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| founder = Don Gerrard
| founder = Don Gerrard
| defunct = 2004
| defunct = 2004
| location_city = Berkeley, Oakland
| location_city = [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]], [[Oakland, California|Oakland]]
| location_country = United States
| location_country = United States
| location =
| location =
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|title=Thriller Doctor » Details » Credentials
|title=Thriller Doctor » Details » Credentials
|publisher=www.thrillerdoctor.com
|publisher=www.thrillerdoctor.com
|accessdate=2009-04-17}}</ref> started the business in 1969, which afterward was purchased by the employees, who re-formed it into a type of [[cooperative]] business. They incorporated in 1971 as the Bookpeople Employee's Association.<ref name="taback"/> It was one of the earliest cooperatives in the Bay Area. The business started in Berkeley, moving to nearby Oakland in the early 1990s.<ref>
|accessdate=2009-04-17}}</ref> started the business in 1969, which afterward was purchased by the employees, who re-formed it into a type of [[cooperative]] business. They incorporated in 1971 as the Bookpeople Employee's Association.<ref name="taback"/> It was one of the earliest cooperatives in the Bay Area. The business started in [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]], moving to nearby [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] in the early 1990s.<ref>
{{cite web
{{cite web
|url=http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/system/Chapter10.html
|url=http://www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/system/Chapter10.html

Revision as of 02:29, 3 October 2011

Bookpeople
Company typeDistributor
Industrybookselling
FounderDon Gerrard
Defunct2004
FateBankruptcy
Headquarters
Berkeley, Oakland
,
United States
Area served
worldwide
Key people
Gene Taback, President
OwnerEmployee-owned and operated

Bookpeople was an employee-owned and operated book wholesaler and distributor based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It operated from 1969-2003.[1] 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.[2] It also played a major role in the development of New Age[3] and radical political publishing and bookselling.[4] It was not related to The Book People, a U.K. publishing concern, or BookPeople, an Austin, Texas bookstore.[5]

History

Don Gerrard[6] started the business in 1969, which afterward was purchased by the employees, who re-formed it into a type of cooperative business. They incorporated in 1971 as the Bookpeople Employee's Association.[2] It was one of the earliest cooperatives in the Bay Area. The business started in Berkeley, moving to nearby Oakland in the early 1990s.[7] 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.[8]

Publishing

While often being credited as a publisher,[9] 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,[10][11] and books on women's spirituality,[12] divination[13] and ecology.[14]

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 Under (a self published title picked up by HarperCollins after amassing significant sales),[15] The Whole Earth Catalog and North Atlantic Books.[16]

Wholesaling

The largest section of their business was wholesaling,[17] where they provided nonexclusive sales of books from major trade publishers as well as small presses.[18] 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, feminism, holistic health, spirituality, gay and lesbian literature (including erotica), in addition to the aforementioned categories.[19]

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.[20][21][22][23]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Banyen's History". www.banyen.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  2. ^ a b Adams, Frank T. (1993). "Forward by Obne TaBack". Putting democracy to work. Berrett-Koehler. p. XV. ISBN 1881052095. Retrieved 2009-04-17. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Lilly, John Cunningham (2004). Programming the human biocomputer. Ronin Publishing. p. 11. ISBN 1579510655. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  4. ^ Ross, Tim (2002). The complete guide to self-publishing. Writer's Digest Books. p. 315. ISBN 1582970912. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  5. ^ Cassy, John (2002-06-26). "Book People in best-selling US deal". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-04-17. {{cite news}}: Text "Business" ignored (help); Text "The Guardian" ignored (help)
  6. ^ "Thriller Doctor » Details » Credentials". www.thrillerdoctor.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  7. ^ Wollenberg, Charles. "Berkeley, A City in History Chapter 10". www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  8. ^ O'Brien, Maureen. "The American Psycho controversy". www.ew.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  9. ^ "Bookpeople". isbndb.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  10. ^ Fornoff, Susan. "When hide-and-seek beats bargain hunting / Savvy Sally Socolich finds the ultimate deal -- her grandchildren. Now the Bay Area will have to shop around". sfgate.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  11. ^ "Amazon.com: Bargain Hunting in the Bay Area Third Revised Edition: Sally Socolich: Books". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  12. ^ Budapest, Zsuzsanna Emese. "The holy book of women's mysteries [UC Berkeley Libraries]". berkeley.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  13. ^ "The Zulu bone oracle (Open Library)". openlibrary.org. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  14. ^ Callenbach, Ernest. "Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston by Ernest Callenbach (Used, New, Out-of-Print) - Alibris". alibris.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  15. ^ "Timeline - Mutant Message Down Under - Marlo Morgan - Aboriginal books". www.creativespirits.info. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  16. ^ "Lindy Hough". lindyhough.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  17. ^ "The International Association of Media Tie-In Writers". www.iamtw.org. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  18. ^ "CLMP - CLMP Newswire Archives". www.clmp.org. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  19. ^ "Book Ephemera". www.bookmarcsonline.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  20. ^ Kinsella, Bridget. "Bay Area Book Community Rallies for Taback - 6/17/2004 - Publishers Weekly". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17. [dead link]
  21. ^ Rosen, Judith. "SPD Turns 35 - 10/4/2004 - Publishers Weekly". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17. [dead link]
  22. ^ Bryant, Dorothy. "The Berkeley Book Tribe. Category: Arts & Entertainment from The Berkeley Daily Planet - Tuesday August 29, 2006". www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  23. ^ Staff, PW Daily for Booksellers. "A Tribute to Bookpeople - 4/29/2004 - Publishers Weekly". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2009-04-17. [dead link]
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