Total revenues at the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group rose 28% last year, to approximately $59.5 million. RLPG is the parent company of National Book Network as well as an array of academic, reference and trade publishers. Revenues in the publishing group were up 26% in 1999, to about $16 million, while sales at NBN increased 32%, to $43.5 million.
RLPG president Jed Lyons said that growth in the publishing group was due in part to the 12 acquisitions RPLG made over the past two years, acquiring six publishers in both 1998 and 1999. "A number of the new companies are starting to kick in serious revenues," Lyons said, citing as an example Ivan R. Dee, which has doubled in size and expanded its office space by 100% since being bought by RLPG two years ago. Lyons said a key to RLPG's strategy is allowing the companies it acquires to run autonomously, most under the guidance of their original owners.
Sales growth in the publishing group was also boosted by a 42% increase in the Rowman & Littlefield imprint, which reported strong gains in both its trade and textbook operations. Sales at Scarecrow Press were up 20%.
RLPG's acquisition spree is continuing in 2000. Lyons told PW that the company has already reached an agreement to acquire J.S. Sanders & Co., which specializes in books about the South; a second purchase is also close to completion. RLPG will also enter the print-on-demand arena this year. The company is considering bringing an Edward Brothers on-demand system in-house or outsourcing its business to Lightning Print. The combination of acquisitions and internal growth should boost revenues to $24 million in the publishing group this year, Lyons predicted.
At NBN, Lyons told PW, sales were up for virtually all of its client publishers. NBN has been focusing on helping its publishers generate more sales from fewer titles, and in doing so, has cut its publishing roster from more than 100 to 80. Among the publishers added in 1999 were Consumer Reports Books, Learning Express, Carlton Books and Sanctuary Publishing. NBN is expecting sales to hit $53 million this year.
