Encounter Books is a book publisher in the United States known for publishing

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

authors. It was named for '' Encounter'', the now defunct literary magazine founded by Irving Kristol and

Stephen Spender Sir Stephen Harold Spender (28 February 1909 – 16 July 1995) was an English poet, novelist and essayist whose work concentrated on themes of social injustice and the class struggle. He was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry ...

. Based in New York City since 2006, Encounter Books publishes non-fiction books in the areas of politics, history, religion, biography, education, public policy, current affairs and social sciences.

History

The publisher was named for '' Encounter'', the now defunct literary magazine founded by Irving Kristol and

. Encounter Books was founded in 1998 in San Francisco by the Bradley Foundation, with Peter Collier as editor. Collier retired in late 2005. Encounter Books was taken over by the commentator

Roger Kimball Roger Kimball (born 1953) is an American art critic and Conservatism, conservative social commentator. He is the editor and publisher of ''The New Criterion'' and the publisher of Encounter Books. Kimball first gained notice in the early 1990s w ...

, who is also co-editor and publisher of ''

The New Criterion ''The New Criterion'' is a New York–based monthly literary magazine and journal of artistic and cultural criticism, edited by Roger Kimball (editor and publisher) and James Panero (executive editor). It has sections for criticism of poetry ...

'' magazine. In early 2006, Kimball relocated Encounter Books to New York City. Encounter was the publisher of '' When Harry Became Sally'' which was banned from

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in February 2021. In response, publisher Roger Kimball said in a statement, "Amazon is using its massive power to distort the marketplace of ideas and is deceiving its own customers in the process."

Encounter Broadsides

In October 2009, Encounter launched a series of short polemical booklets in what it said was the spirit of ''

The Federalist Papers ''The Federalist Papers'' is a collection of 85 articles and essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay under the collective pseudonym "Publius" to promote the ratification of the Constitution of the United States. The ...

'' and

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In ...

's ''

Common Sense Common sense () is "knowledge, judgement, and taste which is more or less universal and which is held more or less without reflection or argument". As such, it is often considered to represent the basic level of sound practical judgement or know ...

.'' These are called Encounter Broadsides. The series publishes well-known commentators on topical political issues, from health care and immigration to the

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. Published Broadside authors include John R. Bolton,

Victor Davis Hanson Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953) is an American classics, classicist, military historian, and conservative political commentator. He has been a commentator on modern warfare, modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics fo ...

, John Fund, Michael Ledeen, Andrew C. McCarthy, Betsy McCaughey, Stephen Moore, and Michael B. Mukasey. Publisher Roger Kimball said of the series: ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' reported that the Broadside series would be "crashed", meaning produced and marketed on an aggressive turnaround schedule.

Review policies

In June 2009, Encounter announced that it was no longer sending its books to ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

''. At the time, publisher Roger Kimball complained that ''The New York Times'' was politicized and superficial in its cultural coverage. He said his books could not expect positive reviews from the ''Times'' and said they could gain "impetus" from "the pluralistic universe of talk radio and the 'blogosphere'." He said Encounter could have its books make the ''Timess bestseller list without having the newspaper review them.

References

External links

Encounter Books web site

C-SPAN interview with editor Roger Kimball
at the

Conservative Political Action Conference The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC ) is an annual political conference attended by Conservatism in the United States, conservative Activism, activists and officials from across the United States. CPAC is hosted by the American ...

{{Authority control Publishing companies established in 1997 Political organizations based in the United States Conservative media in the United States Political book publishing companies