Square Deal
by Judith Rosen -- Publishers Weekly, 6/16/2003
If the experiences of Trafalgar Square Publishing in North Pomfret, Vt., are any indication, 2003 could be a beautiful year, in terms of sales. January was Trafalgar's first million-dollar month, with sales up a picturesque 38% over January 2002. "We were taken by surprise," said managing director Paul Feldstein, who sees it as "an indication that we had a good Christmas. It was backlist reordering, and it was the first month of Hesperus [a British publisher specializing in new translations of the classics]. Last year was as expected. We had higher returns than we've had in past years, but we weren't overwhelmed by them. We had more sales to offset them." Trafalgar finished out 2002 with sales up 6.5%. Because it had changed its product mix and moved away from high-priced craft books, except for knitting titles, the number of units shipped last year was also up, by 12%.
