Winton, Shoemaker & Co. Buys Counterpoint
By Bridget Kinsella -- Publishers Weekly, 5/10/2007 8:40:00 AM
Charlie Winton’s new publishing venture, Winton, Shoemaker & Co. LLC, has acquired Counterpoint from the Perseus Book Group, and Counterpoint executive editor Amy Scheibe will be departing as executive editor
Winton said the idea to acquire Counterpoint was part of the original negotiations to sell Avalon (Winton’s former company) to Perseus, but that the bankruptcy of Publishers Group West "put it on the back burner while we straightened out the world." Perseus wound up acquiring PGW during the PGW bankruptcy proceedings and represents 120 PGW clients.
Winton, who will be chairman and CEO of what will be called Counterpoint LLC, with Shoemaker & Hoard lists eventually folded into it, said he expected the final details of the deal to be worked out by June. Jack Shoemaker, the original co-founder and publisher of Counterpoint, will become v-p and editorial director of the new Counterpoint. Among the investors in the company are Counterpoint authors Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder; the Perseus Book Group will remain Counterpoint’s distributor and hold a minority interest in the company.
The acquisition happens amid rumors of additional changes at Perseus, but Winton stressed that negotiations for the purchase dated back to last fall.
Looking ahead, Winton wants to build and balance the Counterpoint list with more nonfiction; he also hinted that there might be some more announcements in the coming weeks about moves to further establish Counterpoint as a publishing brand.
Since Counterpoint’s current and fall titles are listed in the Perseus catalogue, they will continue to be distributed to the trade by Perseus. During this same time, Shoemaker & Hoard titles will be distributed by PGW, its current distributor. Winton said since the details were being worked out by "sister and brother" operations, he thought they would run smoothly until all the books can be in the same warehouse.
In the meantime, Winton is shopping for office space in Berkeley for the 10-person Counterpoint staff.
