| Status | Defunct |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2004 |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Sausalito, California |
| Publication types | Books |
| Official website | p3books.com |
PoliPointPress (or P3Books) was a San Francisco Bay Area publishing company, originally founded to print the work of University of Phoenix founder John Sperling[1]. In 2004 it published its first book, Sperling's own The Great Divide, a book of essays and full-color illustrations arguing that the Democratic Party, in order to retake the United States presidency, must abandon efforts in the allegedly culturally backwards "red states."[2] The company was brought into being to "bring new ideas and perspectives into the body politic, to ignite dialogue,” according to publisher Scott Jordan, a former publicist for the Saudi Arabian government.[3][4]
The company later expanded its range of titles to include progressive books by Joe Conason, among others.[5] Its offices were in Sausalito, California.[6]
The company closed in 2011, selling off rights to its books to Paradigm Publishers and Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
In 2006, the company met with criticism over whether it dealt ethically with BuyBlue.org, a grassroots Web site. In the ensuing fallout, prominent Daily Kos pundit Markos Moulitsas called PoliPointPress a "den of thieves."
The controversy began in 2005, when the Buy Blue activists were in talks with PoliPoint to print their book. But publishing director Scott Jordan withdrew the deal, claiming to have "run out of time" to produce the book on schedule.[7] In fact, PoliPointPress was about to produce its own book, The Blue Pages, covering similar ground but without paying or involving the activists.
To Moulitsas and the activists, this was a theft of an original idea.[8] Moulitsas called for a boycott.[9] BuyBlue tried without success to halt the release of the book.[10][11] PoliPointPress's editorial director, Peter Richardson, offered a different account, calling the new book "complementary" to the Web site.[12]
In 2010, despite having lambasted PoliPoint's Scott Jordan as unethical, Markos Moulitsas announced he'd joined with the company to publish his book, American Taliban. [13]