Cardinal's founder Tom Doherty began his publishing career in 1980 as a summer employee for then independent publisher Tor Books in New York City. He continued to work for Tor Books each summer and during vacations while he was attending college, and upon graduation accepted a position in that company's marketing department. In 1985 Tom moved to Indiana for a sales position with Warner Publishers Service (WPS) - a distribution arm of Warner Books. Not long after making the initial move, Tom was promoted to regional marketing manager and brought back to New York City and the corporate offices of WPS. In 1991 a distribution arm of the Hearst Corporation, International Circulation Distributors (ICD), offered Tom the opportunity to oversee national accounts and marketing, which he accepted. At the end of 1995, after five years of part-time work for a publisher, and ten years full-time work for two distribution companies, Tom moved back to Indiana to become National Sales Manager for independent publisher Howard W. Sams.

At the beginning of 2000, after twenty years of publishing and distribution experience, Tom Doherty opened the doors to Cardinal Publisher Group. Since that time, CPG has become one of the fastest growing distributors in the country.