For Publishers

About the ABPA

The American Book Producers Association was founded in 1980 as the trade association for independent book producers, also called packagers, in the United States and Canada. Members of this rapidly growing profession produce, from concept through bound books, a wide variety of titles for trade and other publishers.

For nearly 40 years the ABPA has supported and promoted the crucial work of book producers in the publishing industry. Because packagers usually work behind the scenes, educating people about what we do is integral to our mission.

Most book producers have worked in the publishing industry for years and are knowledgeable about every aspect of the publishing process. Producers are generalists within the industry whose daily jobs deal with editing, design, marketing, contracts, finance, printing, and many other functions. They have a keen sense for the demands of the marketplace and are savvy about what is technically feasible.

Book packagers can handle every stage of the publishing process and be counted on to deliver a product on schedule and with the highest level of professionalism.

Why Publishers Use Packagers

Book packagers can expand a publisher’s list with titles they can’t get anywhere else—books or projects that literary agents cannot offer to publishers and that publishers themselves generally cannot execute in-house. And yet without such complicated books, publishers’ lists would be missing many remarkable—and lucrative—titles.
Packaged books generally make their way onto publishers’ lists in one of two ways:

  • Editors may acquire original submissions from packagers. Like agents, packagers routinely submit book proposals to publishers. As a rule, these constitute some of the smartest ideas around. For this reason, it makes sense to get on a packager’s submission list.
  • Editors may hire packagers to develop and execute in-house ideas. Packagers are quite willing to help shape editors’ ideas into viable projects. Teaming up with a packager is often the only way editors can transform solid in-house ideas into actual books. It’s also an excellent way for publishers to exploit their own corporate brands. Book packagers fill many different niches. Each company has its own areas of expertise and working style.

The professional, comprehensive approach of book packagers ensures that these complicated projects will be completed in a timely and efficient manner. We invite you to peruse the American Book Producers Association Member Directory to get a fuller picture of who we are, what we do, and the many ways we can work with the publishing community.