About the Karel/Dutton Group 

Founded in 1975 by Howard Karel, The Karel/Dutton Group represents quality publishers to independent bookstores, regional wholesalers, and museum stores in the western United States. Howard covered the 13 western states on his own after a stint as a rep at Simon & Schuster and working at Pickwick Books in Hollywood.

Dory Dutton became a partner in the Karel/Dutton Group with Howard Karel after working as the founding manager/buyer at the MOCA museum store in Los Angeles. She grew up in the book business at the family-run Dutton’s bookstore in the Los Angeles area, alongside her brothers Davis and Douglas.

Lise Solomon, named PW’s Rep of the Year in 2016, has worked with the group for more than 20 years. She previously worked as a rep at St. Martin’s and in-house at MIT Press. She has served as a board member on the NCIBA (now CALIBA). She is largely credited with getting the debut novel, Tinkers, wide recognition that resulted in it becoming a best-seller and winning the Pulitzer Prize. Lise is a partner in the Karel/Dutton Group.

Ellen Towell rejoined the group in 2016 after 6 years as North American sales manager in international, co-edition publishing and packaging with Weldon Owen and Bonnier. She co-founded the literary press Whereabouts Press after working in marketing and publicity at North Point Press. She served on the board of Small Press Distribution. Ellen is a partner in the Karel/Dutton Group.

Mark O’Neal, a current board member of CALIBA, joined the group in 2017. He previously has worked at Barnes & Noble, Baker & Taylor, and Scholastic.

Domenica deSalvo joined the Karel/Dutton Group in 2022 in support of Dutton’s and O’Neal’s office operations. Based in San Diego, she previously bought books and sidelines in the zoo and aquarium sphere.