A few weeks ago, the Novato, Calif., publisher New World Library celebrated its 25th anniversary and its growth from a hippie indie press into an $8-million publishing house offering such bestselling titles as Shelly Brady's Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter (300,000 copies in print) and Deepak Chopra's Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (seven million copies sold worldwide). The press began with $800 in sales from mimeographed copies of what would become its first book, Creative Visualization, which has since sold three million copies.
It all started in the Oakland, Calif., kitchen of Marc Allen and Shakti Gawain. "We went to Bookpeople [the California-based wholesaler] and they said, 'get a spine and type set the thing and we'll sell it.' " So, with a rewrite by Gawain, Creative Visualization became a "real" book. New World released a 25th edition of the book this year.
"It took five years to see the potential of what a small company could do," recalled Allen. The duo also met Charlie Winton and Randy Fleming, founders of Publishers Group West, and the two companies have worked together ever since. "We just grew up together," said Allen. Allen attributes New World's success to publishing only books that he loves. The result, he said, is that New World titles stay in print and more than 70% of its sales come from the backlist.
New World, which has a generous profit-sharing program, also attracts and keeps good staff. The company has 15 employees and uses many freelancers. "There is no turnover," said Allen. Former Little, Brown v-p Munro Magruder, now marketing director for New World, told PW, "We can be very nimble and respond to things immediately. We don't have to wait three years to publish a book and the authors have a human to talk to."
In the future, New World aims to establish itself more in the gift market and continue its presence in its key areas of health foods, body/spa and spirituality, although it shuns the New Age label. The press also plans to publish a series of titles with the Joseph Campbell Foundation, the first five appearing this year, and another five in 2003 and 2004.
Allen said he expects to hit the $10-million sales mark this year, but "even more important than the money is this wonderful corporate culture we have." He has had his share of offers to buy the company, he told PW, but "I'd just have to start all over again and do the same thing."
