Grey House Publishing and Penn Hill Publications last week announced the acquisition of Hudson's Washington News Media Contacts Directory. Grey House will publish the 2008 edition of the directory, along with a new companion directory, Washington Associations Contacts Directory, this month.
The 2008 edition is the 41st for Hudson's Washington News Media Contacts Directory, which contains information about more than 4,000 contacts within Washington DC's newspapers, syndicates, radio contacts, magazines and newsletters. The directory's information is contained in sections, such as state-by-state listings of radio, TV stations and newspapers in Washington, news bureaus, specialized news services and syndicates, Canadian and foreign media, freelance writers and photographers, as well as general and specialized magazines, periodicals and newsletters.
The Washington Associations Contacts Directory contains listings for associations in the Washington, DC metro area, including Virginia and Maryland. It covers nearly 100 different subjects, from aviation, education, biotechnology and telecommunications, for individuals seeking contacts at Washington, DC-area non-profit entities. Each listing includes complete contact information, key contacts, the association's publications, email addresses, web sites and a description of the association.
The newly acquired Hudson directory will fit nicely with Grey House's business directory segment, which already serves a variety of business customers in a wide range of industries. In essence, Grey House has created a sub-segment of Washington-related information with the simultaneous release of Hudson's Washington News Media Contacts Directory and the Washington Associations Contacts Directory. Launching a new directory to serve as a companion to its new acquisition really shows Grey House's commitment to this space. Grey House has targeted a large customer base for these directories: associations, businesses, professionals, educators, public relations firms, embassies, government offices, labor unions, consultants, researchers and libraries.
Chances are that these customers who are initially interested in one book will be enticed to purchase both and Grey House has addressed that. Each directory is available for purchase separately (Hudson's for $289 online; $329 online/print combination; $289 for print; Associations for $200 online and $250 for online/print; $150 for print) and bundled as a print set for $375.
It will be interesting to see how successful these books are and if Grey House will add new titles to this subject area any time soon.