Capstone Publishing Group continues to expand its reach. The Minnesota-based publisher of books for the school and library markets, which last spring launched Capstone Young Readers, a trade line of children’s books, has acquired Maupin House Publishers. Maupin House, based in Gainesville, Fla., has since 1990 specialized in producing literacy resources for teachers and other education professionals, including the CraftPlus K-8 Writing Program, a curriculum with lesson plans, assessments, CDs, templates, student handouts, and other materials, all aligned to the Common Core standards.
Maupin House founder and CEO Julie Graddy will remain in place as a consultant for the next year to support the acquisition of new titles and to facilitate a smooth transition. While one Maupin House editor will retain that position during the transition period, the other two employees will be laid off. Capstone Publishing is hiring an acquisitions editor to work in its suburban Minneapolis offices.
Approximately 200 Maupin House titles in print and in e-book formats will be distributed by Capstone Publishing Group, effective immediately.
Capstone Publishing Group’s acquisition of Maupin House products will provide a foundation for the launch of Capstone Professional, which will provide professional development services for educators through onsite and online training, webinars, books, and e-books. While Maupin House titles are already available in electronic format, Capstone intends to expand those digital offerings.
“This [acquisition] provided the impetus for us to launch Capstone Professional,” Matt Keller, Capstone Publishing group chief marketing officer told PW. “We’re already in schools. We want to get into more actual professional development and training of educators.”
