Wordsworth Editions confirms BookSource as its new distributor

Wordsworth Editions has confirmed that it will move to the Glasgow-based distributor BookSource in early 2025, replacing Combined Book Services (CBS).

Managing director Nichola Trayler said that 2025 is poised to be a "significant year" for the publisher, which will launch a new "Heritage Collection", a luxury series of 12 classic novels, and a new direct-to-consumer online shop. "We are entering an exciting new chapter at Wordsworth and I welcome the appointment of BookSource as our new distribution partner," Trayler said. "Davinder and the team at BookSource have demonstrated that they have the experience and infrastructure necessary for the future."

Trayler confirmed that Wordsworth, BookSource and CBS will work together to ensure "minimal disruption" to services, and customers should continue to place orders with CBS until 31st January 2025, with further information to be released in due course.

Derek Wright, the director of Wordsworth, told The Bookseller that the main reason for the move was that the publisher "had outgrown CBS". He explained: "Our sales in the 2020 when we joined them was a shade under £2m, which by this year we had increased to £3.5M. With quite a substantial part of this being through Amazon, whose ordering processes have become increasingly complex and time-consuming, the volume of business was becoming challenging for CBS, and we felt it a good time to switch to a distributor with a greater capacity to match our ambitions."

Davinder Bedi, BookSource’s managing director, added: "I am delighted that Wordsworth Editions will be joining us early next year. We’re dedicated to delivering the highest levels of service to our publishers and their customers. We have been following the success of Wordsworth for years, I know we will help them reach even more readers. We are here to support them every step of the way."