At 40, Gibbs Smith Plans for the Future

An illustrated book on the NAACP might seem like a stretch for a 40-year-old educational and trade book publisher in a state where less than 2% of the population is black. But NAACP: Celebrating a Century, 100 Years in Pictures (Mar.) typifies the strengths of Layton, Utah–based Gibbs Smith, which was started in 1969 to publish books that “enrich and inspire humankind.” Beautifully produced photo-packed books—typically on hearth and home or cooking—are one of the hallmarks of the Gibbs Smith list, as is history. The house was founded by Smith and his wife, Catherine, with less than $20,000 from their work on a film based on his dissertation on labor martyr Joe Hill.

If the folk hero was one of the polestars of the press, the other was Alfred Knopf. Even more important than his meeting with one of the deans of 20th-century publishing, Smith said, “was the cabinet with all Knopf's catalogues. I saw how he evolved his company from four books to eight. I saw you don't have to start with a million dollars, you can start up. My plan was to publish books I cared about, but do it from the west.” That's not to say that all, or even most, of the list over the years has had a western twang, but many that do have been successful, like Texas Bix Bender's Don't Squat with Yer Spurs On: A Cowboy's Guide to Life, which has sold three million copies.

Indeed, the press thrives on eclecticism, as embodied by the company's logo, a peregrine falcon. “To peregrinate is to fly without borders,” explained CEO Christopher Robbins, adding, “publishing is about identifying a market and then having fun.”

Robbins points to books like Stephanie Ashcraft's 101 Things to Do with a Cake Mix, which he originally spotted in a self-published edition printed at a local copy shop. The fun for Robbins was rethinking the package so that it would appeal to gift buyers. The small-format, spiral-bound edition with a wipe-off plastic cover has gone on to become a New York Times bestseller and is one of the company's top four backlist titles, along with two other books in the 101 Things series: one on slow cookers, the other on ramen noodles.

While he's having fun, Robbins is also respectful of the content, with an eye to adding each title to the press's backlist. “Books are like pieces of furniture,” said Robbins. “We're interested in creating books that are beautiful, that stand out like a piece of furniture people will want to keep. Every element has to complement the whole.”

With the house now passing the 40-year mark, Smith is making arrangements for the press to continue after his death by turning it into an employee-owned company. At the start of the century, Gibbs Smith consistently appeared on PW's list fast-growing small presses until 2004, when its revenue grew 36% and its sales exceeded $10 million. Since then the company has bought Wyrick & Co. in Charleston and Angel City Press in Santa Fe in 2005 to broaden its appeal in the South and Southwest.

In the current economy, Gibbs Smith, like many houses, is scaling back internally and is not looking for acquisitions. Although its educational division got a boost in 2008 with new course adoptions in three states—Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina—that is unlikely to be repeated in 2009. Robbins is projecting flat sales for the coming year and will shrink the trade list from a high of more than 100 titles to 80. And in keeping with the tenor of the times, plans to celebrate the press's 40th anniversary are modest. The most ambitious project is a fall book that epitomizes the press's commitment to its customers: The Art of Bookselling is a collection of 45 of Smith's paintings of indie bookstores that will be released in slipcased limited edition.