American West Books, Sanger, Calif., is merging with Familius, Salt Lake City, Utah. Under the partnership, Christopher Robbins, who was longtime head of Gibbs Smith and founded publishing house Familius a year ago, will move to Sanger and become CEO of American West Books, joining company founder and president Josh Mettee. Robbins will be responsible for company operations and help with book distribution strategy.
American West Books sells titles to Costco, Sam's Club, Whole Foods and other retailers. The company will work with Familius to create proprietary products for its retail partners. Mettee commented: "It's an obvious opportunity to expand our business beyond distribution into unique book and gift products for our partners. After 19 years we have a good idea of what sells and we'd like to leverage that knowledge."
Familius, which has a family focus, will publish approximately 40 new print titles annually and will continue to expand its digital-only products, including e-books, videos and apps. Robbins praised American West Books' "unique competitive advantages, particularly matching key titles with key demographics. Josh has established a strong company with strong industry relationships, and I'm eager to play a role in helping AWB achieve greater success."
