While distribution and fulfillment are nothing new for 61-year-old Tuttle Publishing, which specializes in Asian-interest books and is a member of the Periplus Publishing Group, the company's commitment to expanding its clients has changed. "We're going after it with a renewed energy," said sales and marketing director John Hays. "We actually have three warehouses here in North Clarendon, Vt.; each is about 75,000 square feet. What we offer is a Cadillac service. We're very exclusive and very selective." Inner Traditions/Bear and Co. in neighboring Rochester, Vt., are long-time fulfillment customers. Distribution clients include Merehurst, Shasta Abbey Press, Healing Tao Books, Kosei Publishing Company, Everyman, Paperweight Press and the Tai Chi Foundation. Recently Tuttle added Kotan Publishing, with headquarters in Tokyo, which produces English translations of Japanese books, such as The Shore Beyond Good and Evil: A Report from Inside Burma's Opium Kingdom by Hideyuki Takano.
Diamond Book Distributors also looked to the East for its new book and comic book client, ADV Manga, the latest venture of A.D. Vision Inc., which brings Japanese animation and Asian pop culture to American audiences. Its first manga releases in the U.S., printed in the right-to-left format of the original Japanese, include Full Metal Panic Manga and Azumanga Daioh. And Client Distribution Services is working hard to give its latest client, the Kennel Club, a good home for its comprehensive series of breed-specific books, which will ultimately cover 370 breeds.
