Tuttle Publishing is preparing for the fall publication of the follow-up to the bestselling book in the company's history. Absolut Sequel: The Absolut Advertising Story Continues by Richard W. Lewis will come out nearly a decade after Tuttle published Absolut Book. The original, which featured a collection of Absolut ads, has sold nearly 300,000 copies, and Tuttle is planning a 100,000-copy first printing for Absolut Sequel.
Tuttle beat out HarperCollins and Abrams to keep Lewis, a former ad executive with TBWA/ Chiat/Day, on its list. As part of the deal, Lewis will be involved in the book's marketing and publicity efforts. (Promotion plans include a national advertising campaign in the very same glossy magazines as Absolut vodka.)
The release of Absolut Sequel will be the latest step in the turnaround at Tuttle, which began four years ago, when it moved its sales and marketing staff from Boston to its distribution center in North Clarendon, Vt. (Incidentally, the company has now closed its Boston offices entirely, and all five of the company's editorial and production staff have been offered jobs in Vermont.)
According to sales and marketing director John Hays, the consolidation is part of a larger strategy that will bring a double-digit sales increase this year and sales totals to nearly $10 million annually. The company also now has about a dozen fulfillment clients, including longtime Vermont neighbor Inner Traditions.
Hays attributes Tuttle's turnaround to the decision to concentrate on categories such as lifestyle/cookbooks, languages, and architecture and design. Tuttle is, however, planning to increase the number of titles it publishes annually, from 160 to 200 books, by the end of 2006.
In addition to the Absolut book, Tuttle publishing director Ed Walters has high hopes for a number of other fall titles, including the newly released third edition of Reading and Writing Chinese and Soul of the Samurai.
