Canadian book distributor H. B. Fenn, which distributed books for Tor, Hyperion, and several other publishers in Canada, has filed for bankruptcy. H.B. Fenn has 125 employees.
In the company’s news release it blamed this development on “ loss of distribution lines, shrinking margins and the significant shift to e-books, all of which have significantly reduced the Company’s revenues.” Quill & Quire explains:
H.B. Fenn suffered a major setback two years ago when its largest sales and distribution client, Hachette Book Group, opened a Toronto publicity and marketing office and took over sales for major national accounts including Indigo, Costco, and wholesalers North 49 and BookExpress.
One of its employees said they are ceasing operations immediately.
Robert J. Sawyer, in a comment on this post, said “I owe a huge amount of my career to Harold and Sylvia Fenn. Absolutely wonderful people, and a great company.”
[Thanks to Steven H Silver for the story.]
Discover more from File 770
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.
Canadian book distributor H. B. Fenn, which distributed books for Tor, Hyperion, and several other publishers in Canada,
Not several. Many. Many many. It’s the biggest distributor in Canada and they tend to have exclusive arrangements within Canada with the publishers they deal with (or they did when I sold books).
The (inaccurate because they still list Hachette) list of publishers their website says they distribute is:
Arnold
British Film Institute
Business Plus
Canada Mortgage And Housing Corporation
Center Street
Cogito Media Group
Creative Homeowner
Dalmatian Press
Disney Book Group
Educational Development Corp.
EVENTRIX PARTNERSHIP INC.
FaithWords
Feiwel & Friends
Fenn Publishing Company Ltd.
Filipacchi Publishing
First Second
Forge Books
Gildan Audio
Golden Books
Grand Central Publishing
Griffin Trade Paperbacks
H.B. Fenn and Company Ltd.
Hachette Audio
Hachette Book Group USA
Hachette Children’s
Hachette UK
Headline
Henry Holt and Co.
Henry Holt Books for Young Readers
Herridge & Sons Ltd.
Hodder
Hyperion Books For Children
I AM HUTTERITE INC.
I. B. Tauris
Ideals Publications
Kane/Miller
Key Porter Books
Kingfisher
Leisure Arts
Little Brown Books for Young Readers
Little, Brown and Company
Macmillan Audio
Macmillan US
Manchester University Press
Marianne Richmond Studios
Marvel
NBM Publishing
Orbit
Orion Publishing Group
Oxford University Press
Oxmoor House
P.S. Knight
Palgrave Macmillan
Pan Macmillan Limited
Papercutz
Penton Overseas, Inc.
Peterson’s
Picador
Piggy Toes Press
Priddy Books
Prologix
QED Publishing
Rapido Trains Inc.
Research & Education Association
Roaring Brook Press
Rodale Books
School Zone Publishing
Sequoia Publishing
Seven Seas
Sleeping Bear Press
Springboard Press
Square Fish
St. Martin’s Minotaur
St. Martin’s Press
Time Inc Home Entertainment
Tom Doherty Associates
Tor Books
Twelve
Virgin Books
Virgin Uk
Vision
Warner Forever
Wellness Central
Whitecap Books Ltd.
Windblown Media
Yankee Publishing
Yen Press
Zagat Survey
Zed Books
I spotted this on the Quill and Quire website the other day, and included the news at the last of a loc I wrote to Steven on the latest issue of Argentus. Indeed, H.B. Fenn was the biggest book distributor in Canada, and I know not who or what will replace it.
“…and I know not who or what will replace it.”
e-Books, apparently. The day is coming when we’ll pay our forty bucks and get nothing tangeable for it — just the right to read a text. If things go very badly, we might only purchase the right to read the downloaded file *once.* It could erase itself in any number of ways.
Need I say that I don’t like e-Books? They’re great for some things — collectibles I can’t afford, say, or technical books — but not for a work I love.
@Lloyd: So then, Lloyd, it’s ultimately your fault I didn’t list all 127 publishers HB Fenn distributes and not just the ones of most obvious science fictional interest? 😉