Perseus, Harper Go Separate Ways

by Steven Zeitchik, PW NewsLine -- Publishers Weekly, 3/2/2005

Back in December, Perseus' David Steinberger confirmed that the house might be looking for a new company to handle warehousing and other back-end distribution functions when its contract with Harper was up in February.

Well, now February is over and the house is indeed not renewing. But where it's going remains a question.

In an internal memo, Steinberger has told employees that the company is "winnow[ing] down our set of options" and that it expects a decision this month. In an interview, he declined to list alternative partners (earlier speculation had Warner and S&S among the prospects to pick up what's thought a comparatively lucrative business) and said only that "We've been impressed with the caliber of proposals we've received." Harper will handle Perseus titles through August in the U.S. and until the end of 2005 in Canada.

Until 2002 Perseus used Harper to handle all sales and distribution, but after the acquisition of Running Press, the company built its own sales force but left fulfillment to Harper. This move marks the final split between Perseus and the company that helped give birth to it.