Rosato joins OverDrive

Steve Rosato, former event director at BookExpo America, has joined e-book library service OverDrive in a move to “accelerate OverDrive’s global expansion.”

Rosato, who will join the company as an international business development executive, was previously a leading diplomat for the book and publishing industry with Book Expo America.

Rosato was "instrumental" in the success of the BEA Global Market Forum program with China and Poland and in the recent trade mission to Cuba.

Steve Potash, OverDrive c.e.o., said: “Steve’s industry knowledge and valuable global relationships will greatly serve OverDrive’s publishers and authors as we continue to open up new mrkets for their titles. This is a tremendous win for a publishers and all suppliers of digital media as OverDrive invests ingrowth for our international markets.”

In addition to representing OverDrive’s catalogues and services for US And English e-books, audiobooks and other digital media, Rosato will help identify digital books from all countries and languages that can be added to the OverDrive Marketplace.

Rosato said: “The chance to join OverDrive is such an incredible opportunity. OverDrive’s significant growth, specifically internationally, aligns perfectly with my industry experience and relationships. It was the chance to work across a number of global markets, continee in the publishing industry, and contribute to the growth that OverDrive is already experiencing, that made this an ideal situation for me.”

Last year, Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten purchased OverDrive for $410m (£275m) in cash.