Within the last couple weeks, two new collectives of independent publishers were announced: The Stable Book Group and the Publishers Cooperative. What both have in common: Keith Riegert of Ulysses Press and Perfect Bound.
- The Stable Book Group consists of a mix of traditional and hybrid publishing operations, including Ulysses Press, Trafalgar Square Books, VeloPress, and She Writes Press.
- Publishers Cooperative consists of traditional publishers AdventureKEEN, C&T Publishing, Gibbs Smith, Mango Publishing, Mixed Media Resources, Mountaineers Books, Schiffer Publishing, and (once again) Ulysses Press. The initial goal of the Publishers Cooperative: reduce costs by consolidating printing and shipping and to make printing more predictable. Learn more in Publishers Weekly.
It wasn’t entirely clear to me how these two efforts differ, so I asked Riegert, president of the Stable Book Group and CEO of Ulysses Press, to offer further clarity.
For the most part, the Stable Book Group is fully acquiring publishing houses where the owners are looking to sell outright. Riegert said, “Trafalgar, She Writes Press, Ulysses, and Velo are all full acquisitions under the Stable umbrella. Each house is purchased under a new LLC, which are all owned by the parent C-corp (Stable Publishing Technologies Corp.). The goal is to roll up indies that have excellent lists, reputations, and editorial operations but struggle with the additional costs associated with owning and operating a publishing company. With the Stable, we can join forces to offer shared services like marketing and accounting while continuing to allow each publisher to maintain its editorial independence and brand (which is the model that Ulysses took with the acquisition of Velo). In addition to the acquisitions, we are also partnering on select joint ventures, like Mountain Gazette Books, and client publishers (who can also utilize our shared resources) like Galpón Press, Michael Jacobs’s new publishing house.”
Meanwhile, the Publishers Cooperative is aimed at increasing the purchasing power for the publishers belonging to the Cooperative.
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.
