line with the smaller list," Matthews told PW in a statement: "Likewise, 2023 has been disappointing thus far for IPG’s distribution division and several positions have been eliminated in response. In total, nine positions have been eliminated while four new positions have been created across all divisions as IPG re-balances the business."
The layoffs are the most notable personnel changes at the company since IPG launched an in-house field sales team in January 2021, and subsequently acquired U.K.distributor United Independent Distributors later that fall. According to a well-placed source, the original team of four field reps have now all moved on to other companies, and the domestic sales department—currently comprised of 15 people—"has almost completely turned over” since January 2022.
