When Gulf Publishing Company was sold in 2000, it didn't take long for director of sales John W. Wilson, a member of the advisory board of Arte Publico Press, to settle on a new career path. Within months he formed Wilson & Associates in Alvin, Tex., to distribute technical books published by his company under its Orsa Press imprint and books by other small presses. The books are also available direct through Wilson's www.TheBookDistributor.com online store.
"I'm having so much fun in distribution. Publishing is taking a back seat by a long way," Wilson told PW. So far he has signed 16 clients, including, most recently, Dallas-based Top Hat, which joined at September's Mid-South regional show. The house is best known for its YA Agatha Award—winning Red Card: A Zeke Armstrong Mystery by Daniel Hale and Matthew LaBrot.
"I'm not even beginning to pretend we compete with PGW. Most of the publishers that come to us are first-time publishers with two or three books. I'm interested in small regional publishers," said Wilson. That's not to say that Wilson's distribution doesn't have its share of international publishers. It represents Cualann Press and Whittles Publishing, both based in Scotland, and handles Canadian distribution for most of its clients.
