Dave Wurster continues to push his company, BookMasters Inc., based in Ashland, Ohio, deeper into the distribution business, hiring distribution veteran and former PGW president Rich Freese to lead BookMasters Distribution Services, a new unit that will offer distribution and sales to independent publishers. Freese will also direct Atlas Books, BMI's distribution arm for small presses. BMI's other businesses, digital services and manufacturing, will be lead by Matt Wurster and Ray Sevin, respectively.

Freese said BDS will be looking to represent independent publishers “that have a significant presence in the market and are looking for dynamic growth.” The first to sign with BDS is a new company, Imagine Publishing, that's being launched by former Sterling Publishing CEO Charles Nurnberg (see story, this page). Freese said he has eight additional contracts out for review. A sales conference is planned for December, after which BDS will begin selling its clients' spring/summer lists. The sales operation is almost completely in place, with Jeremy Nurnberg appointed to the post of v-p of sales. Freese anticipates covering the top 200 accounts—including mass merchandisers and special markets—with in-house reps and using commissioned groups to sell to remaining retailers. Freese already has agreements with rep groups in Canada, the U.K. and Australia for international sales.

Wurster said he believes BMI's ability to take a book “from manuscript to market” distinguishes his company from other distributors and printers. “These aren't startup operations,” Wurster said about BMI's manufacturing and digital businesses. The family-owned BMI has been manufacturing books for 40 year. Clients, from both BDS and Atlas, can use any or all of BMI's services, Wurster said. “We intend to be very flexible.” In addition to printing and distributing traditional books, BMI is positioned to distribute e-books. “We have relationships with e-wholesalers and retailers,” Wurster said.

The launch of BDS will not distract BMI from Atlas, Wurster maintained, which, helped by the acquisitions of Biblio and Bookworld, now has more than 900 clients. “We intend to grow that business,” Wurster said, noting that some Atlas clients may transition to BDS at some point.

“We think there is a lot of synergy between our divisions,” Wurster said. “It makes sense to restructure the image of BMI as a vertically integrated company that offers manufacturing, digitization and distribution.”