To mark its 40th anniversary this year, Independent Publishers Group is doing what a lot of us do when we hit middle age and assess both where we've been and where we're headed: the book distribution company is giving itself a little makeover. IPG is rebranding itself by officially rolling out a new logo and revamping its Web site.
Mark Suchomel, IPG's president, describing the company's original logo and Web site as "staid" and "outdated," explains that the new logo and new Web site will better reflect the company's more complex personality as it enters its fifth decade.
"How people regard us has not caught up with the reality of who we are," Suchomel insists. "We're more technologically savvy, more hip, more at the forefront of providing strong marketing and distribution services."
Suchomel says that while IPG was founded in Chicago in 1971 by David and Mona White to distribute books from about a dozen independent small presses, the company has become "so much more than print books" since being acquired in 1987 by IPG CEO Curt Matthews and his wife, Linda, then and now the publishers of Chicago Review Press. The company, which currently has 165–170 employees, distributes books and other products, including audiobooks, DVDs, cards, and posters, for hundreds of independent publishers all over the world through six distribution programs. "And we've been selling e-books for the past 10 years," Suchomel declared, showing that the company is as hip as Suchomel claims, because he was among those paying attention 10 years ago.
Suchomel explains that the role of a book distribution company has changed a lot in the past 40 years, just as the entire industry itself has changed. "We're much more of a marketing company now," he says, describing IPG personnel as working closely with client publishers throughout the entire process of positioning their books in the marketplace.
Of course, every birthday requires a party with cake and champagne, and IPG's big 4-0 is no exception. The birthday party will be held in booth 2738, at 3:30 p.m. today. No need to bring presents, because IPG will be the one handing out gifts to booksellers helping them celebrate.
