 | |
| Parent company | Encounter for Culture and Education, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997; 28 years ago (1997) |
| Founder | Peter Collier |
| Successor | Roger Kimball |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | New York City |
| Distribution | Two Rivers Distribution |
| Official website | encounterbooks.com |
Encounter Books is a book publisher in the United States known for publishingconservative authors. It was named forEncounter, the now defunct literary magazine founded byIrving Kristol andStephen Spender. Based in New York City since 2006, Encounter Books publishes non-fiction books in the areas of politics, history, religion, biography, education, public policy, current affairs and social sciences.
The publisher was named forEncounter, the now defunct literary magazine founded byIrving Kristol andStephen Spender.[1] Encounter Books was founded in 1998 in San Francisco by theBradley Foundation, withPeter Collier as editor.[1][2] Collier retired in late 2005. Encounter Books was taken over by the commentatorRoger Kimball, who is also co-editor and publisher ofThe New Criterion magazine. In early 2006, Kimball relocated Encounter Books to New York City.
Encounter was the publisher ofWhen Harry Became Sally, which was banned fromAmazon in February 2021.[3] In response, publisher Roger Kimball said in a statement, "Amazon is using its massive power to distort the marketplace of ideas and is deceiving its own customers in the process."[4]
In October 2009, Encounter launched a series of short polemical booklets in what it said was the spirit ofThe Federalist Papers andThomas Paine'sCommon Sense. These are called Encounter Broadsides. The series publishes well-known commentators on topical political issues, from health care and immigration to theGuantanamo Bay detention camp. Published Broadside authors includeJohn R. Bolton,Victor Davis Hanson,John Fund,Michael Ledeen,Andrew C. McCarthy,Betsy McCaughey,Stephen Moore, andMichael B. Mukasey. Publisher Roger Kimball said of the series:
[T]he imprint will serve as "a new—or rather, a revival of an old—genre that is supple enough to respond quickly to unfolding events and yet authoritative enough to have an important effect on the debate over policy."[5]
Publishers Weekly reported that the Broadside series would be "crashed", meaning produced and marketed on an aggressive turnaround schedule.[5]
In June 2009, Encounter announced that it was no longer sending its books toThe New York Times Book Review. At the time, publisher Roger Kimball complained thatThe New York Times was politicized and superficial in its cultural coverage. He said his books could not expect positive reviews from theTimes and said they could gain "impetus" from "the pluralistic universe of talk radio and the 'blogosphere'." He said Encounter could have its books make theTimes's bestseller list without having the newspaper review them.[6]
