MacMurray &Beck Acquired By San Francisco Indie

Bridget Kinsella |

Oct 23, 2000

News
MacMurray &Beck Acquired By San Francisco Indie Bridget Kinsella -- 10/23/00 The one-year-old San Francisco-based independent publisher McAdam/Cage acquired MacMurray & Beck late last week for an undisclosed sum, just one month after the Denver, Colo., company was put up for sale (News, Sept. 18). "It made good economic sense for both parties," McAdam/Cage publisher and founder David Poindexter told PW. "They are doing essentially what we want to be doing." Since its beginning in 1992, MacMurray & Beck has tried to make its mark as a successful independent publisher of literary fiction outside of New York. The press received national attention when Patricia Henley's Hummingbird House was nominated for a National Book Award last year and previously with the publication and then significant paperback rights sale of the critically acclaimed Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. Industry insiders wondered what was left of M&B following the departure in February of publisher Frederick Ramey and general fiction editor Greg Michalson. The small Denver house took another blow last month when Henley signed a six-figure deal with Knopf for her next book. "It is a misconception that they were picked clean," said McAdam/Cage editor Pat Walsh. "The people that they have and the work they have developed are wonderful. And that's what we've got." Walsh said that McAdam/Cage looked to benefit from M&B's sales and distribution expertise and will beef up M&B's promotion and marketing budget after the asset-only sale. Leslie Koffler will remain as editorial director at M&B, which will operate out of Colorado at least through the transitional phase, through the holidays. Orders are being processed separately by M&B and McAdam/Cage during the transition. "As an independent publisher, the learning curve that they experienced in the nine years they have been in business really covers just about everything," said Poindexter, adding that the purchase "puts us ahead a few years" of M/C's growth plan. The acquisition comes as McAdam/Cage is in the midst of publishing its first season of titles, a small, eclectic list of literary fiction and nonfiction, including the memoir Infidelity by Ann Pearlman, which garnered positive media attention including a starred PW review. "They have a great backlist," said Walsh. "In reading all of their titles now, it's clear that we certainly would have published any one of them. That's how we know we have a good fit."

News

MacMurray &Beck Acquired By San Francisco Indie
Bridget Kinsella -- 10/23/00

The one-year-old San Francisco-based independent publisher McAdam/Cage acquired MacMurray & Beck late last week for an undisclosed sum, just one month after the Denver, Colo., company was put up for sale (News, Sept. 18). "It made good economic sense for both parties," McAdam/Cage publisher and founder David Poindexter told PW. "They are doing essentially what we want to be doing."

Since its beginning in 1992, MacMurray & Beck has tried to make its mark as a successful independent publisher of literary fiction outside of New York. The press received national attention when Patricia Henley's Hummingbird House was nominated for a National Book Award last year and previously with the publication and then significant paperback rights sale of the critically acclaimed Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. Industry insiders wondered what was left of M&B following the departure in February of publisher Frederick Ramey and general fiction editor Greg Michalson. The small Denver house took another blow last month when Henley signed a six-figure deal with Knopf for her next book. "It is a misconception that they were picked clean," said McAdam/Cage editor Pat Walsh. "The people that they have and the work they have developed are wonderful. And that's what we've got." Walsh said that McAdam/Cage looked to benefit from M&B's sales and distribution expertise and will beef up M&B's promotion and marketing budget after the asset-only sale. Leslie Koffler will remain as editorial director at M&B, which will operate out of Colorado at least through the transitional phase, through the holidays. Orders are being processed separately by M&B and McAdam/Cage during the transition.

"As an independent publisher, the learning curve that they experienced in the nine years they have been in business really covers just about everything," said Poindexter, adding that the purchase "puts us ahead a few years" of M/C's growth plan.

The acquisition comes as McAdam/Cage is in the midst of publishing its first season of titles, a small, eclectic list of literary fiction and nonfiction, including the memoir Infidelity by Ann Pearlman, which garnered positive media attention including a starred PW review. "They have a great backlist," said Walsh. "In reading all of their titles now, it's clear that we certainly would have published any one of them. That's how we know we have a good fit."

A version of this article appeared in the 10/23/2000 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: