TeleRead e-book site acquired by North American Publishing Company

Feb. 10, 2010 - PRLog -- PHILADELPHIA, Pa. and ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Feb. 10, 2010) – North American Publishing Company (NAPCO) of Philadelphia, PA announced today that Gadgetell, a division of NAPCO, has acquired TeleRead.org, a Web Site covering global e-book news based in Alexandria, VA.

   TeleRead covers daily and long-term developments for readers, writers, editors, publishers and sellers of e-books, as well as for librarians. Created in the 1990s, it is believed to be the oldest English-language Web site devoted to general e-book news and views.

   The site's opinion posts helped spur the creation of the ePub standard used for e-books by Sony Readers and other products, including Apple's iBooks e-reading software for the iPad.

   According to David Rothman, the founder of TeleRead, who is stepping down as editor-publisher, the time was ripe for moving the popular site to a publisher with more resources.

   Philadelphia-based North American Publishing (NAPCO) publishes more than 16 leading trade magazines including Book Business, Printing Impressions, Target Marketing and Publishing Executive.

        “We’re delighted to have acquired TeleRead and to benefit from the diversity of viewpoints in its global digital community,” said Ned Borowsky, president of NAPCO. “E-Books is the hot topic! We have been covering it extensively in the pages of Book Business magazine, through our webinars and virtual shows, as well as at our upcoming conference Publishing Business Conference & Expo this March (www.publishingbusiness.com). TeleRead will dramatically add to the conversation and we couldn't be more pleased.”

   Borowsky said TeleRead will continue in its present format. Co-editor Paul Biba in Bernardsville, NJ, will succeed Rothman as editor of the digital newsletter.

   Rothman intends to focus on books and movie scripts, including marketing of The Solomons Scandals, his recently published Washington newspaper novel.

   Noel Griese of Anvil Brokers of Atlanta handled details of the acquisition. Michael Cairnes, Karen Holt and Laura Dawson served as consultants to Rothman during the acquisition period.

           About TeleRead: The TeleRead digital community is one of the most popular Web sites devoted to general developments in the e-book industry, which accounts for about four percent of the overall $32 billion U.S. book publishing market.

   About North American Publishing Company.  Founded in 1958, North American Publishing Company (NAPCO) is a family-owned business with publications, face-to-face and virtual trade shows, educational and online services covering multiple markets: direct marketing, publishing, retail, e-commerce, graphic arts, promotional products, consumer electronics, packaging, and more.  Additional information about NAPCO is available on the Web at www.napco.com

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Anvil Publishers is an Atlanta-based company currently marketing $14 million in books and $8 million in literary properties.