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July 12, 2018

ACTA Publications and Saint Mary’s Press Conclude Historic Sale

Two Catholic publishers with over 135 combined years in the Catholic publishing industry have concluded a strategic sale of some 40 ACTA Publications’ titles to Saint Mary's Press.  “These particular titles needed a broader presence in the Catholic market,” says ACTA Publications’ president and publisher Greg Pierce, “and Saint Mary’s Press is the perfect home for them.”

“The acquisition of these titles will help Saint Mary’s Press expand its breadth of offerings, especially in sacramental preparation, devotion, and grief,” says John Vitek, President & CEO of Saint Mary’s Press. “We want to offer more titles that help young people, especially, cope with and heal from their experiences of loss and grief. We also want to broaden our presence in sacramental preparation,” Vitek notes, “and ACTA’s outstanding titles will help us achieve these goals.”

“For several years, ACTA has been moving beyond its original exclusive focus on the Catholic market to appeal to a broader interfaith and secular audience,” says Pierce.  “So we went looking for a new publisher for some of our best-selling backlist titles.” Included in the sale are:

  • Life in Christ by Frs. Gerard Weber and James Kilgallon
  • Perspectives on Marriage and The Pre-Cana Packet
  • Beginning Your Marriage by John Thomas, SJ
  • The New Day Journal by Mauryeen O'Brien, OP
  • Grace Notes, So Very Much the Best of Us, and Reading in Bed by Brian Doyle
  • Invitation to Catholicism by Alice Camille
  • When God Was a Little Girl by David Weiss and Joan Hernandez Lindeman
  • Rosary Novenas to Our Lady with the Mysteries of Light
  • Scriptural Meditations on the Divine Mercy Chaplet
  • The Rosary: Including the Mysteries of Light CD by Sheldon Cohen
  • Catholic and College Bound by Fr. George Szews
  • The Confirmed Catholic Companion and I Am Going by Mary Kathleen Glavich, SND
  • The Death of a Child by Elaine Stillwell
  • Divorce and Beyond by Greteman, Haverkamp, and Radtke
  • The Art of Pausing by Valente, Quenon, and Bever

ACTA has a reputation for quality products, excellent customer service, the development of new authors and content, and innovative marketing and acquisition processes. Going forward, the “ACTA” acronym will stand for “A Commitment To All” and the business will remain under the leadership of Pierce at its headquarters on Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois.

Saint Mary’s Press, headquartered in Winona, Minnesota, is a nonprofit, Lasallian Catholic publisher administered by the Christian Brothers of the Midwest District. It remains “a contemporary expression of the Catholic Church’s mission to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and the Lasallian mission to provide a human and Christian education for young people, including those who are economically deprived.”

For further information, contact Greg Pierce at 800-397-2282 or gfapierce@aol.com or Jim Geller at jgeller@smp.org.  Further information on Saint Mary’s Press publications is available at www.smp.org. For more on ACTA Publications go to www.actapublications.com.