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Bookpeople (distributor)
Encyclopedia
Bookpeople was an employee-owned and operated book wholesaler and distributor based in the San Francisco Bay Area
. It operated from 1969-2003. Bookpeople was one of the major forces behind the renaissance of independent publishing that occurred during this period. The business provided a wide range of hard-to-find titles to bookstores throughout the U.S. and the world. It also played a major role in the development of New Age
and radical political publishing and bookselling. It was not related to The Book People, a U.K. publishing concern, or BookPeople
, an Austin, Texas bookstore.
business. They incorporated in 1971 as the Bookpeople Employee's Association. It was one of the earliest cooperatives in the Bay Area. The business started in Berkeley
, moving to nearby Oakland
in the early 1990s. While being noted for carrying a wide range of controversial books, Bookpeople was also noted for refusing to carry books that were seen by some in the bookselling community as inappropriately sexist or exploitive, such as American Psycho
.
(a self published title picked up by HarperCollins
after amassing significant sales), The Whole Earth Catalog
and North Atlantic Books
.
, holistic health
, spirituality, gay and lesbian literature (including erotica), in addition to the aforementioned categories.
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. It operated from 1969-2003. Bookpeople was one of the major forces behind the renaissance of independent publishing that occurred during this period. The business provided a wide range of hard-to-find titles to bookstores throughout the U.S. and the world. It also played a major role in the development of New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
and radical political publishing and bookselling. It was not related to The Book People, a U.K. publishing concern, or BookPeople
BookPeople
BookPeople is an independent bookstore in Austin, Texas, and the largest bookstore in the state of Texas. It was founded in 1970 and has been voted the best bookstore by the Austin Chronicle every year since 1995...
, an Austin, Texas bookstore.
History
Don Gerrard started the business in 1969, which afterward was purchased by the employees, who re-formed it into a type of cooperativeCooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
business. They incorporated in 1971 as the Bookpeople Employee's Association. It was one of the earliest cooperatives in the Bay Area. The business started in Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, moving to nearby Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
in the early 1990s. While being noted for carrying a wide range of controversial books, Bookpeople was also noted for refusing to carry books that were seen by some in the bookselling community as inappropriately sexist or exploitive, such as American Psycho
American Psycho
American Psycho is a psychological thriller and satirical novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by the protagonist, serial killer and Manhattan businessman Patrick Bateman. The book's graphic violence and sexual content generated a great deal of...
.
Publishing
While often being credited as a publisher, strictly speaking they did not publish under the Bookpeople imprint. They did operate a publishing house, Wingbow Press, which published books of local interest, such as early editions of Bargain Hunting in the Bay Area, by Sally Socolich, and books on women's spirituality, divination and ecology.Exclusive distribution
Bookpeople was able to offer exclusive distribution to many small publishers that were then able to achieve wider distribution to bookstores. By offering bookstores return privileges, the stores were able to try titles from smaller publishers without having to absorb the full cost for unsold titles. Many of these publishers and books would eventually be sold to or become major imprints of larger publishers, or larger publishers in their own right. Some of these publishers and titles included John Muir Press, Mutant Message Down UnderMarlo Morgan
Marlo Morgan is an American author, best known for the bestselling book Mutant Message Down Under. She has also written Message from Forever , another novel based on Australian Aboriginal themes....
(a self published title picked up by HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
after amassing significant sales), The Whole Earth Catalog
Whole Earth Catalog
The Whole Earth Catalog was an American counterculture catalog published by Stewart Brand between 1968 and 1972, and occasionally thereafter, until 1998...
and North Atlantic Books
North Atlantic Books
North Atlantic Books is a non-profit, independent publisher based in Berkeley, CA. Founded by authors Richard Grossinger and Lindy Hough in Vermont, North Atlantic Books was named partly for the North Atlantic region where it began in 1974, as well as Alan Van Newkirk's Geographic Foundation of the...
.
Wholesaling
The largest section of their business was wholesaling, where they provided nonexclusive sales of books from major trade publishers as well as small presses. Their wholesale catalog was used by booksellers for years as a resource for surveying the state of alternative publishing, as they consistently carried new titles in such burgeoning fields as African American studies, feminismFeminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, holistic health
Holistic health
Holistic health is a concept in medical practice upholding that all aspects of people's needs, psychological, physical and social should be taken into account and seen as a whole. As defined above, the holistic view on treatment is widely accepted in medicine...
, spirituality, gay and lesbian literature (including erotica), in addition to the aforementioned categories.
Legacy
The bookselling world was affected by the loss of Bookpeople, having cultivated relationships with them for over 30 years, and having had staff move into other positions within the bookselling community.See also
- Small Press DistributionSmall Press DistributionSmall Press Distribution, or SPD, is a non-profit literary arts organization located in Berkeley, California. As their name indicates, the core of their mission is to act as an umbrella distributor and marketer for hundreds of smaller literary publishers...
- Ingram Content Group
- Baker & TaylorBaker & TaylorBaker & Taylor is the world's largest distributor of books and entertainment, in business for over 180 years. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and privately owned, in 2006 it had $2.2 billion in sales, employed 3,750 and was # 181 on Forbes list of privately owned companies...