Chicago Review Press

• 1. Nine Words

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  Chicago Review Press describes its books in just nine words: "a little quirky, a little edgy, smart." That self-description has shaped the company since its founding in 1973. Today, CRP releases roughly 60 new titles every year across eight distinct imprints. Those imprints reach subjects as far apart as gardening and civil rights, children's learning and indigenous culture. Under the whole enterprise sits an international distribution arm with a history that stretches back even further than CRP itself.

• 2. First of Its Kind

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  Independent Publishers Group was established in 1971, two full years before Chicago Review Press came into existence. It holds a specific distinction: IPG was the first organization created expressly to market independent press titles to the book trade. For sixteen years it operated on its own terms. Then in 1987, Chicago Review Press acquired it. That made CRP the parent company of one of the largest independent book distributors in the United States. All CRP titles are now distributed internationally and publicized through IPG.

• 3. Eight Voices

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  The flagship Chicago Review Press imprint covers general nonfiction in music, film, popular science, history, biography, and travel. It also carries an award-winning line of children's activity books. Lawrence Hill Books specializes in nonfiction on African-American and Latino interest, progressive politics, civil and human rights, and feminism. Academy Chicago publishes memoirs, mysteries, fiction, and general nonfiction. Ball Publishing focuses entirely on gardening. Council Oak Books centers on indigenous topics and women's issues. Zephyr Press serves educators, publishing resources designed to help teachers understand how children learn and become more effective in the classroom. Parenting Press and Amberjack Publishing complete the eight-imprint family, the full breadth of which travels internationally through IPG.