Cherry Lake and Sleeping Bear Press book publishers thriving in Ann Arbor despite difficult market

Ann Arbor-based book publisher Ben Mondloch has been fighting trends since he started Cherry Lake Publishing four years ago. While the rise of e-books and the economy have made life difficult for traditional publishers, Mondloch saw sales jump 25 percent in 2012, according to a story in the Detroit Free Press.

Cherry Lake was able to harness the e-book trend and also showed strong sales in paperback and curriculum-based books, according to the story. Mondloch also acquired children’s book publisher Sleeping Bear Press, known for Michigan themed books such as “The Legend of Sleeping Bear” and “M is for Michigan.”

Mondloch credits his success to a focus on data and creating demand for the titles his companies publish.

• Read the full story from the Detroit Free Press.

Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2