Small Press Distribution Shuts Down
Venerable book distributor Small Press Distribution has abruptly closed after 55 years in business, leaving scores of independent publishers without distribution — and without expected payments. The company posted an announcement about the closure on March 28, 2024:
It is with great sadness and a profound gratitude for the amazing literary community we have served that we must today announce that Small Press Distribution (SPD) is closing its doors effective immediately. We know this news is both sudden and devastating.
They blame the closure on “the challenges of a rapidly changing book industry and funding environment,” explaining:
Several years of declining sales and the loss of grant support from almost every institution that annually supported SPD have combined to squeeze our budget beyond the breaking point. SPD lost hundreds of thousands in grants in the past few years as funders moved away from supporting the arts. The tireless efforts of a world-class staff to raise new funds, find new sales channels for our presses, and exit our expensive Berkeley warehouse couldn’t compensate for these losses. SPD exhausted every avenue in seeking emergency funding and loans to avoid the shutdown.
The staff was “reduced to a minimal team that is in the process of winding down operations. We regret they are not able to respond to individual queries.”
Many SPD clients reported on social media that they received no advance warning. Publishers were told in the same public announcement that the company’s “inventory of 300,000 books is in safe hands, having been transferred to our SPD Next partners Ingram Content Group and Publishers Storage and Shipping (PSSC) over the past several months. You will need to contact Ingram or PSSC to discuss distribution options and the return or disposition of your books.”
In early April Ingram wrote affected publishers and told them their books would be destroyed if they weren’t claimed in 60 days. Ingram also isn’t processing customer orders for those books: “As a result of this closure, our warehouse and fulfillment services relationship with SPD has ended and we have ceased fulfilling orders for your titles. This step was taken to minimize financial impact on you.” Publishers were given until April 17 to make arrangements, and have to pay shipping and handling costs themselves. Ingram will continue to process returns for six months.
SPD was an affordable distribution option, and many small press publishers won’t be financially capable of switching to a bigger distribution service. It also doesn’t appear that clients will be paid for books already sold, which can be devastating for small operations with limited budgets.
SPD was founded in 1969 by Bay Area independent booksellers Peter Howard and Jack Shoemaker, and at its peak distributed work by more than 500 publishers.
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