Shoe String Press, a publisher of children's books primarily for the school and library market, has closed down its operations and will sell off its remaining titles over the next few months. Diantha Thorpe, who took over ownership of the press in 1980 with her late husband, Jim, said she has been working toward a "soft landing" for Shoe String for the past few years ever since she decided against selling the press outright.
"We have such an electic list, I felt we could do better if I sold off the titles myself," Thorpe said. Last year, Shoe String sold a reference line to EBSCO and earlier this year it sold several titles in its Linnet Books children's imprint to August House. Thorpe has also returned rights to a number of authors and let other titles go out of print. Thorpe called the decision to close Shoe String "bittersweet. We had a good run, but there is much more to be done in this world than publish books."
