In the first big development since its acquisition by Follett Corp. in April, Baker & Taylor has formed a new business unit to provide publishers with international sales and marketing services. The new unit is called Global Publishers Services (GPS).
“Baker & Taylor is already doing a significant amount of business around the world,” David Cully, executive v-p and president of retail markets, told PW. GPS will, he noted, build on B&T’s global logistical and IT infrastructure.
Despite the number of large players already in the international distribution business, Cully, said that small and medium-sized publishers really need representation on the ground. “We see this as almost a boutique operation,” he added.
Cully emphasized GPS’s ability to get books to market quickly, two to three days to the Middle East and Europe, three days to Asia. B&T will acquire inventory from its international distribution clients, and it will rely on local offset printing and on POD. In April B&T entered into an international partnership with the U.K.’s Printondemand-Worldwide.
Chitra Bopardikar, who handled international sales and business development for PGW and Perseus Books Group for the past decade, will lead GPS as v-p and general manager. Her team includes Michael Abbott, formerly with Random House UK, who will serve as director of sales and marketing in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and director of new business development. She will also work with John Bacon, v-p of International Retail for B&T.
Correction: An earlier version of this story listed John Bacon as a member of Bopardikar's team. He continues to run B&T's international retail business.
