1stBooks Library, the Bloomington, Ind., print-on-demand publisher, has received several million dollars in fresh capital from the investment groups Gazelle TechVentures and Johnson Ventures. This is the first outside investment the five-year-old company has received, and both firms are now represented on 1stBooks' board.
The company will use the funds to boost its marketing and branding efforts and to upgrade its infrastructure "to position us for rapid growth over the next four to five years," according to Robert McCormack. McCormack, who had been 1stBooks' chief operating officer, was recently named president, succeeding the retiring Tim Jacobs, one of the company's founders.
Most of the marketing and branding funds will alert authors of 1stBooks' services, although some money will be used to promote its titles to retailers and consumers. Currently, most publicity, including the full-page ads the company occasionally runs in the New York Times Book Review, are paid for by authors.
1stBooks is on track to publish 5,000 new titles this year, and revenue for the first nine months of the year was up 65%. McCormack attributed the increase to more titles published as well as more sales per title. He said a top selling 1stBook book will sell between 5,000 to 10,000 copies. And much like traditional book publishers McCormack said the fourth quarter is 1stBooks' busiest season. "We're looking for a significant boost, both in sales and the number of manuscripts we publish, in December," McCormack said.
