Marcus Richards
Gazelle Book Services located in Lancaster, England is a book distribution company that works with publishers from around the globe, to sell their books in the UK and throughout Europe. Gazelle is celebrating its 35th birthday in 2022.
Tell us about yourself?
I was previously the manager of Carnforth Bookshop, one of the largest Independent Bookshops in the North West.
I was also nominated for British Bookseller of the Year, 3 years running whilst in this role. Books are a key part of my life and I’ve always wanted to work with books.Outside of work I am a published author of local history books and have so far written 8 books.
I am a fully qualified archaeologist and freelance lecturer. My work takes place at various locations from primary and Secondary schools, to museums, societies and colleges.
I can often be found giving my talks and lectures at various museums, local societies and groups within the Lancaster, Morecambe and North-West area.
I have worked on field excavations including the Viking Unst excavation at Underhoul, as well as at various museums including the British Museum, Kendal Museum and the Lancaster Museums.
I have also acted as a consultant on various projects for Lancashire Museums, The Diocese of Blackburn, National Science Week and BBC Television, as well as managing events for British Energy, Sea Life Centres and Lancashire Museums.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
You have a great amount of experience, you can utilise all of that to assist new publishers and their titles.
What problem does your business solve?
Gazelle assist in the process of Marketing, Sales and Distribution of Books
What is the inspiration behind your business?
Publishing can be a long and complicated business. Gazelle’s ethos is to keep it simple, we believe in making the process for publishers’ simple, efficient and transparent. It’s what we have built our reputation on.
What is your magic sauce?
We offer the personal touch, we have a small close-knit team and look after every aspect in-house. All our staff are always on hand, and we pride ourselves on being approachable.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
We are looking to continue working with new and exciting publishers to get their titles to market. Gazelle enjoys working with publishers of all sizes, whether it’s 1, 100 or 1000 books that a publisher has.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Covid and Brexit have created challenges and changes in the industry. Supply chain delayss in printing and shipping have also been an issue.
How do people get involved/buy into your vision?
We are always looking for new publishers to work with us and join the Gazelle family. Gazelle offer a variety of services from distribution, to sales, marketing and warehousing. We use our 35 years of expertise to help get exciting new books out into the world.
