New World Library is a
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...
-based
American publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
of books for adults and children. The press focuses on publishing books concerning the mind, the body and the spirit.
The company was established in 1977 by authors
Marc Allen and
Shakti Gawain under the name Whatever Publishing. Total sales in 1977 were $800.
The firm's first three books were written by Marc Allen; and the fourth book they published, Shakti Gawain's ''
Creative Visualization
Creative visualization is the cognitive process of purposefully generating visual mental imagery, with eyes open or closed, simulating or recreating visual perception, in order to maintain, inspect, and transform those images, consequently modi ...
'', released in December 1978, became an international bestseller. Under the guidance of Sky Canyon (aka Jon Bernoff), who was President and Publisher from 1979 through 1986, the book has sold over 3 million copies in North America to date, and another 3 million copies worldwide. The success of Shakti's book launched the new company as a source of books for the creative and New Age communities.
The company's name changed from Whatever Publishing to New World Library in the mid-1980. The company is located in
Novato, California
Novato (Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225.
History
What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok ...
and has 18 employees.
In 2000, New World Library entered into a joint venture with H J Kramer, the publisher of
Dan Millman, Sanaya Roman, and
John Robbins's seminal ''
Diet for a New America
''Diet for a New America'' is a 1987 bestselling nonfiction book by John Robbins. The book links the impacts of factory farming on human health, animal welfare and the environment, in an " animal-rights, pro-environment, vegetarian message." It w ...
.''
In 2001, New World Library began publishing the works of
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of th ...
. As of 2019, there are 18 books in his series, including a revised edition of ''
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
''The Hero with a Thousand Faces'' (first published in 1949) is a work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell, in which the author discusses his theory of the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths ...
'', which has sold over half a million copies.
In 2007, New World Library acquired Inner Ocean Publishing, involving the purchase of 45 titles, including books by
MoveOn
MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroots ...
,
Jean Houston
Jean Houston (born 10 May 1937) is an American author involved in the human potential movement. Along with her husband, Robert Masters, she co-founded the Foundation for Mind Research.
Biography
Early life and education
Houston was born in New ...
, and Barbara Marciniak.
New World Library has worked with distributor
Publishers Group West
Publishers Group West (PGW) is a book distributor founded in 1976 in Berkeley, California, which distributes to bookstores in the U.S. and internationally. They were the largest distributor of independent presses in the U.S. in the 1990s. In 2007, ...
(PGW) since 1978 which makes it PGW's oldest distribution client.
Publications
New World Library publishes books in subjects such as animals, business, Celtic studies, children's books, current affairs, health, literature and writing, mythology, Native American studies, personal growth, photography, psychology, relationships, religion, Spanish language, women's studies and yoga. It has published a number of bestselling titles, including ''
The Power of Now
''The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment'' is a book by Eckhart Tolle. It presents itself as a discussion about how people interact with themselves and others. The concept of self reflection and presence in the moment are presented ...
'' by
Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle ( ; ; born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, February 16, 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher and self-help author of ''The Power of Now'' and '' A New Earth''.
After being recommended by Oprah Winfrey, his first book, ''The Power of N ...
(a ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' bestseller for 100 weeks), ''
The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success'' by
Deepak Chopra, ''
Way of the Peaceful Warrior'' by
Dan Millman (through its H J Kramer imprint) and the ''
Collected Works of Joseph Campbell'' series, including the acclaimed 2008 edition of Campbell's classic ''
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
''The Hero with a Thousand Faces'' (first published in 1949) is a work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell, in which the author discusses his theory of the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths ...
''.
Imprints
In 2014, the company partnered with
Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle ( ; ; born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, February 16, 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher and self-help author of ''The Power of Now'' and '' A New Earth''.
After being recommended by Oprah Winfrey, his first book, ''The Power of N ...
to create Eckhart Tolle Editions, an imprint consisting of books identified by Tolle.
In 2015, the imprint released as its first titles ''The Calm Center'' by
Steve Taylor
Roland Stephen Taylor (born December 9, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, music executive, film maker, assistant professor, and actor. A figure in what has come to be known as Christian alternative rock, Taylor enjoyed ...
and ''Parenting with Presence'' by Susan Stiffelman.
References
External links
New World Library's website
Publishing companies established in 1977
Companies based in San Francisco
Book publishing companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
1977 establishments in California
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