Book Sense Welcomes New Publisher Partners

The Book Sense family of Publisher Partners has two new additions: Dorchester Publishing and Watson-Guptill Publications.

Watson-Guptill was founded in 1937 by Ernest Watson and Arthur Guptill. The company, which is now owned by VNU, includes five imprints -- Watson-Guptill, Amphoto Books, Billboard Books, Back Stage Books, and Whitney Library of Design -- with titles focusing on, among other things, fine art, lifestyle and design, cartooning, animation, crafts and graphic design, photography, and television.

"We do really, really fine books," said Watson-Guptill Publisher and General Manager Amy Rhodes. "We have not been as visible as some other [publishers], but we're tops in some of our categories. We want to raise our profile and work closely with independent bookstores. Everyone agrees that we have great books, but they're not at the front of booksellers' minds and they deserve better."

Watson-Guptill's bestselling backlist titles include Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson and How to Draw Cartoons for Comic Strips by Chris Hart. Among its upcoming titles are a new Bryan Peterson book, Beyond Portraiture, and a memoir by actor Kaye Ballard, which is titled How I Lost 10 pounds in 53 years.

Dorchester Publishing is one of the oldest independent mass market publishers in North America. Gerry Brisman founded Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc. in the late 1970s. In 1994, the company was purchased by John Backe, the former president of CBS. The house specializes in the discovery and development of first-time authors under the Leisure Books, Love Spell, SMOOCH, and Hard Case Crime imprints. Historical romance has been the mainstay of Dorchester Publishing for more than 30 years, and its bestselling authors include Connie Mason, Cassie Edwards, and Leigh Greenwood. Recently, however, the publisher has expanded its list to include contemporary and paranormal romance, chick lit, and romantic suspense.

"Dorchester is extremely happy to announce our recent partnership with Book Sense," said Sales and Marketing Director Brooke Borneman. "We view this as a wonderful opportunity to reach consumers via the vital, independent bookstore community. And we feel that our special mix of romance, horror, westerns, thriller, young adult, and mystery novels is perfect for their market."

Dorchester books are available through all of the major wholesalers, including Ingram Book Group, Baker & Taylor, Bookazine, Book Source, and the distributors, or directly through HarperCollins. If ordering through HarperCollins, a separate purchase order must be placed independent of Harper product and its distribution partners. --Karen Schechner