Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group

by Ariel Bronson

Pursuing the Business of Building Platforms for New Ideas

This month's indie groundbreaking publisher won seven Axiom Business Book Awards this year, which is fitting, given that the company was started by a 22-year-old with an eye for what the market needed. In 1997, Clint Greenleaf left his job as a staff accountant to launch Greenleaf Book Group (GBG) from his parent's garage. The company quickly grew as Greenleaf taught himself the ins and outs of th …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Langdon Street Press

by Ariel Bronson

Promoting a “Green” Lifestyle and Publishing Their Own Way

 As we get ready to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, we recognize this month's indie groundbreaking publisher's contributions to “green” living. Langdon Street Press (LSP), an independent publisher in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the recipient of a Living Now Award in the category of Green Living in 2012. Living Now Awards span a wide array of categories and are intended to celebra …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Beaver’s Pond Press

by Ariel Bronson

Giving Authors the Reins through a Mentorship Approach

 In 1998, Milt “Beaver” Adams founded a company to help everyday people get their quality books published without pulling a thousand strings to get it done. Adams founded Beaver's Pond Press (BPP) at age 70 to pursue his passion and to create a company with an author-centered approach. “Milt was involved in the printing business and the advertising business for years. H …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Barefoot Books

by Ariel Bronson

Building a Barefoot Community for Twenty Years

Tessa Strickland and Nancy Traversy met for the first time in London in early 1992. By September 1993, they released their first list as the founders of this month's indie groundbreaking publisher: Barefoot Books.Co-founder and CEO Nancy Traversy explained her initial meeting with Strickland. “At that time I was running my own consultancy business helping little creative start-ups. My backgr …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publishers: A Look Back

by Ariel Bronson

Catch up with some of our recent featured publishers

We have been featuring publishers from around the country and beyond who are innovators of their craft with a strong passion for the industry that drives their unique missions and goals. The companies that we have featured at IP have pioneered all different parts of the industry, from printing their own books to leading the creation of electronic books. A wide variety of contributors to the i …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Dawn Publications

by Ariel Bronson

Celebrating the Environment and Creating Inspiration

Dawn Publications is married to its mission to “inspire in children a deeper understanding and appreciation for all life on earth.” From award-winning illustrations to informative yet playful text, the company strives to pair its readers with books that will inspire them not only to learn but also to explore what's around them. Dawn Publications is working to present children with appe …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Dzanc Books

by Ariel Bronson

Promoting Literacy and Pioneering Digitalization of New and Old Printed Works

Dzanc Books has been in business for seven short years and has already left its mark on the publishing industry by investing in the promotion of literacy in tangible ways, combining its efforts to put out great works of literature with multiple other imprints, and by spearheading the industry's eBook endeavors. This month's Indie Groundbreaking Publisher has remained true to its original philosoph …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.

by Ariel Bronson

Pushing the Boundaries of Print and Digital Publishing

Imagine leaving a job at booming ad agency to create a startup in a whole new industry. Now picture the job you're leaving as a career with Leo Burnett (the 9th largest ad agency in the world), and that your startup has to get off of the ground with only $17,000 of your own retirement money. CEO Dominique Raccah took this bold chance when she decided to launch the company that we now know as Sourc …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: The University of Arizona Press

by Ariel Bronson

Finding Success Where Others Crumble

It's no secret that the past several years have been difficult for university presses. It has been a challenge for many presses to stay afloat and adapt to new industry standards while university budgets shrink. A recent article in The New York Times states that “half a dozen universities have closed or suspended their presses over the past three years...as tightening budgets have complicate …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Paragon House

by Ariel Bronson

Addressing Contemporary Issues to Make a Difference

Paragon House publishes books with an eye to make an impact. By addressing and tackling many of the social and contemporary issues facing readers in today's economy and society, Paragon House does its part to make a difference in reader's lives and in their awareness of hot-button issues.Paragon House's catalog spans the categories of ethics, women's studies, political philosophy, integral studies …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: The Porcupine’s Quill

by Ariel Bronson

Building Award-Winning Books By Hand Since 1974

This month's Indie Groundbreaking Publisher, The Porcupine's Quill (PQL), is a small book publishing company in Wellington County, Ontario, Canada that proves that the best way to print isn't always the easiest way. At PQL's headquarters on Main Street in Erin Village, you'll likely spot co-founders Tim and Elke Inkster printing and binding the majority of the company's titles themselves.“Th …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Goosebottom Books

by Jillian Bergsma

Celebrating Women’s History Month with the Right Female Role Models

This month's Groundbreaking Indie Publisher, Goosebottom Books, is a brave new press with a mission that is near and dear to the hearts of female readers everywhere. Author and publisher Shirin Yim Bridges, along with the rest of the team at Goosebottom Books, strives to promote powerful and inspirational role models for young women, as well as sneak what they call “stealth education” …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Papadakis

by Jim Barnes

Exciting, Authoritative and Innovative

Papadakis Publisher is an independent, family-owned publishing house located in London and Winterbourne, United Kingdom. Since 1971, Papadakis Publisher and its predecessor Academy Editions have published more than a thousand titles, mainly on art, architecture and the decorative arts. Founder Andreas Papadakis was the first to publish books by many international architects including Zaha Hadid, D …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Haymarket Books

by James Messinger

Celebrating its 10th anniversary and more relevant than ever

If an “official” Occupy Wall Street book publisher were to be named, it might well be Chicago-based Haymarket Books. Here's an article by Jonathan Messinger, appearing in the November 17th issue of Time Out Chicago magazine, that explains why.* * * * *Haymarket Books: On the press's 10th anniversary, relevancy takes on a whole new meaningI'd like to put forth, in this article, the argu …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: David R. Godine, Publisher

by Jillian Bergsma

The Traditional Book Lives On

In this day and age, you may not consider sticking to print “groundbreaking,” but David R. Godine, Publisher has a dedication to the physical book that we at Independent Publisher deeply admire. Undaunted by the advance of digital technology, Godine sticks to their guns and continues to produce their beautiful print books each year.Founded in 1970 by David Godine (a Dartmouth and Harva …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media

by Jillian Bergsma

“Paving the Road to Digital Success”

“Groundbreaking,” “cutting-edge,” “light years ahead of their time” – call them what you will, Open Road Integrated Media is a true leader in digital book technology. Started in the summer of 2009 by Jane Friedman (former President and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide) and Jeffrey Sharp (an Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning filmmaker), Open R …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: University of Minnesota Press

by Jillian Bergsma

Mining the Politics of American Music

The University of Minnesota Press is Independent Publisher's first university groundbreaking publisher. What makes Minnesota so different? They seriously rebel against the stereotype of a stuffy academic press (which we are seeing more and more university publishers doing every day).“We try to publish work that is at the leading-edge or even on the fringes – work a little more ‘o …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Coffeetown Press

by Jim Barnes

A Feisty Little Seattle Publisher with a Mission

One of the bright spots shining through the cloudy Seattle skyline is Coffeetown Press, a five-year old independent that's published an eclectic catalog of titles so far. The press is the trade publishing arm of Seattle-based Coffeetown Enterprises, originally founded to publish a few academic titles. So far, Coffeetown Press has published a mix of nonfiction, memoir, and literary fiction, and gen …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Wisconsin Historical Society Press

by Jim Barnes

Wisconsin's Oldest Publisher Takes a Fresh Approach to the Past

There are many reasons the citizens of Wisconsin are lucky to live there, and one is that they have such an outstanding publishing house attached to their state historical society. (Okay, sports fans, they're lucky to have the Green Bay Packers and the Wisconsin Badgers, too.)Since 1855, the Wisconsin Historical Society Press has enriched the state's thirst for knowledge with this mission: 'By col …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Inner Traditions

by Nina L. Diamond

Prospering While Preserving Editorial Integrity

It's a rare publisher that starts out as groundbreaking and stays that way. In the midst of on-going industry upheaval, Inner Traditions, founded and still owned and operated by publisher Ehud Sperling, celebrates its 35th anniversary by continuing its traditions.That's not as common in publishing -- among independent or the major houses -- as many authors, editors, booksellers, librarians, critic …   read more

Indie Groundbreaking Publisher: Cleis Press

Proving that (Really Good) Sex Sells

Cleis Press is a publishing survivor...and a publishing innovator. Celebrating 30 years in business this year, Cleis has survived while many of the lesbian, feminist, and gay presses that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s have gone under. One of the only houses still run by its founders, Cleis is now the largest independent queer publishing company in the United States.The survivor persona is reflect …   read more