Creative Homeowner Forms Distribution Unit

Creative Homeowner, the Upper Saddle River, N.J., publisher of lifestyle books, has entered the distribution business by forming a new unit, Creative Book Group. Maureen Gordon, who served long stints with Baker & Taylor and Penguin, has been appointed v-p of sales and publisher relations for CBG. Gordon will oversee sales for Creative Homeowner and act as publisher liaison for publishing clients.

Gordon told PW that Creative Homeowner hopes to attract two or three clients for the fall season. Although Creative Homeowner specializes in lifestyle titles, Gordon said the company is looking to take on established independent publishers who have a niche in any nonfiction category.

According to Gordon, the creation of CBG is a "natural evolution" for Creative Homeowner, which has been publishing do-it-yourself titles for more than 20 years and added more upmarket lifestyle books about five years ago. Creative has been distributing publishers' titles to nontraditional outlets for a number of years, but with the growth of its trade-oriented line the company wants to add more titles to its own list. "We have the warehouse space, the systems and the sales force all in place," said Gordon. Publishers that sign on with CBG will be sold exclusively by the company to bookstores and libraries and will have the option to use CBG to reach the company's nontraditional outlets.

Creative Homeowner publishes about 15 titles a year and has a backlist of approximately 80. It publishes five main product lines with titles ranging from booklets and project plans to detailed books such as its 100,000-copy-selling Decorating with Architectural Trimwork.