A southern hemisphere winter afternoon in Melbourne at Federation Park. Image – Getty: lkonya
By Porter Anderson, Editor in Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Subordinate
IA statement from Chicago-based Independent Publishers Group (IPG) said Melbourne Books, an independent publisher founded in Australia in 2000, has agreed to a distribution agreement.
Melbourne Books is an independent Australian publisher founded in 2000. It publishes a wide range of books including biographies, cookbooks, art, architecture, social history, travel, academic works and novels. The publishing house is headed by David Tenenbaum, its publisher, and in its description of the publishing house’s work, it states that every book Melbourne publishes is “a well-considered cultural artefact”.
IPG’s sales work on behalf of Melbourne is scheduled to begin on January 1 and will cover the US and Canadian markets.
At the same time, IPA announced several other new agreements.
In California, Whimspire Books is a children’s book publisher based in Sacramento, the state capital. It focuses on books that the company says “stimulate children’s imaginations and build confidence.”
The company’s production consists of picture books and IPG will begin work on this inventory on February 1 and distribute the books in both Canada and the United States.
Also based in California is WTAW Press, a nonprofit company based in Santa Rosa that is committed to publishing “exceptional, timeless literary books.” The company values diversity in its self-description, writing: “We recognize that the publishing industry has historically excluded marginalized groups, and WTAW Press is committed to creating a more representative publishing industry for all people. A meaningful literary world is one that decentralizes and celebrates the diversity of the human experience. It is paramount that we listen to and promote authors who – due to race, class, gender, geography, disability, and more – have been ignored or excluded by the traditional publishing industry.”
IPG distribution for WTAW began in July and is reported to an international account.
BLoved Publishing, another US-based publishing house, will be distributed by IPG in the US, Canada and the UK starting November 1.
BLoved specializes in translating and publishing popular Korean BL manhwa and novels into English, as well as Chinese danmei, baihe, and BL manhua in partnership with Monogatari Novels. BLoved says it “seeks to bring captivating stories and immersive worlds to life through careful translation for English readers to enjoy in print.”
These terms refer to “Boys’ Love” (BL), “Girls’ Love” (GL), and the Korean “Manhwa” genre, which focuses on strong women, a form that is particularly successful in South Korea. The publishing house also produces Japanese works, particularly manga, which include BL and GL series.
And in a fifth deal, IPG announced its agreement to begin distribution in the U.S. and Canada for Anderson Entertainment on January 1. The company “creates, develops, produces and maintains intellectual property and content” of books in a wide range of formats – hardcovers, illustrated books, comic anthologies, series guides and audiobooks.
The work is based on the company’s own properties, including the shows Thunderbirds And Space:1999.
For more information from Publishing Perspectives on international distribution, click here, for more on IPG’s work, click here, and for more on independent publishing, click here.
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