HFS (formerly Hopkins Fulfillment Services), which handles distribution for Johns Hopkins University Press and 12 other university presses and nonprofit institutions, has launched HFS Digital.
Under the new program, which Hopkins anticipates fully rolling out by January 2012, HFS will provide print-on-demand and digital short-run printing options as well as e-book services, including conversion and single-title direct-to-consumer e-book sales in partnership with Sheridan Books. This will give HFS clients the option to sell scholarly works and monographs not suited to commercial e-book vendors direct from their Web sites. HFS plans to add e-book rental and chapter-level sales, or chunking, in the near future.
“The book industry is changing rapidly. We feel that as a modern book distributor we must alter our business models, and mindsets, and focus on the overall concept of distributing content instate of focusing solely on format,” says HFS manager Davida Breier.
