Heyday Adds Yosemite Association Line

by Wendy Werris -- Publishers Weekly, 11/25/2008 7:20:00 AM

Berkeley’s Heyday Books, publisher of exclusively California-related titles, has assumed all publishing-related functions for the Yosemite Association effective immediately. Malcolm Margolin, who founded Heyday in 1974, has been on the Yosemite Association board for over 10 years. When YA’s leader, Steve Medley, died in a car accident in 2006 Margolin was asked to step in and help the association through the transition period, which led to the board formalizing Heyday’s role as publisher.

Kate Brumage, Heyday’s director of publishing partnerships, said the YA program fits well with Heyday. “Heyday, like the Yosemite Association, is a nonprofit, and we share many of the same values – we’re clearly a good fit and a feeling of trust and mutual concern (for the national park and the High Sierras) characterizes all that we do together.” Heyday’s backlist includes the successful The High Sierra of California, by Tom Killion and Gary Snyder; and The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by John Muir Laws. In a similar vein, among YA’s bestsellers is The Complete Guide to Yosemite National Park, by Steve Medley.

As for distribution, Heyday handles YA’s trade sales with sales director Julian Segal at the helm, and YA reserves all accounts in Yosemite National Park and a limited number of accounts in the gateway communities. So far, Heyday has published four new titles for YA and has also done several reprints for the Association. The Park receives about 3.5 million visitors a year, ranging from casual first-time visitors to expert climbers, hikers and birdwatchers, and Heyday plans to publish for all of these markets. This will include high-quality children’s books based in part on Yosemite’s popular Junior Ranger program.