Workman Publishing Company, Inc., is an American
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
of
trade books founded by Peter Workman. The company is comprised of either
imprints: Workman, Workman Children’s, Workman Calendars, Artisan, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and Algonquin Young Readers, Storey Publishing, and Timber Press.
From the beginning Workman focused on publishing adult and children’s
non-fiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...
, and its titles and brands rank among the best-known in their fields, including: the
WHAT TO EXPECT pregnancy and childcare guide; the educational series, ''
Brain Quest
Brain Quest is a series of educational flashcards that quiz children on a variety of subjects including science, math, English, geography, history, and others.
Versions
The product was created by the French company Play Bac, and was named ''Les ...
'' and ''The Big Fat Notebooks;'' travel books like ''
1,000 Places to See Before You Die
''1,000 Places to See Before You Die'' is a 2003
travel book by Patricia Schultz, published by Workman. A revised edition was published in November 2011. The new edition is in color. An iPad app debuted in December 2011.
Among the "1,000 places ...
'' and ''
Atlas Obscura
''Atlas Obscura'' is an American-based online magazine and travel company. It was founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via user-generated content ...
''; humor including ''The Complete Preppy Handbook'' and ''Bad Cat;'' award-winning cookbooks: ''The Noma Guide to Fermentation,
The French Laundry Cookbook
''The French Laundry Cookbook'' is a 1999 cookbook written by American chefs Thomas Keller, Michael Ruhlman, and Susie Heller; illustrated by Deborah Jones. The book features recipes from Keller's restaurant The French Laundry. It won the 2000 Inte ...
, Sheet Pan Suppers,'' ''The Silver Palate Cookbook,
The Barbecue Bible;'' and novels including
''How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents'''',
Water for Elephants
''Water for Elephants'' is the third novel by the Canadian–American author Sara Gruen. The book was published in 2006 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. The historical fiction novel is a 20th century circus drama. Gruen wrote the book as part ...
'' and the Young Adult Newberry Medalist, ''
The Girl Who Drank the Moon''. Workman also publishes calendars, including The Original Page-a-Day Calendars.
After over 50 years as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
, family-owned company, Workman Publishing Company, Inc., joined
The Hachette Book Group in 2021.
Its primary offices are in New York City.
History
After a short stint packaging books for
Ballantine, Peter Workman founded Workman Publishing with his wife, Carolan, in 1968. The first book published under the Workman imprint was ''Richard Hittelman’s 28-Day Yoga Exercise Plan'', which is still in print. In 1975 Workman published its first
''New York Times'' bestseller,
''B. Kliban’s'' ''Cat'', a collection of humorous illustrations that also inspired the company expand into calendar publishing with ''Cat'' as its first wall calendar. In 1979, Workman’s
creative director
A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...
, Paul Hanson, created the Page-a-Day Calendar. In the years since, Page-a-Day Calendars have shipped over 100 million copies.
The following decades saw a succession of titles that had strong sales and strong cultural impact, beginning in with ''
The Official Preppy Handbook
''The Official Preppy Handbook'' (1980) is a tongue-in-cheek humor reference guide edited by Lisa Birnbach and written by Jonathan Roberts, Carol McD. Wallace, Mason Wiley, and Birnbach. It discusses an aspect of North American culture describe ...
'' (1980) and continuing with ''In 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
''Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch'' is a 1990 novel written as a collaboration between the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
The book is a comedy about the birth of the son of Satan and the c ...
'' (1990, the first and only novel published under the Workman imprint),
Brain Quest
Brain Quest is a series of educational flashcards that quiz children on a variety of subjects including science, math, English, geography, history, and others.
Versions
The product was created by the French company Play Bac, and was named ''Les ...
(1992), Boynton On Board
board books (1993), ''Shoes'' (1996), Fandex (1998), ''The Cake Mix Doctor'' (1999), ''How to Grill'' (2001), ''
1,000 Places to See Before You Die
''1,000 Places to See Before You Die'' is a 2003
travel book by Patricia Schultz, published by Workman. A revised edition was published in November 2011. The new edition is in color. An iPad app debuted in December 2011.
Among the "1,000 places ...
'' and ''Stitch N Bitch'' (2003), ''Gallop!'' (2007), Indestructibles (2009), ''Safari'' and ''Steal Like an Artist'' (2012), and a trifecta in 2016, including the launch of two brands— The Big Fat Notebooks and Paint by Sticker—and ''
Atlas Obscura
''Atlas Obscura'' is an American-based online magazine and travel company. It was founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via user-generated content ...
''.
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 are ''The Bug and Bug Bottle—''the book came in a collecting bottle—and ''The Kids’ Book of Chess'' which came with a full chess set. The ''
Brain Quest
Brain Quest is a series of educational flashcards that quiz children on a variety of subjects including science, math, English, geography, history, and others.
Versions
The product was created by the French company Play Bac, and was named ''Les ...
'' brand started with two decks of grommeted cards sold in a box. ''Indestructibles'' books are printed on a
Tyvek
Tyvek () is a brand of synthetic flashspun high-density polyethylene fibers. The name "Tyvek" is a registered trademark of the American multinational chemical company DuPont, which discovered and commercialized Tyvek in the late 1950s and early ...
-like paper that makes them rip-proof, chew-proof, washable and 100% non-toxic. The multi-million copy ''Scanimation'' and ''Photicular'' brands both have pages with moving images. In 2020, Workman and its imprints expanded into the
jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of often irregularly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces, each of which typically has a portion of a picture. When assembled, the puzzle pieces produce a complete picture.
In th ...
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 a good 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
A backlist is a list of older books available from a publisher. This is opposed to newly-published titles, which is sometimes known as the frontlist.
Business
Building a strong backlist has traditionally been considered the best method to produ ...
”—sales generated by books that stay in print for years.
Peter Workman died in 2013. In 2015, Workman appointed Dan Reynolds, former President and Publisher of Storey Publishing, as its new President and
CEO
A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...
. In September, 2021, Carolan Workman sold the company to the
Hachette Book Group
Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Grou ...
.
Imprints and distribution
Imprints
Artisan
In 1994 Peter Workman founded his second company, Artisan, with the mission to publish subjects that can best be expressed visually, whether through
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...
,
illustration
An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...
, or
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...
. 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 was
Thomas Keller
Thomas Aloysius Keller (born October 14, 1955) is an American chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He and his landmark Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry in Yountville, California, have won multiple awards from the James Beard Founda ...
’s ''
The French Laundry Cookbook
''The French Laundry Cookbook'' is a 1999 cookbook written by American chefs Thomas Keller, Michael Ruhlman, and Susie Heller; illustrated by Deborah Jones. The book features recipes from Keller's restaurant The French Laundry. It won the 2000 Inte ...
'', and recent ''New York Times'' bestsellers include ''The Noma Guide to Fermentation,''
Grace Bonney
Grace Bonney (born June 9, 1981) is an American author, blogger, and entrepreneur. Bonney is best known for founding the interior design blog ''Design*Sponge'', which published for 15 years. Bonney wrote ''The New York Times'' bestseller, ''In Th ...
’s ''In the Company of Women'', ''John Derian Picture Book'', ''The Dogist'', ''The Kinfolk Home'', and ''The New Health Rules''. Other notable authors include Sean Brock,
Cheryl Day
Cheryl Day (born 1961) is a baker and author, who is owner of Back in the Day Bakery and co-founder of Southern Restaurants for Racial Justice. She is the author of two best-selling cookbooks, written with her husband Griff Day. In 2015 she was ...
,
Joshua McFadden,
Lucinda Scala Quinn, Einat Admony,
David Tanis, and
Naomi Duguid
Naomi Duguid (born 1950 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a food writer and photographer from Canada. Duguid is based in Toronto and has coauthored six cookbooks, and well as ''Burma: Rivers of Flavor'' in 2012 which was her first solo publication. She is be ...
.
Algonquin
Algonquin Books was founded in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...
, 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, including
Julia Alvarez
Julia Alvarez (born March 27, 1950) is an American New Formalist poet, novelist, and essayist. She rose to prominence with the novels ''How the García Girls Lost Their Accents'' (1991), '' In the Time of the Butterflies'' (1994), and ''Yo!'' ...
,
Kaye Gibbons
Kaye Gibbons (born May 5, 1960) is an American novelist. Her first novel, ''Ellen Foster'' (1987), received the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, a Special Citation from the Ernest H ...
,
Chimamanda Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ( ; born 15 September 1977) is a Nigerian writer whose works include novels, short stories and nonfiction. She was described in ''The Times Literary Supplement'' as "the most prominent" of a "procession of criticall ...
,
Robert Morgan,
Lee Smith Lee Smith is the name of:
Arts, entertainment and media
*Lee Smith (fiction author) (born 1944), American author of fiction
*Lee Smith (film editor) (born 1960), Australian film editor
*Lee Smith (musician) (born 1983), American drummer
*Lee Smith ...
,
Tayari Jones
Tayari Jones (born November 30, 1970) is an American author and academic known for '' An American Marriage'', which was a 2018 Oprah's Book Club Selection, and won the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction. Jones is a graduate of Spelman College, the ...
,
Kaitlyn Greenidge,
Daniel Wallace, and
Amy Stewart, among others. In 1989, Algonquin was acquired by Workman Publishing. Today, it has offices in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and Chapel Hill and its numerous bestsellers and prizewinners include ''
Water for Elephants
''Water for Elephants'' is the third novel by the Canadian–American author Sara Gruen. The book was published in 2006 by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. The historical fiction novel is a 20th century circus drama. Gruen wrote the book as part ...
'', ''A Reliable Wife'', ''
Love, Loss, and What I Wore
''Love, Loss, and What I Wore'' is a play written by Nora and Delia Ephron based on the 1995 book of the same name by Ilene Beckerman. It is organized as a series of monologues and uses a rotating cast of five principal women. The subject matter ...
'', ''
Big Fish
''Big Fish'' is a 2003 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Tim Burton, and based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Daniel Wallace. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, ...
'', ''
Last Child in the Woods
''Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder'' is a 2005 book by author Richard Louv that documents decreased exposure of children to nature in American society and how this " nature-deficit disorder" harms children ...
'', ''
The Leavers
''The Leavers'' is Lisa Ko's first novel, published on May 2, 2017. Background
Ko’s novel was inspired by a 2009 ''New York Times'' article describing an undocumented immigrant from Fuzhou, China, who was arrested at a Greyhound station in F ...
'', ''
In the Time of the Butterflies
''In the Time of the Butterflies'' is a historical fiction novel by Julia Alvarez, relating a fictionalized account of the Mirabal sisters during the time of the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. The book is written in the firs ...
'', ''
An American Marriage
''An American Marriage'' is a novel by the American author Tayari Jones. It is her fourth novel and was published by Algonquin Books on February 6, 2018. In February 2018, the novel was chosen for Oprah's Book Club 2.0. The novel also won the 2019 ...
'',
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin Rather Jr. (; born October 31, 1931) is an American journalist, commentator, and former national evening news anchor. Rather began his career in Texas, becoming a national name after his reporting saved thousands of lives during Hurr ...
's ''What Unites Us'', and ''The Book of Delights''. Algonquin also publishes the
PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction
The PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, formerly known as the Bellwether Prize for Fiction is a biennial award given by the PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) and Barbara Kingsolver to a U.S. citizen for a previously unpubli ...
, a biannual prize established by author
Barbara Kingsolver
Barbara Kingsolver (born April 8, 1955) is an American novelist, essayist and poet. She was raised in rural Kentucky and lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology at DePauw University and the Univers ...
whose winners include
Hillary Jordan
Hillary Jordan is an American novelist. She grew up in Dallas and Muskogee, Oklahoma and now lives in Brooklyn. She received a BA from Wellesley College and an Master of Fine Arts, MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University. and has writte ...
's ''
Mudbound
''Mudbound'' (2008) is the debut novel by American author Hillary Jordan. It has been translated into French, Italian, Serbian, Norwegian, Swedish, and Turkish and has sold more than 250,000 copies worldwide. The novel took Jordan seven years t ...
'',
Heidi Durrow's
''The Girl Who Fell from the Sky'',
Lisa Ko
Lisa Ko is an American writer. Her debut novel, ''The Leavers'', won the 2016 PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction and was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction. She has written for the ''New York Times.''Ko, Lisa, ...
’s ''
The Leavers
''The Leavers'' is Lisa Ko's first novel, published on May 2, 2017. Background
Ko’s novel was inspired by a 2009 ''New York Times'' article describing an undocumented immigrant from Fuzhou, China, who was arrested at a Greyhound station in F ...
'',
Katharine Seligman's ''At the Edge of the Haight'', and
Jamila Minnicks Gleason's ''Moonrise Over New Jessup''.
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, including
narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...
and
non-fiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...
,
picture books
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...
, and
graphic novels
A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
. In 2017, an Algonquin Young Readers novel, ''
The Girl Who Drank the Moon'', by
Kelly Barnhill, won the
John Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to children’s literature in the prior year.
''Furia'''','' by
Yamilé Mendez, won the 2021
Pura Belpré Award
The Pura Belpré Award is a recognition presented to a Latino or Latina author and illustrator whose work best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. It was established in 1996. It was given every oth ...
for the best presentation of the Latin experience in a book for young adults. Algonquin Young Readers titles have also won
Edgar Allan Poe awards
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...
for best
YA and juvenile mystery, and have been nominated for the
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
for young people’s literature. Algonquin Young Readers authors include
Kelly Barnhill,
Elizabeth C. Bunce (Myrtle Hardcastle Mysteries),
Kelly Jensen ''(Don’t) Call Me Crazy'',
Samantha Mabry
Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain.
Specul ...
''(All the Wind in the World''),
Amy Timberlake Amy Timberlake is an American author of five children's books: ''One Came Home'', ''That Girl Lucy Moon'', ''The Dirty Cowboy'', ''Skunk and Badger'' and ''Egg Marks the Spot''. ''One Came Home'' was awarded the Newbery Honor and the Edgar Award. '' ...
(Skunk and Badger series), and
Genzaburo Yoshino (''How Do You Live?'').
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 illustrated
do-it-yourself
"Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...
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 include
Rosemary Gladstar
Rosemary Gladstar is an American herbalist.
Biography
She began her work in herbalism in California, and she founded the California School of Herbal Studies in Forestville, California, the first herbal school in California, in 1978. Gladstar taug ...
's ''Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner’s Guide'', ''Fermented Vegetables'', ''The Backpack Explorer: On the Nature Trail,'' ''Cooking Class,'' ''Ocean Anatomy,'' and ''The year-Round Vegetable Gardener''. Storey's authors include Julia Rothman,
Maia Toll
Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; la, Maia), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus.
Family
Maia is the daugh ...
, Catherine Newman,
Ty Allan Jackson
Ty (stylized as ty) is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products, most notably Beanie Babies, exclusively to speci ...
, and the
Xerces Society
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation (Xerces Society) is a non-profit environmental organization that focuses on the conservation of invertebrates considered to be essential to biological diversity and ecosystem health. It is named ...
. Storey is based in
North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the ...
.
Timber
Timber Press was founded in 1978 and is based in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
. It was acquired by Workman Publishing in 2006. Timber publishes books for
gardeners, both amateur and professional, nature enthusiasts,
environmentalists
An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...
, and
popular science
''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
readers. It also has a robust regional program. Some of their popular titles include ''Bringing Nature Home'' and ''Nature’s Best Hope'' by
Douglas Tallamy, ''Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life'' by
Marta McDowell,
Michael Dirr’s ''Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs'', and ''Teaming with Microbes'' by
Jeff Lowenfels.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Hachette (publisher) books
Publishing companies established in 1968
Publishing companies of the United States
1968 establishments in New York City
Literary publishing companies
Publishing companies based in New York City