Distribution Daybook: More to Celebrate

Julie Schaper, president of Consortium Book Sales & Distribution in St. Paul, Minn., reported a solid holiday season. "Our fiscal year," she said, "ended June 30, and through that period [last year] we had record dollars. We certainly plan to exceed our budget projection dollars this year." She anticipates that some growth will come from newly added publishers formerly with LPC, such as Common Courage in Monroe, Maine, and Ocean Press in Melbourne, Australia. She also projects strong sales for longtime distribution client South End Press in Cambridge, Mass., and its forthcoming War Talk (Apr.) by Arundhati Roy, winner of the 2002 Lannan Foundation Prize for Cultural Freedom. Another boost may come from sales of books by two authors named to Granta's 2003 list of the best young British novelists: Toby Litt, published by Marion Boyars, and David Peace, with Serpent's Tale.

In other news, Julie Schaper added COO to her title; she was previously president, sales and marketing. She will take over all finance and operations responsibilities previously handled by Peter Heege, who is leaving the company. Elizabeth Cavanaugh was promoted to v-p, finance & administration. She was previously assistant controller and manager, human resource.