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Small Press Distribution
Small Press Distribution (SPD) was an "exclusively literary" nonprofit book distributor for the small press that operated from 1969 to 2024. It abruptly closed in March 2024.
SPD was founded in 1969 in Berkeley, California, by Peter Howard of Serendipity Books and Jack Shoemaker of Sand Dollar Press. The fledgling organization provided small-scale distribution services for only eight 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 link to underground literature for writers and readers around the US.
From 1977 to 1989, poet Jean Day was Acquisitions Manager, then Executive Director, of SPD, developing close associations with many San Francisco Bay Area writers and publishers, including Lyn Hejinian, Bob Perelman, Steve Benson, Johanna Drucker, Barrett Watten, Alan Bernheimer, Kit Robinson, Tom Mandel, and Laura Moriarty. (Moriarty herself served as Deputy Director of SPD from 1998 to 2018, remaining on the company board.)
By 1980, SPD was distributing the books of about 40 small publishers; it also "operated a full-time retail store and sponsored an array of public programs and readings." By 1990, SPD's roster of small publishers had grown to 330.[citation needed] SPD became an official non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 1991. By this time, however, "'though a focal point for literary life in the Bay Area, it was hard hit by reduced NEA funding. The closing of many small independent stores... also impacted sales. A decision was made to discontinue the store and the reading series and focus on distribution."
By 1999, SPD served 572 small presses and occupied a 6,400-square-foot warehouse in Berkeley. It was awarded a Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Fund grant "for [its] role in providing a vital link in the life of independent publishing."
In 2023, SPD, via GoFundMe, fundraised over $100,000 in order to implement new operations. In February 2024, the company stated it had moved over 300,000 books from its Berkeley warehouse to Ingram in Tennessee in order to cut costs. It also stored books through Publishers Storage and Shipping, located in Michigan.
A month later, SPD announced on social media and its website that it was shutting down effective immediately, citing:
...the challenges of a rapidly changing book industry and funding environment. Several years of declining sales and the loss of grant support from almost every institution that annually supported SPD have combined to squeeze our budget beyond the breaking point. SPD lost hundreds of thousands in grants in the past few years as funders moved away from supporting the arts. The tireless efforts of a world-class staff to raise new funds, find new sales channels for our presses, and exit our expensive Berkeley warehouse couldn’t compensate for these losses. SPD exhausted every avenue in seeking emergency funding and loans to avoid the shutdown.
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Small Press Distribution
Small Press Distribution (SPD) was an "exclusively literary" nonprofit book distributor for the small press that operated from 1969 to 2024. It abruptly closed in March 2024.
SPD was founded in 1969 in Berkeley, California, by Peter Howard of Serendipity Books and Jack Shoemaker of Sand Dollar Press. The fledgling organization provided small-scale distribution services for only eight 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 link to underground literature for writers and readers around the US.
From 1977 to 1989, poet Jean Day was Acquisitions Manager, then Executive Director, of SPD, developing close associations with many San Francisco Bay Area writers and publishers, including Lyn Hejinian, Bob Perelman, Steve Benson, Johanna Drucker, Barrett Watten, Alan Bernheimer, Kit Robinson, Tom Mandel, and Laura Moriarty. (Moriarty herself served as Deputy Director of SPD from 1998 to 2018, remaining on the company board.)
By 1980, SPD was distributing the books of about 40 small publishers; it also "operated a full-time retail store and sponsored an array of public programs and readings." By 1990, SPD's roster of small publishers had grown to 330.[citation needed] SPD became an official non-profit 501(c)(3) organization in 1991. By this time, however, "'though a focal point for literary life in the Bay Area, it was hard hit by reduced NEA funding. The closing of many small independent stores... also impacted sales. A decision was made to discontinue the store and the reading series and focus on distribution."
By 1999, SPD served 572 small presses and occupied a 6,400-square-foot warehouse in Berkeley. It was awarded a Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Fund grant "for [its] role in providing a vital link in the life of independent publishing."
In 2023, SPD, via GoFundMe, fundraised over $100,000 in order to implement new operations. In February 2024, the company stated it had moved over 300,000 books from its Berkeley warehouse to Ingram in Tennessee in order to cut costs. It also stored books through Publishers Storage and Shipping, located in Michigan.
A month later, SPD announced on social media and its website that it was shutting down effective immediately, citing:
...the challenges of a rapidly changing book industry and funding environment. Several years of declining sales and the loss of grant support from almost every institution that annually supported SPD have combined to squeeze our budget beyond the breaking point. SPD lost hundreds of thousands in grants in the past few years as funders moved away from supporting the arts. The tireless efforts of a world-class staff to raise new funds, find new sales channels for our presses, and exit our expensive Berkeley warehouse couldn’t compensate for these losses. SPD exhausted every avenue in seeking emergency funding and loans to avoid the shutdown.