Growing Pains at PoliPointPress

by Bridget Kinsella, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 7/13/2006

With just under two years of book publishing and seven titles under its belt, the San Francisco-based PoliPointPress did a little belt tightening recently and laid off three of its eight employees. “We’re on track, however our book sales weren’t anywhere near our projections, so we’re restructuring,” said Scott Jordan, PoliPointPress publisher.

It made more sense, Jordan said, for the press to outsource its marketing and publicity efforts. PoliPoint, which focuses on progressive books on politics, science and culture, has signed with Barbara Monteiro’s New York agency to handle public relations, while Publishers Group West will continue to distribute PoliPoint to the trade.

For Jordan, both personally and professionally, he said the saddest part of cutting staff was losing Rhoda Dunn as marketing director. “She is a special talent,” Jordan continued. “There just wasn’t enough [work] to go around.” Bloggers went wild for The Raw Deal: How the Bush Republicans Plan to Destroy Social Security and the Legacy of the New Deal by Joe Conason (with a foreword by Al Franken) that PoliPoint published last fall. With a hot title, PoliPoint hired extra staff. “We were growing a little too fast,” said Jordan. “We’re looking for the right balance.”

Poised for fall release are Jacked: How “Conservatives” Are Picking Your Pocket—Whether You Voted for Them or Not by Nomi Prins and Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Mass Media by Jeff Cohen (with a foreword by Jim Hightower).

In addition to relying on marketing advice from PGW, Jordan said PoliPointPress would work to create more “viral” marketing ideas. “More grass roots,” he said. “The very nature of our books gives us a bunch of allies we can work with.”

This article originally appeared in the July 13, 2006 issue of PW Daily. For more information about PW Daily, including a sample and subscription information, click here »

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