Publisher Profile / Algonquin Books

Algonquin Books

Facts

Mission and genres: Their mission is “to publish quality fiction and nonfiction by undiscovered young writers, and to keep our books in print, reaching new fans for years to come.”

Co-Founder: Louis Rubin

Year Founded: 1983


An Interview with the Editorial Director Betsy Gleick

Betsy Gleick: ‘Algonquin is also known for taking great care with each author and each book.’
Algonquin Books was founded in 1983 in part to publish work by undiscovered young writers, and the company’s new editorial director, Betsy Gleick, is committed to redoubling the company’s pursuit of talented new voices. The former editor at People magazine comes from a news background. How that will translate into books with a longer shelf life is something she explains in our interview below.

You’re new to Algonquin Books—congratulations on the new job, by the way—but coming from the outside looking in, what to you differentiates Algonquin as a publisher? Thanks! I’m excited to be joining what is, first and foremost, a successful family business that is committed to quality publishing in everything it does. And of course Algonquin has such a great literary pedigree, both in fiction and nonfiction, and a history of discovering new voices—and bringing those voices to a wider audience. While of course lots of publishers say this is what they want, I think Algonquin is also known for taking great care with each author and each book on its list, and publishing those projects really well.

Read the interview with Betsy Gleick


Reviews

Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature-Rich Life by Richard Louv

The Last September by Nina de Gramont

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

Guests on Earth by Lee Smith

Keeping It Civil: The Case of the Pre-Nup and the Porsche and Other True Accounts from the Files of a Family Lawyer by Margaret Klaw

Is This Tomorrow by Caroline Leavitt

Life After Life by Jill McCorkle

Heading out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick

The Aleppo Codex: A True Story of Obsession, Faith, and the Pursuit of an Ancient Book by Matti Friedman

Kitty Cornered: How Frannie and Five Other Incorrigible Cats Seized Control of Our House and Made It Their Home by Bob Tarte

Pocket Kings by Ted Heller

How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm by Mei-Ling Hopgood

Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron

The Lions of the West by Robert Morgan

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan

Man with a Pan: Culinary Adventures of Fathers Who Cook for Their Families by John Donohue

Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart

Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

The Nature Principle: Human Restoration and the End of Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Luov

What You See in the Dark by Manuel Munoz

The Watery Part of the World by Michael Parker

Lincoln on War: Our Greatest Commander-in-Chief Speaks to America by Harold Holzer

West of Here by Jonathan Evison

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey

Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger by Lee Smith

Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs: Family, Friends, and Faith in Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende

52 Loaves: One Man’s Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust by William Alexander

The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes by Randi Davenport

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

Settled in the Wild: Notes From the Edge of Town by Susan Hand Shetterly

In My Father’s Shadow: A Daughter Remembers Orson Welles by Chris Welles Feder

Last Bite by Nancy Verde Barr

If You Want Me to Stay by Michael Parker

The Painting by Nina Schuyler

Waking Up in Eden by Lucinda Fleeson

Rock On: An Office Power Ballad by Dan Kennedy

The Feasting Season by Nancy Coons

The Innocents by Caroline Seebohm

The Soul of a Doctor: Harvard Medical Students Face Life and Death Edited by Gordon Harper, Sachin H. Jain, Susan Pories

All-Night Party: The Women of Bohemian Greenwich Village and Harlem 1913-1930 by Andrea Barnet

My Old True Love by Algonquin Books

In the Wake of Madness: The Murderous Voyage of the Whaleship Sharon by Joan Druett

A Private Sorcery by Lisa Gornick

The Next Better Place by Michael C. Keith

Running North A Yukon Adventure by Ann Mariah Cook

Florida’s Indians from Ancient Times to the Present by Jerald T. Milanich

Mr. Universe & Other Plays by Algonquin

Truth: Four Stories I am Finally Old Enough to Tell by Ellen Douglas

Saving Molly: A Research Veterinarian’s Choices by James Mahoney


Awards

The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey. 2010 GOLD Winner for Autobiography & Memoir

Waking Up in Eden by Lucinda Fleeson. 2009 Finalist for Autobiography & Memoir


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Press Releases

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Key links: Books, Authors, Contact


Hannah Hohman

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