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Bear Migrates from New Mexico to New England
Two of the nation's top publishers of alternative titles join forces as Inner Traditions of Vermont acquires Bear & Company of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Now celebrating its 25th year, Inner Traditions is one of the oldest and largest publishers of books on alternative health, spirituality, and the perennial philosophies. Bear & Company has for 20 years been a leading publisher of New Age titles."The synergies between Inner Traditions and Bear are compelling," ITI President and Publisher Ehud C. Sperling commented. "We share several authors, publish in the same areas, and most importantly, we have a common culture and commitment to publishing books with great content and high quality."
Bear President Gerald C. Clow: "When Barbara and I decided to sell Bear, it was important to us that the company go to a good home, that the purchaser be someone with a belief in our books who would keep the spirit and flavor of Bear alive. Inner Traditions was the most natural choice and we are delighted to have our company in such good hands."
Over its 20 year history, Bear & Company has published such well-known titles as MEDICINE CARDS (Jamie Sams and David Carson), which sold over 630,000 copies; BRINGERS OF THE DAWN (Barbara Marciniak, 260,000 copies sold); and ORIGINAL BLESSING (Matthew Fox, 250,000 copies). Other well-known titles include THE MAYAN FACTOR by JosÈ Arg¸elles, INNER CHILD CARDS by Mark and Isha Lerner, and VIBRATIONAL MEDICINE by Richard Gerber, M.D.
Bear acquisitions editor, Barbara Hand Clow: "I am very happy about joining ITI because I feel that all the Bear authors, including myself with five Bear books, will remain in print and sell well, and ITI is an ideal home for future books of many Bear authors."
With the addition of the Bear titles, the Inner Traditions backlist will increase to about 1,000 titles. Inner Traditions currently publishes 60 new titles a year and is known in the industry for being a leader in its subject category, publishing many titles that were "firsts" in the areas of holistic health, sexuality, comparative religion and the New Age. ITI is also known for its practice of keeping its books in print. "In 25 years, I don't think I've put 10 books out of print," said ITI Publisher Sperling. "Our books have enduring value and they continue to sell year after year. Bear is one of the few other companies I can think of that has also made that kind of commitment to its list, its authors, and the reading public. With this acquisition, we can keep Gerry and Barbara's promise alive."
The purchase price of the privately held company was not disclosed. With the acquisition, Bear's New Mexico operation will be transferred to Inner Traditions' headquarters in Vermont.