About Allworth Press
Allworth Press celebrates its eigtheenth anniversary in 2007. Founded in March 1989 by author, attorney, and artists' rights advocate Tad Crawford, the press began as a one-man operation with the publication of a revised edition of Crawford's classic Legal Guide for the Visual Artist in Fall 1989. Ten more titles followed in 1990, offering information about marketing, promotion, pricing, copyright, contracts, health and safety, and much more. From these modest beginnings, Allworth Press today publishes 30-35 titles annually and has a staff of twelve.
Crawford saw the need for a publishing company that would provide practical information to creative professionals, such as artists, photographers, designers, and authors. Based on his experience as Chairman of the Board for the Foundation of the Community of Artists in New York City, General counsel to the Graphic Artists Guild, and lobbyist for the Coalition of Visual Arts organizations, he knew first hand the issues faced every day by creative people.
In 1994 the fifth anniversary party drew the attention of both Publishers Weekly and Small Press magazine, and later that year, Allworth Press received Quality Books' 1994 Small Press Publisher of the Year Award during the annual American Booksellers Association show. Recipients of the award "exemplify the standards of quality in independent publishing. To be considered for the award, a publisher must have distinguished itself by producing timely, topical, and saleable titles suitable for libraries, demonstrating networking skills, and supporting their distributor's efforts."
In making its announcement, Quality Books stated: "Allworth Press provides practical, accessible information books for a creative community of specialists such as artists, photographers, designers, and authors, as well as an expanding line of legal and financial how-to books for the general public. Their titles have received numerous recommendations from the review media."
Allworth's publisher Tad Crawford "attributes Allworth's success to such factors as careful targeting of books to untapped niche markets, selectivity in choosing titles, development of unusual sales channels, control of production costs through competitive bidding, and tight management of inventory."
Rapid growth encouraged Allworth Press to move twice since 1989, each time to larger space. Now the office opens to the view of Madison Square Park. Ten-foot ceilings, exposed brick walls, and white office furniture make for a very pleasant work environment. In considering Allworth Press's location in New York City's Flatiron District (a neighborhood filled with creative enterprises), it makes a great deal of sense that so many of its books offer practical business and self-help information for artists, designers, photographers, writers, and film and performing artists.
In 1997 Allworth Press entered into a distribution agreement with the prominent publisher, Watson-Guptill Publications. Watson-Guptill remains a tremendous support in bringing Allworth Press books to the shelves of stores in the United States and Canada. There has also been an increase in foreign demand, especially from Windsor Books International, the distributor for the United Kingdom and Europe. In addition, Allworth Press is now distributed in Australia, Southern Africa, the Phillippines, Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Books from Allworth Press have been translated into many languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Portugese, German, and Japanese.
