Kent's New Publishing Gig

With the backing from the private equity firm Boston Ventures, former F+W Publications CEO Stephen Kent is back with a new company modeled after F+W. Cincinnati-based New Track Media will focus on acquiring book and magazine publishers that serve consumer enthusiast readers on multiple platforms.

The first acquisition for New Track, made last week, was Sky Publishing Corp., a 65-year-old employee-owned publisher in Cambridge, Mass., that serves astronomy enthusiasts. Sky, which is best known for its monthly Sky & Telescope magazine, also has a bimonthly magazine for astronomy newcomers, Night Sky, and recently revved up its book publishing program. "In the past," said v-p of marketing and business development Marcy L. McCreary, "we published two, maybe three books a year. Last year we created a separate book and product division, and this year 11 books will come out." Spring releases include Sky & Telescope's Pocket Sky Atlas and Sue French's Celestial Sampler.

For Kent, Sky is representative of the kind of vertically integrated companies that New Media will acquire, in this case with platforms in magazines, books, the Web and symposia. Going forward, he said, "We're being very careful about growth, because we want to make sure we're acquiring strategically. We've identified a range of clusters where we have opportunities." He declined to identify those clusters other than science, saying only that they are in "softer areas."

Sky will remain in the Boston area, but at a new location. Sky senior management will retain their positions, and Sky will continue to handle its own distribution.