From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Free Press (publisher)

American independent book publisher and later imprint (1947–2012)

Field	Value
name	Free Press
parent	Simon & Schuster
founded	1947
founder	Jeremiah Kaplan and Charles Liebman
successor	Simon & Schuster
country	United States
headquarters	New York City, New York, U.S.
keypeople	Martha K. Levin, publisher

Note

the book publisher

Free Press was an American independent book publisher that later became an imprint of Simon & Schuster. It was one of the best-known publishers specializing in serious nonfiction, including path-breaking sociology books of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. After a period under new ownership in the 1980s of publishing neoconservative books, it was purchased by Simon & Schuster in 1994. By 2012, the imprint ceased to exist as a distinct entity; however, some books were still being published using the Free Press imprint.

History

Free Press was founded by Jeremiah Kaplan (1926–1993) and Charles Liebman in 1947 and concentrated on religion and social science. They chose the name Free Press because they wanted to print books devoted to civil liberties. It was launched with three classic titles: Division of Labor by Emile Durkheim, The Theory of Economic and Social Organization by Max Weber and The Scientific Outlook by Bertrand Russell. It was headquartered in Glencoe, Illinois, where it was known as The Free Press of Glencoe.

In 1960, Kaplan was recruited by Macmillan to provide new editorial leadership and he agreed to move to New York if Macmillan Publishing Company would buy Free Press, and thus Free Press was sold in 1960 for $1.3 million ($500,000 going to Kaplan and $800,000 going to Liebman).

In 1994, Simon & Schuster acquired Macmillan and Free Press. "We plan to continue publishing thought leaders and other important cultural voices under the Free Press imprimatur, while also introducing many other Free Press authors, such as novelists and historians and business writers, to the flagship Simon & Schuster imprint."

During the 1960s and 1970s Free Press was under the direction of a variety of publishers including George McCune (who later co-founded SAGE Publishing with his wife Sara), Valery Webb, Ed Barry and Robert Wallace. In 1994, Simon & Schuster acquired Macmillan and Free Press was led by publishers Michael Jacobs, Paula Barker Duffy, and William Shinker for short stints.

Free Press was led by publisher Martha Levin from 2001 until 2012, when it ceased to exist as a distinct entity and merged into Simon & Schuster's flagship imprint. In 2003, two of the five finalists for the 2003 National Book Award in the non-fiction category were Free Press titles, including the winner, Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire. In 2008, Free Press published The White Tiger, Indian author Aravind Adiga's debut novel, which won the Man Booker Prize.

Notable books

Robert K. Merton (1957). Social Theory and Social Structure. Glencoe, IL: Free Press
Everett Rogers (1962). Diffusion of Innovations. Glencoe, IL: Free Press

References

Lyall, Sarah. (1994-04-05). "Conservative Publisher Is Leaving Paramount for Penguin". The New York Times.
Pace, Eric. (1993-08-11). "Jeremiah Kaplan, Veteran Executive In Publishing, 67". The New York Times.
Claire Kelley. (October 24, 2012). "After 65 years, Free Press to be absorbed into Simon & Schuster flagship". [[Melville House Publishing]].
Ben Sisario. (October 23, 2012). "After Consolidation at Simon & Schuster, Top Two at Free Press Are Leaving". [[New York Times]].
(2003). "2003 National Book Award Winner: Nonfiction". Nationalbook.org.
(October 15, 2008). "'White Tiger' cub Aravind Adiga roars to Booker Prize win". [[USA Today]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

free-press-(publisher)-books defunct-book-publishing-companies-of-the-united-states simon-&-schuster book-publishing-company-imprints book-publishing-companies-based-in-new-york-(state) publishing-companies-based-in-new-york-city american-companies-established-in-1947 publishing-companies-established-in-1947 mass-media-companies-disestablished-in-2012 1947-establishments-in-new-york-(state) 2012-disestablishments-in-new-york-(state) defunct-companies-based-in-new-york-city

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Free Press (publisher) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report