In my last post I mentioned the Publisher’s Group West bankruptcy issue and linked to the New York Times article about it, the Mediabistro post that provided a little explanation, and the snarky parody site, Radio Free PGW. Then I had a long talk with my publisher on the phone, and realized how serious this all is. For anyone who writes, publishes and reads books. Bottom line: get ready to say goodbye to many indy/small book publishers.

The New York Times article quoted an “anonymous” (um, yeah) publishing executive, stating that “authors and readers were unlikely to be affected by the bankruptcy filing”. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Let me explain, with what I’ve learned tonight. Publishers Group West is the largest book sales and distribution company in the US — it is the distributor that my publisher, Cleis Press, uses and PGW doesn’t just do indies but also their parent company AMS distributes biggies like Random House. Here’s their active list of publishers. PGW was founded as company on their own, and then in 2002 became part of a behemoth book distribution company called Advanced Marketing Services. AMS filed for bankruptcy, and as of December 29, 2006, all assets were frozen and are now held. So even though book sales were terrific last year and PGW (and all the publishers they distribute) had a great year, the book publishers’ money now belongs to the court. (more…)