A nimble, award-winning sales force covering the New England and Mid-Atlantic book trade — twelve of the top sixty book markets in America.
Parson Weems' Publisher Services, LLC was founded in 1997 by partners Christopher Kerr and Colwyn Krussman (1935–2016), long-time publishing sales executives. The company adopted both traditional and non-traditional means to sell its clients' books. It was purchased by Linda Cannon (1951–2019) and Eileen Bertelli in January of 2014. Ownership was taken over by Jason Kincade and Causten Stehle in January of 2023, and Brendan Coyne was brought on as an owner in 2025.
The company is named after the flamboyant nineteenth-century publishing figure and folk hero, Mason Locke Weems. Among his many careers, Weems was an itinerant book peddler, Anglican minister, and author of moral tracts and questionable biographies, most memorably a biography of George Washington that included an apocryphal tale of the first president's childhood encounter with a cherry tree.
For our clients, Parson Weems sells forthcoming titles, informs customers of fast-breaking publicity, and implements backlist promotions. To your bottom line: we can make a difference.
Northeast sales representation, sales & marketing management as a consultancy, and access to a network of publishing professionals available for projects.
We promote your list aggressively to the broadest number of suitable accounts — including bookstores, museums, college stores, book fairs, distributors, and wholesalers, as well as national accounts.
We promote the backlist and seek reorders — the quiet, steady work that keeps a list alive long after the season has turned.
Your marketing efforts get on-the-ground support via store visits, mailings, and social media outreach across the region.
We exploit store marketing opportunities including newsletters, author events in the store, schools, book fairs, and out in the community.
We secure seasonal and holiday promotional possibilities, and work with accounts on featured placement and co-op wherever appropriate.
Author support when and where needed. Continuous feedback throughout the selling season. Accounts kept current on breaking news, favorable reviews, and author events.
Whether you're a press seeking full-season sales coverage across the Northeast, or an author working with a small press that needs a nimble representative, here is how the work unfolds.
Eileen joined Parson Weems in December 2010 and became co-owner in January 2014. She started in publishing as a freelance reader and went on to positions in editorial, sales, and marketing with Bantam Doubleday Dell (now Random House), Kensington, Penguin, Barron's Educational, and Ziccardi Books. She has worked in bookstores, with agents, in textbook sales, and started a small press with her husband.
A former news photographer and magazine editor, Chris began his book publishing career in 1975 and served in a number of sales & marketing positions with Oxford University Press, HBJ, Blackwell, Houghton Mifflin, Little Brown / Time Warner, and Walden Books before launching Parson Weems in 1997 with Colwyn Krussman.
Jason joined Parson Weems in November 2015. He started his career as a bookseller and book buyer for Tower Books and Tower Records, and later at Alexander Book Company in California. He spent nearly a decade at Penguin Books on the forefront of online marketing and web development, then held positions at Knopf and Random House International Sales. He lives in Brooklyn.
Causten joined Parson Weems with a wide variety of experiences in publishing and in the corporate world of pharmaceutical marketing. In 1987 he began working at Routledge, Chapman and Hall in New York, working over nine years as Sales Associate, Exhibits Manager, and College Marketing Manager. He joined the team in 2005 after receiving his M.S. in Information Systems from Pace University.
Formerly sales and marketing director at Penn State University Press and associate sales director at the Johns Hopkins University Press, Brendan comes to Parson Weems with over eighteen years of publishing experience. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania, with his wife and their youngest son. When not reading or gardening, Brendan spends much of his free time chasing fish in area streams, rivers, and lakes.
From university presses to trade, from photography monographs to children's books — here are the houses whose books our reps walk through the region.
A handful of the terms we're working this season. The full sheet — with codes, freight rules, and non-returnable breaks — goes out with every sell-in.
Special #1: 40% and free freight. Special #2 (one-time per season, FL+BL): 10 units = 44% and free freight. Special #3 (backlist, 5+ titles): 15 units = 50% and free freight.
5+ = 50%, free freight, once per season (FL & BL). Trade 47%, short 40%. Curated Academic for Retail: 40% and free freight, under 5 units/title to museums and indie retail.
3+ titles = 50% on Trade & Short (5-unit max on short). Otherwise 46% Trade, 40% Short.
51% Trade / Academic Trade, 45% Short. Code: RutgersLove. 15+ of any CDC in-stock title (except NYP) = free freight.
10+ = 45%, free freight (+1% via EDI). Special: 1 × 50% on backlist, free freight (Code: i9855).
20+ = 45%, free freight. Seasonal holiday promotion available — ask your rep.
We'll reply within two business days. Season in progress? Mark it urgent.