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A federal bankruptcy court judge in Delaware Friday approved a proposal to pay most of the money owed independent publishers after the parent company of Publishers Group West, the Berkeley firm that distributes many small press books, declared bankruptcy.

New York book distributor Perseus Books Group will pay 70 percent of the money that Publishers Group West owed the independents under the plan approved Friday, said Perseus CEO David Steinberger. The company will also distribute products for the publishers, many of which are based in the Bay Area.

The publishers in turn will have to waive claims against Publishers Group West and its bankrupt parent, and agree to a contract with Perseus.

"We will write checks as soon as we close,'' Steinberger said. "The ... publishers need money.''

Steinberger said approximately 130 publishers across the country are owed between $25 million and $26 million by Publishers Group West. About 85 percent of the publishers indicated they would sign agreements with Perseus, he said. The distributor is asking for four-year contracts, longer than the industry's typical three-year period.

Distributors are vital for small publishers, marketing their products and giving them access to large retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Borders and Amazon.

Read the rest of this article at the Chronicle.

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

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