Perseus Books Group was an American

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

company founded in 1996 by investor Frank Pearl. Perseus acquired the trade publishing division of

Addison-Wesley Addison-Wesley is an American publisher of textbooks and computer literature. It is an imprint of Pearson PLC, a global publishing and education company. In addition to publishing books, Addison-Wesley also distributes its technical titles through ...

(including the Merloyd Lawrence imprint) in 1997. It was named Publisher of the Year in 2007 by ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' magazine for its role in taking on publishers formerly distributed by

Publishers Group West Publishers Group West (PGW) is a book distributor founded in 1976 in Berkeley, California, which distributes to bookstores in the U.S. and internationally. They were the largest distributor of independent presses in the U.S. in the 1990s. In 2007, ...

and acquiring Avalon Publishing Group. After the death of Frank Pearl, Perseus was sold to Centre Lane Partners in 2015, a

private equity firm A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...

. In April 2016, its name and publishing business was acquired by

Hachette Book Group Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Grou ...

and its distribution business by

Ingram Content Group Ingram Content Group is an American service provider to the book publishing industry, based in La Vergne, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Ingram Industries. Shawn Morin is CEO, and John R. Ingram is chairman of Ingram Industries. History The ...

. In January 2007, the Perseus Books Group purchased Avalon Publishing Group, the parent company of

Carroll & Graf Carroll & Graf Publishers was an American publishing company based in New York City, New York, known for publishing a wide range of fiction and non-fiction by both new and established authors, as well as issuing reprints of previously hard-t ...

and Thunder's Mouth Press; the purchaser folded both imprints and stopped publishing books under those names in May 2007. In December 2018,

Hachette Books Hachette Books, formerly Hyperion Books, is a general-interest book imprint of the Perseus Books Group, which is a division of Hachette Book Group and ultimately a part of Lagardère Group. Established in 1990, Hachette publishes general-intere ...

became an imprint of Perseus Books Group. Concurrently,

Da Capo Press Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books. History Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional of ...

and Da Capo's Lifelong became part of Hachette.

Imprints

The Perseus Books Group currently has the following imprints: *Avalon Travel **

Moon Publications Moon is a travel guidebook publisher founded in 1973 in Chico, California. The company started with travel guides to Asia and later also published guides to the Americas. The company is now based in Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a cit ...

Rick Steves Richard John Steves Jr. (born May 10, 1955), known professionally as Rick Steves, is an American travel writer, author, activist, and television personality. His travel philosophy encourages people to explore less-touristy areas of destination ...

(formerly John Muir Publications) *

Basic Books Basic Books is a book publisher founded in 1950 and located in New York, now an imprint of Hachette Book Group. It publishes books in the fields of psychology, philosophy, economics, science, politics, sociology, current affairs, and history. H ...

**Basic Civitas **Seal Press * DaCapo *Hachette Books *

Running Press Running Press is an American publishing company and member of the Perseus Books Group. The publisher's offices are located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with many of the corporate functions taking place in Perseus' New York City headquarters. I ...

PublicAffairs PublicAffairs (or PublicAffairs Books) is an imprint of Perseus Books, an American book publishing company located in New York City and has been a part of the Hachette Book Group since 2016. PublicAffairs was launched in 1997 by Peter Osnos. ...

Nation Books Type Media Center (formerly The Nation Institute) is a nonprofit media organization that was previously associated with ''The Nation'' magazine. It sponsors fellows, hosts forums, publishes books and investigative reporting, and awards several an ...

Former imprints

Before Avalon Publishing Group was integrated into the Perseus Books Group, it published on 14 imprint presses. In 2007, some of these imprints were integrated into the Perseus Books Group, while others folded or were sold to other companies. Perseus also sold one of their imprints in the restructuring process.

Avalon Publishing Group

*Axoplasm *

Black Square Editions ''The Brooklyn Rail'' is a publication and platform for the arts, culture, humanities, and politics. The ''Rail'' is based out of Brooklyn, New York. It features in-depth critical essays, fiction, poetry, as well as interviews with artists, criti ...

*Blue Moon Books * Carroll & Graf Publishers — acquired in 1998, folded in 2007 *

Four Walls Eight Windows Four Walls Eight Windows was an American independent book publisher in New York City. Known as 4W8W or Four Walls, the company was notable for its dual commitment to progressive politics and adventurous, edgy literary fiction. History Four W ...

— absorbed into Thunder's Mouth Press in 2004 *

Marlowe & Company Da Capo Press is an American publishing company with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. It is now an imprint of Hachette Books. History Founded in 1964 as a publisher of music books, as a division of Plenum Publishers, it had additional off ...

— absorbed into the DaCapo imprint *No Exit Press * Seal Press *Shoemaker & Hoard Publishers — sold to Counterpoint LLC *Thunder's Mouth Press — folded in 2007

Perseus Books Group

Counterpoint Press Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard and the independent S ...

— sold to

Counterpoint LLC Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company distributed by Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Avalon Publishing Group's Shoemaker & Hoard and the independent So ...

*Vanguard Press started in 2007, closed in 2012 * Weinstein Books - closed in 2017 * Westview - sold to

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...

and absorbed into

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

Distribution

Perseus previously owned separate book distribution companies. *Publishers Group West (PGW), founded in 1976, based in Berkeley, California. *Consortium Book Sales and Distribution, founded in 1985, based in St. Paul, Minnesota. *Perseus Distribution, founded in 1999, based in New York City. *Legato Publishers Group, founded in 2013, based in Chicago.

References

External links

Perseus Books Group
Book distributors Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Publishing companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1996 1996 establishments in New York (state) Ingram family {{US-publish-company-stub