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: 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: 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

Groundbreaking Indie 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: 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 ‘ …   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

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