MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
November 1-15, 2003 Edition
ECW Press Closes Montreal
Office, Copublisher Departs
TORONTO, CA/10/20/03—ECW Press will close its Montreal office on November 30. At the same time, copublisher Robert Lecker will leave the company. ECW will continue to be managed by Jack David, operating out of the firm’s Toronto office.
David and Lecker founded ECW Press in 1977. Throughout more than 25 years the company has published an extensive range of books devoted to Canadian literature and culture. Since the mid-1990s the company has focused on fiction, poetry, and on trade titles related to sports, travel, and popular culture. In 2003 ECW will publish approximately 50 titles, with half of those originating from the Montreal office, under Lecker’s direction.
Employees in the Montreal office include Emma McKay (acquisitions and production), James Bassil (acquisitions and development), and Kulsum Merchant (publicity and marketing).
The Montreal office was responsible for ECW’s line of Pagan titles, the Secret Series travel guides, Montreal restaurant guides Flavourville and Resto-a-Go-Go, Lee Lamothe’s The Last Thief, books by Dr. Joe Schwarcz, Framed by Tod Volpe, mixed martial arts and wrestling titles Brawl, Little Evil, and WrestleCrap, and urban culture titles such as Nufonia Must Fall by Kid Koala and All City by Paul 107.
Last year ECW Press was seriously damaged by the bankruptcies of its key Canadian and U.S. distributors. Uncollected sales revenues have left ECW in a difficult position. Maintaining its publishing program while dealing with last year’s debts has stretched ECW’s financial resources. As a result of the consolidation, ECW will be able to accelerate payments to suppliers while releasing 40 new titles in 2004 including fiction, poetry, business, biographies, and popular science.
Currently, ECW is sold by Manda and distributed by Jaguar Book Group (in Canada) and by Independent Publishers Group (in the U.S.). Sales for 2003 are up 25 percent over 2002.
