Publishing Industry Veteran Neal Goff Joins 1stBooks Board of Directors

Top Print on Demand and E-Book Publisher Fuels Growth with the Addition of New Board Member

BLOOMINGTON, IN (PRWEB) May 16, 2003 -on-demand and e-book publishing services, announced today that Neal Goff has joined the companys Board-of-Directors. Robert McCormack, President of 1stBooks, made the announcement.

A seasoned publishing industry veteran, Mr. Goff most recently served as President of Scholastic Library Publishing, where he was responsible for its Grolier, Childrens Press, Franklin Watts, and Grolier Online imprints. Mr. Goff joined Scholastic after a brief stint in the music industry serving as Senior Vice President, Marketing, for Bertelsmanns BMG Music Service. Immediately prior to BMG, Mr. Goff was Chief Operating Officer (COO) of R. R. Bowker, the worlds leading bibliographic database provider and the publisher of Books in Print and Literary Market Place. As COO at Bowker, he managed the companys transition from a print-driven model to a multimedia-publishing model.

From 1994-1997, Mr. Goff was President of Simon & Schusters Prentice Hall Direct division. Under his leadership, profits at Prentice Hall Direct increased by 75% over a three-year period. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Publisher Services, Database Technology Services Group for R.R. Donnelley & Sons, where he started a new business unit to provide database and multimedia development services to the publishing industry. From 1982-1993, Mr. Goff served in a number of senior management positions at Time Inc., including Senior Vice President, Club Management, for Book-of-the-Month Club, Vice President of New Product Development for Time-Life Books, and Director of Planning and Administration for Time Video Information Services.

He holds a MBA from Columbia University and a B.A. from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. He has served on the Advisory Board of iWon.com and on the boards of the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group.

We are extremely pleased to welcome Neal Goff to the 1stBooks Board of Directors," said Mr. McCormack. Neals extensive experience in leading and growing traditional publishing entities will prove to be an invaluable asset to 1stBooks throughout this time of record profitability and growth."

Mr. Goffs appointment to the 1stBooks Board of Directors comes on the heels of a record-breaking year of phenomenal growth and success for the Indiana-based company. 1stBooks published 5,000 new titles last year, making it one of the worlds largest independent publishers. Additionally, the company saw a significant increase in revenue and profitability, with revenue increasing by more than 65% in 2002 compared to the year prior. The company also recently announced that it had printed and sold its 1,000,000th book in early December 2002. Reaching this milestone solidified 1stBooks position as the leading player in the print-on-demand publishing sector.    

About 1stBooks:
Based in Bloomington, Indiana, 1stBooks was established in 1997 in order to fulfill the dream of authors who wish to have their books published while retaining all rights and control of content. 1stBooks titles are available in traditional hard copy format at thousands of retail outlets worldwide, and in e-book format through the 1stBooks online store at www.1stbooks.com.

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