Arcadia Publishing is an Americanpublisher of neighborhood,local, and regional history of the United States inpictorial form.[2][3][4] Arcadia Publishing also runs the History Press, which publishes text-driven books on American history and folklore.
Arcadia Publishing was founded inDover, New Hampshire, in 1993 byUnited Kingdom-basedTempus Publishing, but became independent after being acquired by its CEO in 2004. The corporate office is inMount Pleasant, South Carolina.[5] It has a catalog of more than 12,000 titles, and it—along with its subsidiary, The History Press—publishes 900 new titles every year.[6]
Its formula for regional publishing is to use localwriters orhistorians to write about their community using 180 to 240black-and-whitephotographs with captions and introductory paragraphs in a 128-page book.[7]
TheImages of America series is the company's largest product line. Other series includeImages of Rail, Images of Sports, Images of Baseball, Black America, Postcard History, Campus History, Corporate History, Legendary Locals, Images of Modern America, andThen & Now.
In May 2017, Arcadia acquired Palmetto Publishing Group, aCharleston-based self-publishing service that had been in business since 2015.[1] In 2018, Arcadia was acquired by Lezen, a new company owned by Lili andMichael Lynton.[8] In March 2019,Walter Isaacson became the editor-at-large and senior adviser for Arcadia Publishing, where he will be promoting books for the company as well as editing, new strategy development, and partnerships.[9]
In 2010, Arcadia became the first major publisher to print all of their books onForest Stewardship Council (FSC) paper. All of the publisher's books are also printed and manufactured in South Carolina on American-made paper.[10]
Commonwealth Editions (acquired in 2021 from Applewood Books).[14]
The History Press (originally a U.S. subsidiary ofUnited Kingdom-based publisherof the same name; sold to Arcadia in 2014).[15] The History Press specializes in books dealing with "narratives of local heroes, tragic losses, collections of homegrown recipes, historic mysteries, and everything in between."[16] Some of their series include:American Legends (a series focused on local mythology, legends, and mysteries),Forgotten Tales (a line of books that catalogue near-forgotten stories), andHaunted America (paranormal history books that are written by local authors about ghost stories specific to cities across the US).[17][18][19]
Pelican Publishing Company (purchased in 2019).[20] Pelican publishes books focused on Louisiana and Southern culture, cuisine, art, and history.[21]
The books are printed in the United States. Arcadia handles its own sales and distribution with the following each accounting for a third of the company's sales:
^Rice, Mark (Fall 2009)."Arcadian Visions of the Past"(PDF).Columbia Journal of American Studies. Vol. 9. pp. 7–26. RetrievedSeptember 19, 2017.(analysis of the successfulImages of America series).
^"Our Story". Arcadia Publishing. Archived fromthe original on July 27, 2009. RetrievedJune 11, 2009.
^Hall, Alan (March 20, 2005)."The Book Is at the Printer!". Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio. Archived fromthe original on October 2, 2006. RetrievedAugust 24, 2007. Hall, Alan (July 3, 2005)."Steubenville A Book Written by Librarians". Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County, Ohio. Archived fromthe original on October 2, 2006. RetrievedAugust 24, 2007. Hall is a co-author and describes the process of writing and editing an Acadia bookSteubenvilleISBN978-0-7385-3399-5.
