Pearson in Deal with IBM

by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 8/2/2004

Pearson Technology Group has signed a three-year deal with IBM to print business and technology books under the IBM Press imprint. The agreement gives Pearson worldwide rights and covers CD-ROMs and e-books as well as print titles. A Pearson spokesperson said the company expects to release 40 to 60 titles annually under the imprint. Under the direction of Gary June, PTG already has similar agreements with Cisco and Adobe for the Cisco Press and Adobe Press imprints.

IBM has been steadily increasing the number of books its publishes annually for several years, but the agreement with Pearson is the first time its publishing program will be conducted under one imprint. While the line will be predominately written by and geared toward IBM employees, partners and customers, a few books each year could come from sources not directly tied to the computing giant.