Following a strong finish to 2005, SCB Distributors co-owner Molly Maguire projects that sales for the Gardenia, Calif.-based company will hit $10 million for the first time since she and her husband, Aaron Silverman, founded it 16 years ago.
"We've been inching toward this goal for several years," said Maguire. She attributes the company's climb in sales to strong literary titles like Kelly Link's Magic for Beginners (Small Beer Press) and the illustrated edition of J.T. Leroy's Harold's End (Last Gasp) that have done well in the book trade. In addition, SCB has reached beyond the traditional bookstore market for a number of its titles. For example, it sold 16,000 copies of the humor book Bla Bla: 600 Incredibly Useless Facts from the Swedish design group Nicotext to Urban Outfitters, while the Lillian Vernon catalogue took 12,000 copies of Silver Lake's Identity Theft: How to Protect Your Name, Your Credit and Your Vital Information.
To further boost its nontraditional book sales, SCB developed several subject catalogues over the past year: Revel, for its erotica books; Ascent, Paths for Health, Spirituality and Adventure, for mind, body and spirit books; and the SCB Children's Catalogue. In 2005, SCB also strengthened its burgeoning art list by signing New York City—based Channel Photographics, which does high-end art photography titles; London-based Immprint, publishers of pop art, fashion photography and film books; and Rock on Books in San Francisco, owned by iconic rock photographer Jay Blakesberg.
