 | |
| Parent company | Hachette Book Group |
|---|---|
| Status | Active |
| Founded | 1968; 57 years ago (1968) |
| Founder | Peter Workman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | 225Varick Street New York City, New York |
| Distribution |
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| Publication types | Books,calendars |
| Imprints | Artisan, Algonquin, Algonquin Young Readers, Storey, Timber |
| Official website | workman |
Workman Publishing Company, Inc., is an Americanpublisher oftrade books founded byPeter Workman. The company consists ofimprints Workman, Workman Children's, Workman Calendars, Artisan, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and Algonquin Young Readers, Storey Publishing, and Timber Press.[2]
From the beginning Workman focused on publishing adult and children'snon-fiction, and its titles and brands rank among the best-known in their fields, including: theWhat to Expect pregnancy and childcare guide; the educational series,Brain Quest andThe Big Fat Notebooks; travel books like1,000 Places to See Before You Die andAtlas Obscura; humor includingThe Complete Preppy Handbook andBad Cat; award-winning cookbooks:The Noma Guide to Fermentation,The French Laundry Cookbook, Sheet Pan Suppers,The Silver Palate Cookbook,The Barbecue Bible; and novels includingHow the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents,Water for Elephants and the Young Adult Newberry Medalist,The Girl Who Drank the Moon. Workman also publishes calendars, includingThe Original Page-a-Day Calendars.[3][4]
After over 50 years as anindependent, family-owned company, Workman Publishing Company, Inc., joinedThe Hachette Book Group in 2021.[5] Its primary offices are in New York City.
After a short stint packaging books forBallantine, Peter Workman founded Workman Publishing with his wife, Carolan, in 1968. The first book published under the Workman imprint wasRichard Hittelman's 28-Day Yoga Exercise Plan, which is still in print. In 1975 Workman published its firstNew York Times bestseller,B. Kliban's Cat, a collection of humorous illustrations that also inspired the company expand into calendar publishing withCat as its first wall calendar. In 1979, Workman'screative director, Paul Hanson, created thePage-a-Day Calendar. In the years since,Page-a-Day Calendars have shipped over 100 million copies.[6]
The following decades saw a succession of titles that had strong sales and strong cultural impact, beginning in withThe Official Preppy Handbook (1980) and continuing withIn and Out of the Garden (1981),The Silver Palate Cookbook (1982),What to Expect When You’re Expecting (1984),The Book of Questions (1987),All I Need to Know I Learned from My Cat (1990),Good Omens (1990, the first and only novel published under the Workman imprint),Brain Quest (1992), Boynton On Boardboard books (1993),Shoes (1996), Fandex (1998),The Cake Mix Doctor (1999),How to Grill (2001),1,000 Places to See Before You Die andStitch N Bitch (2003),Gallop! (2007), Indestructibles (2009),Safari andSteal Like an Artist (2012), and a trifecta in 2016, including the launch of two brands—The Big Fat Notebooks and Paint by Sticker—andAtlas Obscura.[3]
Throughout its history, Workman has specialized in quirky but useful books, often with unusual formats. It published its first “book-plus” in 1983:How to Kazoo came with a real kazoo. Among its million-copy children's bestsellers areThe Bug and Bug Bottle—the book came in a collecting bottle—andThe Kids’ Book of Chess which came with a full chess set. TheBrain Quest brand started with two decks of grommeted cards sold in a box.Indestructibles books are printed on aTyvek-like paper that makes them rip-proof, chew-proof, washable and 100% non-toxic. The multi-million copyScanimation andPhoticular brands both have pages with moving images.[7] In 2020, Workman and its imprints expanded into thejigsaw puzzle business.
For years Workman's unofficial motto was "no book before its time", which reflected Peter Workman's obsession with getting every part of a book right before sending it out into the world. It's part of the reason that one out of three Workman books have over 100,000 copies in print, and that approximately 80% of its business is "backlist"—sales generated by books that stay in print for years.[8]
Peter Workman died in 2013. In 2015, Workman appointed Dan Reynolds, former President and Publisher of Storey Publishing, as its new President andCEO.[9] In September, 2021, Carolan Workman sold the company to theHachette Book Group.[5][10]
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Artisan
In 1994 Peter Workman founded his second company, Artisan, with the mission to publish subjects that can best be expressed visually, whether throughphotography,illustration, orgraphic design. The company focuses on cooking, design, crafts and hobbies, and expanding the boundaries of general nonfiction. It seeks out authors who are thought-leaders and tastemakers, and works hand-in-hand with them to create physical books that are beautiful in their own right. Artisan's first significant bestseller wasThomas Keller'sThe French Laundry Cookbook, and recentNew York Times bestsellers includeThe Noma Guide to Fermentation,Grace Bonney'sIn the Company of Women,John Derian Picture Book,The Dogist,The Kinfolk Home, andThe New Health Rules. Other notable authors include Sean Brock,Cheryl Day,Joshua McFadden,Lucinda Scala Quinn, Einat Admony,David Tanis, andNaomi Duguid.[11]
Algonquin
Algonquin Books was founded inChapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1983 with a goal of publishing quality fiction and nonfiction by unpublished young writers. Although it started as a small Southern house, over the years it has garnered national attention for a diverse range of renowned authors, includingJulia Alvarez,Kaye Gibbons,Chimamanda Adichie,Robert Morgan,Lee Smith,Tayari Jones,Kaitlyn Greenidge,Daniel Wallace, andAmy Stewart, among others. In 1989, Algonquin was acquired by Workman Publishing. Today, it has offices inNew York City and Chapel Hill and its numerous bestsellers and prizewinners includeWater for Elephants,A Reliable Wife,Love, Loss, and What I Wore,Big Fish,Last Child in the Woods,The Leavers,In the Time of the Butterflies,An American Marriage,Dan Rather'sWhat Unites Us, andThe Book of Delights.[12] Algonquin also publishes thePEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, a biannual prize established by authorBarbara Kingsolver whose winners includeHillary Jordan'sMudbound,Heidi Durrow'sThe Girl Who Fell from the Sky,Lisa Ko’sThe Leavers,Katharine Seligman'sAt the Edge of the Haight, andJamila Minnicks Gleason'sMoonrise Over New Jessup.[13]
Algonquin Young Readers
Algonquin Young Readers was founded in 2011 by Peter Workman and then Algonquin publisher, Elisabeth Scharlatt, as an imprint of Algonquin Books to publish books of enduring value for young readers, includingnarrativefiction andnon-fiction,picture books, andgraphic novels. In 2017, an Algonquin Young Readers novel,The Girl Who Drank the Moon, byKelly Barnhill, won theJohn Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to children's literature in the prior year.[14]Furia, byYamilé Mendez, won the 2021Pura Belpré Award for the best presentation of the Latin experience in a book for young adults.[15] Algonquin Young Readers titles have also wonEdgar Allan Poe awards for bestYA and juvenile mystery, and have been nominated for theNational Book Award for young people's literature. Algonquin Young Readers authors includeKelly Barnhill,Elizabeth C. Bunce (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries),Kelly Jensen(Don’t) Call Me Crazy,Samantha Mabry(All the Wind in the World),Amy Timberlake (Skunk and Badger series),Genzaburo Yoshino (How Do You Live?), andApril Genevieve Tucholke (Beatrice Likes the Dark).
Storey Publishing
In 1983 John Storey bought Garden Way Publishing from Garden Way and changed the name to Storey Publishing. The company specializes in highly illustrateddo-it-yourself books for adults and children, with a focus on farming, gardening, crafts, cooking, nature appreciation, backyard building, and natural wellness and herbal medicine. Popular titles includeRosemary Gladstar'sMedicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide,Fermented Vegetables,The Backpack Explorer: On the Nature Trail,Cooking Class,Ocean Anatomy, andThe year-Round Vegetable Gardener. Storey's authors include Julia Rothman,Maia Toll, Catherine Newman,Ty Allan Jackson, and theXerces Society. Storey is based inNorth Adams, Massachusetts.[16][17]
Timber
Timber Press was founded in 1978 and is based inPortland, Oregon. It was acquired by Workman Publishing in 2006. Timber publishes books forgardeners, both amateur and professional, nature enthusiasts,environmentalists, andpopular science readers. It also has a robust regional program. Some of their popular titles includeBringing Nature Home andNature's Best Hope byDouglas Tallamy,Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life byMarta McDowell,Michael Dirr'sEncyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs, andTeaming with Microbes byJeff Lowenfels.[18]
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