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Greystone Books lives on!

Incredible news today! BC publisher, Heritage House , has acquired all of the assets of Greystone Books, an imprint of D&M Publishers.

Incredible news today! BC publisher, Heritage House, has acquired all of the assets of Greystone Books, an imprint of D&M Publishers. A couple of months ago D&M filed for creditor protection and to say the company is in dire straits would be an understatement. I personally mourned for days after hearing the news that the company as I know it was no more, and the fact that one of their imprints is being salvaged is the greatest of great news. Below is the full release from them, look forward to seeing more reviews of Greystone Books from us in the future!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JANUARY 31, 2013

GREYSTONE BOOKS LIVES ON

Rodger Touchie, President of B.C.-based Heritage House Publishing, and Rob Sanders, Founding Publisher of Greystone Books, today announced that Heritage has acquired all assets of the Greystone Books publishing imprint from D&M Publishers Inc. The asset purchase was approved by the BC court last week. These assets will become the backlist and ongoing publishing program for a separate company, Greystone Books Ltd., where Sanders will become a significant shareholder. The new company will be based in Vancouver, Canada.

The asset purchase was initiated by Touchie and has been assisted by long-time Greystone business partners, including the Perseus Books Group from New York. Publishers Group West, the California-based division of Perseus will continue to distribute Greystone titles in the United States. PGW distribution of Greystone will be extended to include all territories around the world except Canada; Canadian distribution to the book trade will continue to be handled by Harper Collins Canada. Heritage House affiliate Heritage Group distribution will provide broad exposure of Greystone titles to rural accounts in Western Canada.

Sanders immediately resumes his role as Publisher, a position he held from 1993 until a year ago. Nancy Flight returns as Associate Publisher, reigniting the relationship she and Sanders enjoyed from the beginning of Greystone. During that time, Greystone published a strong list of Canadian authors, including David Suzuki, Candace Savage, Charlotte Gill and Andrew Nikiforuk. Greystone will announce a list of new 2013 books in the next few weeks.

Of the acquisition and new company, Rodger Touchie said, "In the past 20 years Greystone Books built a significant legacy in Canadian publishing. I have long admired their program and have great respect for both Rob and Nancy. They will add immensely to our Heritage Group team, and together we will make sure Greystone is around for a long time to come."

Sanders commented that "Rodger Touchie’s phone call initiated the rebirth of Greystone Books; it is good for the authors, for those of us involved in the ongoing publishing program, and for independent publishing in Canada. It is a good news story in an industry where good news is badly needed right now."

The Heritage Group consists of Heritage House Publishing, Touchwood Editions and Rocky Mountain Books. Rodger and Pat Touchie acquired Heritage from Art Downs, who formed the company in 1969. The companies will now have offices in Victoria, Vancouver and Calgary; the administration offices are at Heritage Group distribution in Surrey, British Columbia.

Greystone Books was started in 1993 by Rob Sanders as an imprint and publishing division of what was then Douglas & McIntyre Ltd. The Greystone imprint included the assets of Western Producer Prairie Books, a Saskatoon-based regional publisher at which Sanders was the publisher between 1975 and 1987. D&M Publishers Inc. is based in Vancouver, Canada.