Small Press Distribution
Encyclopedia
Small 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
. SPD's primary mission is to get the books of their publishers out to bookstores, libraries, book wholesale
rs, and directly to readers and writers.
By 1980, SPD was distributing the books of about 40 small publishers; by 1990, the number had grown to 330. Today, SPD distributes books for approximately 450 publishers, each of whom produces anywhere from one to twenty books a year.
SPD became an official 501c3 non-profit in 1996. Since that time, its sales and staff have grown despite the demise of many independent bookstore
s that previously operated as its most consistent customer base.
Given the nature of commercial publishing and for-profit book distribution, a case can be made that SPD has played a vital role in keeping grassroots, noncommercial poetry and fiction continuously available in the U.S. to new generations of readers over the last three decades.
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...
. As their name indicates, the core of their mission is to act as an umbrella distributor
Distribution (business)
Product distribution is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. An organization or set of organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use or consumption by a consumer or business user.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product, pricing,...
and marketer
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
for hundreds of smaller literary publishers
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
. SPD's primary mission is to get the books of their publishers out to bookstores, libraries, book wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
rs, and directly to readers and writers.
History
SPD was founded in 1969 by Peter Howard of Serendipity Books and Jack Shoemaker of Sand Dollar Press. The fledgling organization provided small-scale distribution services for only five publishers. Initially called Serendipity Books Distribution, it was renamed Small Press Distribution by the late 1970s. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the organization periodically assembled the new titles of their publishers into printed catalogs, thus providing a vital link to underground literature for writers and readers around the US.By 1980, SPD was distributing the books of about 40 small publishers; by 1990, the number had grown to 330. Today, SPD distributes books for approximately 450 publishers, each of whom produces anywhere from one to twenty books a year.
SPD became an official 501c3 non-profit in 1996. Since that time, its sales and staff have grown despite the demise of many independent bookstore
Independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned.-Literary and countercultural history:Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take the role of literary salons. The bookstores themselves, "have historically supported and cultivated the work of independent...
s that previously operated as its most consistent customer base.
Given the nature of commercial publishing and for-profit book distribution, a case can be made that SPD has played a vital role in keeping grassroots, noncommercial poetry and fiction continuously available in the U.S. to new generations of readers over the last three decades.