History
The company was founded in 1995, by Bruce and Marsha Batchelor, John Norris and Steve Fisher. Bruce Batchelor served as CEO until 2006. According to Trafford, they were the first company in the world to offer print-on-demand ("POD") publishing, which means they print shorter runs or even one copy at a time, in response to orders from the author or from retail customers. Trafford's service is being used by authors from more than 100 countries.
In 2005, Trafford announced a pledge of $1.6 million to help preserve endangered indigenous languages around the world.
At its peak size, Trafford had about 150 employees working at offices in Canada, USA, UK and Ireland, and was grossing over $1 million per month in sales. Trafford's self-publishing service was sold to Author Solutions Inc. in 2009.
Trafford requires payment from the author to cover set-up costs, and the author has to do most of his or her own marketing. Unlike most other POD publishing services, Trafford owned its own large printing plant, located in Victoria. Book printing was also done through Lightning Source Inc. (LSI), a subsidiary of Ingram Books distributors, in Tennessee and Milton Keynes as well as at BookSurge LLC's plant in South Carolina.
Some titles have been converted to e-books and are distributed via Powells.com and Lightning Source Inc. (LSI).
According to their publishing guide, a number of packages are available. They range from a basic publishing service for those just wishing to be able to order printed copies (for family histories, etc.), an intermediate package for those only needing basic online ordering capability, to an inclusive package with full internet distribution. All of the packages include an ISBN number and full color cover. Trafford also offers a line of packages for publishing full-color children's books.
The company has distribution options in Europe and claims to have the widest distribution of any independent publisher.
According to the Wall Street Journal, April 6, 2009, Trafford was purchased by Author Solutions, which operates AuthorHouse and iUniverse and is owned by the San Mateo, Calif., private-equity firm Bertram Capital Management LLC. Previously, in January 2009, the Bloomington, Ind., publisher acquired another competitor, Xlibris.
Kevin Weiss, chief executive of Author Solutions, said the deal will enable his company to offer Trafford authors a wider array of services, including social networking. "We're seeing a lot of growth on the marketing side as authors seek to grow their sales," he added. The deal included a guarantee that Author Solutions would print a minimum number of books at the Victoria printing plant of the company (formerly called Trafford Publishing) now known as Morriss Printing.
On November 28, 2009, the Victoria Times Colonist reported that Morriss Printing had filed for bankruptcy protection and a receiver would be selling off all assets.
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