Pubnet 2000,
Online Electronic Commerce System,
to Demonstrate at BookExpo America

Follows Enthusiastic Response from CAMEX Attendees

VIENNA, VA, May 27, 1998 - Pubnet LLC, developers of the pioneering electronic commerce system that links booksellers, publishers and suppliers, will demonstrate their new service Pubnet 2000--at BookExpo America in Chicago. The BookExpo demonstration follows on the heels of the tremendous response the service received at the1998 NACS Annual Meeting and Campus Market Expo (CAMEX) in Indianapolis.

CAMEX attendees found Pubnet 2000's one-stop, feature-rich capabilities easier to use and more flexible than their current ordering processes. CAMEX attendees went online to the Pubnet 2000 website (www.pubnet.org), typed a password and placed dummy orders via the clear, graphical screens live from the show floor.

"I was thrilled to see the Pubnet LLC booth constantly surrounded by attendees wanting to participate in the Pubnet 2000 demonstrations. This enthusiasm is a good sign that Pubnet 2000 is going to be a hit," commented David Moffatt, National Association of College Stores.

Pubnet LLC is targeted to surpass that success at BookExpo America, scheduled from May 28 to June 1 (Booth #2251) at the McCormick Place Complex in Chicago.

The response from bookstore managers and buyers to Pubnet 2000 also drew the attention of publisher representatives. "Pubnet 2000 clearly demonstrates and strengthens the bookseller-publisher relationship. Easy access to enhanced title identity, price, and availability information benefits our mutual desire to sell more books, " said Don Burden from The McGraw-Hill Companies.

"As soon as booksellers interact with Pubnet 2000, they like the interface, appreciate the faster order acknowledgement and access to an enhanced version of R.R. Bowker's Books In Print^®, and love that it's all online," commented Andrew M. Gregory, Managing Director at Pubnet LLC. "After the great response at CAMEX, we are really looking forward to demonstrating Pubnet 2000 at BookExpo America later this month."

As BEA approaches, Pubnet 2000 stands out as a technology leader in the publishing industry. "Pubnet 2000, an effort to optimize a vital inter-organization business process, is an early example of a dynamic trading network, emblematic of the next generation of electronic commerce," said Kip Martin, Senior Research Analyst, META Group.

Since Pubnet 2000 launched in March, over 140 major bookstores have signed on to use the online ordering system--over 60 bookstores signed on during the first week alone. "We are thrilled by the early adoption rate," said Andrew M. Gregory. "And we are encouraged to find stores embracing the Pubnet 2000 system much more quickly than we had anticipated."

One of the earliest backers of the Pubnet 2000 ordering system was Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. "We moved over to the Pubnet 2000 system on the first day it launched," said Jim Savage, Director of the Vanderbilt Bookstore. "The speed, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness of Pubnet 2000 made switching over from the older PUBNET^® system an obvious choice."

"CAMEX attendees could see first hand that by automating a labor-intensive process, Pubnet 2000 frees booksellers to spend more time with customers and less time ordering," said Andrew M. Gregory, managing director of Pubnet LLC. "At the same time, publishers saw that the advancements expedite order processing and address customer service issues."

Pubnet LLC also plans to provide the new service through Third Party Systems developers later in 1998.

Those unable to access the Internet can still place orders and receive acknowledgments through the previously available PUBNET service. However, Web access is required for more advanced Pubnet 2000 features such as access to Books in Print, EDI to e-mail, and EDI to fax services.

More than 3,000 bookstores, wholesalers, libraries and schools currently subscribe to PUBNET, making it the world's premier electronic community for the publishing and bookselling industries.

Vienna, Va.-based Pubnet LLC has 11 years' experience serving the book trade. It is a limited liability corporation owned equally by the Association of American Publishers, the American Booksellers Association, the National Association of College Stores and R.R. Bowker, a division of Cahners Business Information.

R.R. Bowker LLC Marketing Contact
Josephine Fiamingo: (908) 219-0157
marketing@bowker.com