Walker & Company, which just turned 40, is one of the few remaining medium-size independent publishers left in Manhattan, and its history closely parallels that of many others during its lifetime: a highly eclectic start, followed by careful list-cutting and more tightly focused publishing into selected markets.
Walker & Co. was founded in 1959 by Sam Walker, a WWII vet and wartime newsman who, according to his widow, Beth, was mostly interested in history and politics. "He might just as well have bought a newspaper, but he decided it would be less expensive to start a publishing company," she told PW. He and two friends put up the starting money, and by the time the first list was published, in 1961, he had met and married Beth and she had joined the company, initially to sell sub rights. "That was before we'd even published a book," she remembered with a laugh.
The idea at first was to bring in British titles in volume, mostly mysteries and thrillers, and publish more serious work on the proceeds -- a St. Martin's -- type approach. "Sam had the theory that you'd do better if you increased the number of titles and categories. That way, if one kind of book was down, another would be up," Walker recalled. Among early mysteries were the first books of John le Carré, Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality, in which George Smiley was first introduced. Then Coward McCann, said Beth, went after The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, and Walker & Co. couldn't afford to pay more. Among noted mystery editors who have worked for the house are Ruth Cavin, now at St. Martin's, and Sara Ann Freed, now at Mysterious Press. Ed Burlingame, later a Harper mainstay, was editor-in-chief for many years.
Another early star author, and a longtime bulwark of the house, was the highly prolific Isaac Asimov, who wrote between 60 and 70 titles for Walker, second only to his total for primary publisher Doubleday. Many were children's nonfiction titles (the Walkers had begun to do children's books when they had kids of their own); one of the more raffish was The Sensuous Dirty Old Man, a satire on The Sensuous Man and ...Woman, which were big bestsellers in the '70s.
Further expansions involved lists of westerns and romances, an educational list and Webco, for children with learning disabilities; in 1985, Beth Walker launched a line of large-print books aimed largely at the Christian market, a line that is still a staple of the house.
Sam Walker died in 1991, and his son, Ramsey, who had cut his teeth in various positions for a decade, became president and publisher. In the changed market conditions of the time, he decided that Walker was publishing too many books and pruned the list from its high of about 130 a year in the late '70s to a maximum of 60-70. Two years later, he brought in George Gibson, a thorough professional with a range of experience at several houses, as publisher.
"There are far too many books being done today to promote them all adequately," said Gibson, who now stresses that each title must be published more aggressively, with better editing, marketing and cover design. During his seven years at the firm, there have been notable successes with well-written science narratives created at his initiative, including Dava Sobel's Longitude, as well as colorful books on math mysteries and such topics as the history of cod.
He estimates Walker's current list as being about 40% children's, 10% mysteries, 10% large print and the rest general nonfiction. The house has always had a strong focus on the library market, with Beth estimating that library customers were traditionally more important than bookstores (the house is still among Baker & Taylor's top 40 customers), but that emphasis is now changing more toward book retailers.
Roughly 10% of sales now go through Amazon.com, and Walker has just hired a Web marketing firm to boost sales by that medium.
George Gibson sums up the house philosophy and future direction: "We've always been a diverse house, and now the challenge is to stay diverse."
