Small Press Values

SPD takes risks on books by new or marginalized writers, enabling their works to develop an audience and to gain recognition, says Kent Watson.

Founded in 1969 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Small Press Distribution is the nation’s only exclusively literary nonprofit book distributor serving small, independent literary publishers.

In 2023, SPD presses and their authors were honored with the PEN Award for poetry in translation and the National Jewish Book Award in poetry. In 2022, John Keene’s Punks, from indie poetry publisher The Song Cave, won the 2022 National Book Award in poetry.

Small Press Distribution connects underrepresented literary communities to the marketplace of the commons, according to SPD executive director Kent Watson.

“We’re here to help the marketplace equalize and allow everyone to have a voice in the community,” he tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally.

The SPD business model allows it to take risks on books by new or marginalized writers, Watson explains, enabling work to develop an audience and to gain recognition.

“What we do is unlike any other distributor. We don’t have our presses come into the system by having to prove that they have such and such sales or such and such titles. A lot of large distributors require a certain outlay of not only the titles that they have, but the amount of money that they generate each year to even get into distribution, which seems kind of crazy. You have to get distribution to get distribution. It seems a little nuts.

“SPD operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3), so we are mission-based. We do a lot of literary fiction, literary nonfiction. Most of our books are based around poetry. We do some art criticism, too. With our publishers and their authors, 60% of our bestselling titles come from people of color. 35% of our bestselling titles come from LGBTQ+ authors. And 75% of our bestselling titles come from women-identified authors.”

To jump start the rollout of hundreds of POD titles, lower costs, and providing global reach, SPD is embarking on a new GoFundMe round of fundraising from both individuals and institutions. As a nonprofit, SPD has always depended on philanthropy and small donors to help fulfill its mission.