A key part of Small Press Distribution's "SPD Next" program has been completed: more than 300,000 books from SPD's Berkeley, Calif., warehouse have been moved to storage and fulfillment with partners Publishers Storage and Shipping and Ingram Content Group. The move took some three months. "I cannot overstate the amount of time, sweat, and perseverance that our team has put into making the move to SPD Next a reality," said Kent Watson, SPD executive director.
Under the program, SPD goes from operating a traditional, fixed-cost warehouse to relying on variable-cost storage and fulfillment with two mission-aligned partners. The new approach should enable SPD, it said, "to meet its goal of empowering small presses across the country to grow, thrive, and bring new and marginalized voices to readers in a time of publishing industry consolidation, increasingly monopolistic distribution channels and frightening censorship and book banning targeting minority communities of all kinds."
 |
|
| SPD executive director Kent Watson taking down the Small Press Distribution sign. | |
Watson also noted, "Our proudest accomplishment is closing our historic warehouse in Berkeley without a single layoff. We've brought our former warehouse team into new roles supporting added services, so that no jobs were lost in the transition."
The SPD team is now shifting its focus to "rolling out modern, tried-and-true practices (expanding print-on-demand, e-books, audiobooks, global distribution) plus training that were unaffordable to many presses until now. On top of faster shipping, worldwide distribution, and wider availability in independent bookstores, Bookshop.org, and libraries in the U.S. and beyond, these services will ensure that SPD publishers have lower overhead. This will allow them to publish more authors, get more books in readers' hands, and maneuver more nimbly within the tight margins of the publishing business."
To help fund the rollout of hundreds of POD titles, lower costs, and provide global reach, SPD is embarking on a new 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. Donations can be made here.