Alterna Comics publisher Peter Simeti elaborates on what this will mean for the creator-owned company, "IPG is one of the largest distributors of independent publishers in the world and I'm thrilled that Alterna will be able to grow under their banner. Our readership is expected to grow globally up to 10 times in size over the course of the next two years as they will be our exclusive distributor in the book market and ebook market. The deal also shows the growing interest in graphic novels across the world. I hope other graphic novel publishers pursue a deal with IPG as well, as they've been a pleasure to work with. It's an exciting time for the creators here and it's fitting that it comes about as we celebrate our tenth anniversary."
Alterna currently has book distribution with Partners Publishers Group but that contract will be coming to a close over the next few months.
IPG will be rolling out Alterna's lineup in their Fall Catalog with frontlist titles and key backlist titles that will see release dates between September 2016 and March 2017. Planned frontlist releases are THE CHAIR (SEP 2016), CORKTOWN (SEP 2016), THE ALTERNA ANNIVERSERIES ANTHOLOGY (OCT 2016), IF ANTHOLOGY: SUPER POWERS (NOV 2016).