IPG picks up five publishers through 2027
The rollout stretches from January 2027 to a November 2027 start for Cassava Republic Press
Five publishers, one distributor, staggered start dates — this is the unglamorous plumbing of the book business, and it matters more than it sounds. If you're published by Pegasus Books, Pop Icons, Cassava Republic Press, Rhiza Press, or Erickson International, your supply chain is about to change hands, even if your contract and your advance don't.
Distribution deals don't make headlines because they're thrilling. They make headlines because when they go wrong, your book is suddenly "unavailable" on a retailer page for no reason anyone bothered to explain to you. So here's what's actually happening, and why it's worth five minutes of your attention even though nothing about your contract is changing.
IPG — Independent Publishers Group — is taking on distribution for five publishers, and the start dates aren't all the same:
- Pegasus Books: US and Canada, starting January 1, 2027
- Pop Icons: US and Canada, starting January 1, 2027
- Rhiza Press: US and Canada, starting January 1, 2027
- Erickson International: US and Canada, starting May 1, 2027
- Cassava Republic Press: US and Canada, starting November 1, 2027
If you're an author with any of these five houses, here's the plain version of what this means for you. Distribution is the plumbing behind your book — it's who gets your title into the Ingram catalog, who ships it to Barnes & Noble, who handles the warehouse and the returns. It is not your publisher, it is not your editor, and it has nothing to do with your royalty rate or your rights. A new distributor can, however, mean a brief window where things wobble: ISBNs get re-linked, metadata gets re-uploaded, and sometimes a title goes briefly "out of stock" online purely because the systems are talking to each other for the first time.
This is a tailwind story, not a warning one. IPG is a known, established distributor, and picking up five publishers in one stretch is a sign of momentum, not trouble. But momentum doesn't mean invisible to you.
Here's what to actually do. Mark the relevant date for your publisher — January 1, 2027 for Pegasus, Pop Icons, and Rhiza; May 1, 2027 for Erickson International; November 1, 2027 for Cassava Republic. In the two weeks after your date, check your book's page on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org. Look specifically for "temporarily out of stock" or a missing buy button. If you see it, email your publisher directly and ask if it's tied to the IPG transition — don't assume it'll fix itself on its own timeline, because sometimes it needs a nudge.
If your book isn't with one of these five publishers, there's nothing to do here — file it away as market noise. If it is, put the date in your calendar now, not next December.
Why it matters to you: A distribution move changes how your books get into stores and warehouses, not your contract terms, but the handoff window is exactly when stock and metadata errors creep in.
This story ran in the Coral Wire edition of Wed, Oct 7 2026, when the Coral Index stood at 63/100 (Tailwinds building).
Coverage — 1 source
Every outlet found reporting this story.
- Distribution: Five Publishers To IPGlunch.publishersmarketplace.com
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