News

Somerset, NJ, May 11, 2001…. PubEasy, the Global Publishing e-Marketplace™, and ITPS, leading UK distributor of professional, legal and reference books and materials, adds a new level of web-based access for customers internationally with today’s launch of the ITPS/PubEasy site at http://pubeasy.books.itps.co.uk.

The PubEasy registered bookseller community is growing quickly with over 3,300 bookseller accounts and over 5,200 users from over 100 countries. Booksellers in the UK and around the world, with a PubEasy password, can now login to the ITPS/PubEasy site and obtain information on all the titles distributed by ITPS. This new site will offer booksellers all the new PubEasy services including the /TRANSACTä Service, which will enable booksellers from anywhere in the world to "batch" price and availability inquiries, order status inquiries and orders across the internet for rapid processing and acknowledgement. It will also offer carrier and shipper information when available.

Booksellers can create and modify their own e-Catalogs on the ITPS/PubEasy site.

ITPS, a Thomson company, distributes titles for clients including CRC Press, Curzon, Evans Publishing Group, IB Tauris, Oneworld Publications, Taylor & Francis Books Ltd. and Thomson Learning EMEA.

Barry Hinchmore Vice President and General Manager of ITPS, said, "ITPS is delighted to join the PubEasy community and provide both our domestic and international customers access to the titles we distribute through our PubEasy site. We have been considering our own B2B initiative but we decided to affiliate with PubEasy as our service provider since they offer a standard interface to the worldwide publishing community."

Gary Bowman, Chief Operation Officer of PubEasy, states, "ITPS distributes for several major professional and reference publishers whose title base adds a rich dimension to PubEasy in the UK and Europe. The ITPS distribution list is prestigious and sought after by a wide range of booksellers. ITPS accounts who needs to process high-volume inquiry, ordering and order tracking direct will benefit greatly through the /TRANSACT Service."

# # #

PubEasy™, the Global Publishing e-Marketplace, represents the new standard in e-commerce for the global bookselling industry. More than 3,300 bookseller accounts with 5,200 registered users in 100+ countries spanning North America, Europe and Asia are using PubEasy to facilitate access to order placement, order tracking, price, title and availability data over the Internet with participating publishers, distributors and wholesalers, more quickly and cost-effectively. Booksellers with a PubEasy password can directly access any participating Affiliate website on the network. The service is available via the Internet twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

In the US, "live" Affiliates include HarperCollins, Random House, Inc., National Book Network and Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC. Other US Affiliate web sites scheduled to launch include AIDC, Broadman & Holman, and Chronicle Books.

In Canada, HarperCollins Canada is scheduled to launch a PubEasy web site.

In the UK, PubEasy Affiliates include HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., Macmillan Distribution Ltd., Penguin UK, TBS/Grantham Book Services, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., Gardners Books, ITPS, Littlehampton Book Services, Marston Book Services, Bookpoint (Hodder Headline) and Airlift Book Company.

PubEasy/EXCHANGE™ is the new hosted service for small publishers, distributors and wholesalers.

To access PubEasy, booksellers need a single PubEasy password, a computer with a Web browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer 4.0 or later) and an Internet connection. Login to http://www.pubeasy.com and click the 'Register' button to obtain a user ID and password.

To access PubEasy.com, booksellers require a password, a computer with a Web browser (Netscape or Internet Explorer 4.0 or later) and an Internet connection. Login to http://www.pubeasy.com and click the 'Register' button to obtain a user ID and password.