Chesapeake & Hudson

What Chesapeake & Hudson does

Chesapeake & Hudson, Inc. is a privately held commission-based publishers' sales representative firm founded in 1992 and headquartered in Rochelle, Virginia. The company represents a select group of publishers to independent bookstores, museum stores, and national accounts across the Mid-Atlantic and New England territories, operating on a B2B2C model in which it earns a percentage commission on sales made through its retail channel relationships.

Following its June 2021 merger with Melman-Moster Associates, the combined firm operates as a team of six field sales representatives and three sales assistants covering regional territories, with President Janine Jensen handling National Accounts directly. The firm serves a mix of large enterprise customers—including Barnes & Noble, Ingram, Books-A-Million, Brodart, and Baker & Taylor—and a long tail of independent bookstores and museum specialty stores. Senior staff have previously held roles at HarperCollins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Publishers Group West, and Princeton University Store, lending the firm deep industry credibility.

The company's product portfolio has expanded beyond traditional field sales representation into a broader suite of B2B publishing services: call center operations, order entry, database maintenance, lead generation, new account setup, real-time sales, blind address services, and daily reporting. The technology stack is non-proprietary, leveraging the Edelweiss.plus catalog platform for publisher discovery and standard phone/email/fax channels for order intake. The firm is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors or funding rounds.

Name

Chesapeake & Hudson

Legal name

Chesapeake & Hudson, Inc.

Website

https://cheshudinc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Chesapeake & Hudson, Inc. is a commission-based publishers' sales representative firm serving independent bookstores, museum stores, and national accounts in the Mid-Atlantic and New England.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Publishing Sales Representation

NAICS

Book Retailers and News Dealers (4592)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro primary industry

Book & Periodical Wholesalers (Trade Distribution) (MPAJAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Book Trade Wholesale (Print Books) (CRAOALAA)

Keywords

• Publishers sales representation
• Book sales agency
• Field sales representation
• Publishing services
• Book distribution support

Headquarters

HQ city

Rochelle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Commission Sales Representation: Chesapeake & Hudson earns commission-based revenue by representing publishers to bookstores, museums, and specialty stores. As commission sales representatives, they receive a percentage of sales made through their accounts. This is a B2B2C model connecting publishers with retail channel partners.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Chesapeake & Hudson, Inc. is a commission-based publishers' sales representative firm that represents a select group of publishers to independent bookstores, museum stores, and specialty retailers across the Mid-Atlantic and New England territories. The company provides field sales coverage, call center operations, order entry processing, database maintenance, lead generation, and customer service support on behalf of publishing clients.

Product overview

Chesapeake & Hudson, Inc. is a publishers' sales representative company offering a unified suite of publishing-related services to represent publishers to bookstores, museums, and specialty stores. The service portfolio includes Call Center Operations, Order Entry, Database Maintenance, Lead Generation, New Account Set-Up, Real-time Sales, Blind Address Services, and Daily Reporting. These services work together to provide end-to-end sales and marketing support for publishers targeting the Mid-Atlantic and New England markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Publishers' Field Sales Representation Commission-based field sales representation of publishers to independent bookstores, museum stores, and specialty retailers in the Mid-Atlantic and New England territories. Six field sales representatives cover assigned geographic territories, calling directly on retail accounts on behalf of a select group of publishing clients.
• Call Center Customer Service Operations Regional, U.S., or North American customer service-related phone support handling order status, stock status, short shipments, damaged books, pending credits, discount discrepancies, author signings, in-store events, invoice requests, packing slip requests, and proof of delivery for publishing clients.
• Order Entry Processing Services Processing of email, paper, faxed, and web-based orders on behalf of publishing clients, with a focus on speed and accuracy for bookseller accounts.
• National Account Database Maintenance Administrative database maintenance for major national accounts including Barnes & Noble (including bn.com and College Divisions), Ingram, and AWBC/Books-A-Million, managing new collections and account records on behalf of publishers.
• Publisher Lead Generation and New Account Setup Identification and follow-up with prospective bookstore and retail accounts, converting prospects into active accounts through proper setup procedures to facilitate easy customer account opening for publishing clients.
• Suggested Sales and Blind Address Communications Real-time sales support using expert suggested selling techniques to increase order sizes, combined with dedicated phone, fax, and closely monitored email accounts that allow publishers to communicate confidentially with their accounts through Chesapeake & Hudson.
• Sales Activity Reporting Daily, weekly, and monthly order and call management reports provided by supervisors to publishing clients, giving visibility into sales activity and account interactions.

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Melman-Moster AssociatescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2021Chesapeake & Hudson, Inc. and Melman-Moster Associates, two established commission sales forces in the Northeastern United States, merged on June 1, 2021 to establish one unified group. The combined organization retained the Chesapeake & Hudson, Inc. name and now operates as a single sales force with expanded coverage.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Independent Publishers Group (IPG): IPG provides sales, marketing, and distribution services to independent publishers, with dedicated trade sales representation in U.S. retail channels. Overlaps directly with Chesapeake & Hudson's commissioned publisher-rep business model.
• Midpoint Trade Books: Midpoint Trade Books is a U.S. book distributor and sales representative for independent publishers, closely matching C&H's commission-based sales rep role for trade titles.
• Cardinal Publishers Group: Cardinal Publishers Group provides book distribution and sales representation services to small and mid-sized independent publishers, directly comparable in business model and target customers to Chesapeake & Hudson.
• National Book Network: National Book Network is a U.S. book sales, distribution, and publisher services company that represents independent publishers to the trade, very similar in function to Chesapeake & Hudson's commissioned rep model but operating at national scale. Directly comparable as outsourced book-trade sales representation.
• Publishers Group West (PGW): PGW distributes and sells titles from independent publishers into the trade, including field sales and national account coverage. Comparable as a publisher-services sales and distribution intermediary, with a longer-standing relationship noted in C&H team biographies.

Broad incumbents

• Perseus Distribution / Hachette Book Group Distribution: Hachette's distribution arm provides outsourced sales and distribution services to independent and mid-sized publishers, a broader-incumbent version of C&H's commissioned rep offering with national logistics capabilities.
• Random House Publisher Services: Penguin Random House's publisher services unit provides trade sales and distribution infrastructure to independent publishers, comparable in function though at much larger scale and broader geographic scope.
• Simon & Schuster Publisher Services: Simon & Schuster operates a publisher services division that provides sales and distribution support to independent publishers, a broad-incumbent parallel to C&H's commissioned rep work.
• Ingram Publisher Services: Ingram offers publisher services including sales representation, distribution, and digital services to trade publishers. C&H already interfaces with Ingram as a national account, making it both a channel partner and a competitive adjacent offering.

Emerging players

• Traford Publishing / Ingram Spark (self-publishing services): Self-publishing and assisted-publishing platforms offer an alternative path for authors and small presses, potentially disintermediating traditional commissioned rep firms like C&H over time. Adjacent in serving publisher authors but a different model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cheshudinc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Chesapeake & Hudson