Baker & Taylor, a key book distributor to public and academic libraries, has been sold to an independent, privately owned company led by B&T’s own president and CEO, Aman Kochar. B&T’s related businesses (Baker & Taylor Publisher Services, Baker & Taylor UK, collectionHQ, and James Bennett) are moving with the sale, and leadership remains unchanged.
In 2019, Baker & Taylor stopped serving as a book wholesaler for retailers, leaving that market almost entirely to Ingram in the US. They continue to focus exclusively on the library market. At a recent event, Kochar said, “Strategically, nothing has changed because libraries continue to be that resource that people rely upon. What has changed is the way they access the library, which is sitting at home.”
Follett, which sells to PreK-12 libraries, schools, and higher education institutions, purchased B&T in 2016. But Follett has had a rough ride during the pandemic and earlier this year sold off its K-12 software and content division. As of today, Follett consists only of its higher education group, which operates online and retail campus stores.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
