Front Street Merges with Boyds Mills Press

by Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 8/23/2004

Boyds Mills Press, the trade publishing division of Highlights for Children, has acquired the assets of Stephen Roxburgh's Front Street Inc. Under terms of the deal, Roxburgh will continue as president and publisher of Front Street and add the title of associate publisher of Boyds Mills, a position that will let him get involved with the Boyds Mills list over time. Front Street's four-person creative team will remain in place in the company's Asheville, N.C., offices.

Roxburgh said the deal will relieve the Front Street staff of back-office chores, freeing the company to concentrate on acquiring and publishing books. As a result, Roxburgh said, he hopes to publish more than the 12 children's titles a year that Front Street traditionally has released. Front Street will remain a distinct imprint of Boyds Mills. Kent Brown, Boyds Mills publisher, said the addition of Front Street "gives us more of an ability to serve middle-grade and young adult readers." Front Street has a backlist of about 100 titles.

Chronicle Books will continue to distribute Front Street's titles, along with the Handprint Books line, to the trade and library markets.