About:
Founded in 1996 by venture capitalist Frank Pearl, the Perseus Book Group is an independent publishing and distribution company, with imprints such as Avalon Travel, Basic Books, Vanguard Press, Westview Press, DaCapo, Weinstein books, and, since 2007, Publishers Group West (PGW). As a distributor, Perseus represents roughly 300 publishers. In 2005, Perseus acquired Client Distribution Services to strengthen distribution.
With the launch of a separate entity, Constellation, Perseus began a complete set of digital services for independent publishers aiming at enabling and supporting digital publishing, distribution and monitoring of digital sales and marketing.
Key company developments in 2011 & 1st half year 2012
Financial:
Perseus does not release any financial information other than the total annual revenues.
Ownership, mergers & acquisition, internal organization:
Frank Pearl, Perseus’ founder, died in May 2012.
International:
In 2011, Perseus launched a cooperation with the British Faber and Faber group, branded Faber Factory, in order to extend their services to the UK.
Digital:
Perseus extended their distribution service to agents and authors under the brand of Argo Navis in 2011, and launched the digital distribution platform Constellation.
Bestselling authors & titles:
n/a
Key points for analysis & conclusions:
Perseus and Constellation, an ebook aggregator and distributor, are positioned in both the US and internationally as a platform of scale for independent publishers as well as authors and agents.
Earlier developments:
In 2007, Perseus was named “Publisher of the Year” by Publishers Weekly.
For 2010, Perseus announced to reduce its list by about 100 titles due to sluggish consumer sales and inventory cutbacks. It also had laid off roughly 20 members of its staff.
Note: Figures are based on sales generated in calendar 2011 or—for corporations with a fiscal year—from fiscal 2011. Data are from publicly available sources and include sales of books, journals, and digital products. Because publishing data were unavailable, Pannini and Disney/Hyperion are excluded from the rankings. The listing and publisher profiles were compiled by international publishing consultant Rudiger Wischenbart under the aegis of Livres Hebdo.
