| Founded | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Sander Hicks |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Berkeley, California |
| Distribution | Publishers Group West |
| Key people | Charlie Winton, CEO Jack Shoemaker, Vice President, Laura Mazer, Executive Editor |
| Fiction genres | Fiction, Non-Fiction |
| Imprints | Red Rattle Books |
| Number of employees | 11 |
| Official website | www.softskull.com |
Soft Skull Press is an independent publisher founded by Sander Hicks in 1992, and run by Richard Eoin Nash from 2001 to 2009, and Denise Oswald from 2009 to 2010.[1] In 2007, Nash sold Soft Skull to Counterpoint LLC, who closed Soft Skull's New York operation in 2010.[2] Soft Skull continues to function as an imprint of Counterpoint in California. It is distributed by Publisher's Group West (PGW).
In December 2005, Richard Eoin Nash, on behalf of Soft Skull Press, was the recipient of the Miriam Bass Award for Creativity in Independent Publishing.[3]
Counterpoint is currently located on 1919 Fifth Street in Berkeley, CA. Laura Mazer is the point person for the Soft Skull imprint.
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Soft Skull Press has published fiction and non-fiction for almost twenty years. Below is a partial list of authors published by Soft Skull Press.
In 2007, Michael McColly's The After-Death Room won the 2007 Lambda Literary Award for Spirituality.[4] The same year, the Matthew Sharpe's Jameston was nominated for a 2007 Quill Award for Fiction (but lost for Cormac McCarthy's The Road),[4] Lydia Millet's Oh Pure and Radiant Heart was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award for Science Fiction writing[5] and Alain Mabanckou's African Psycho was on the 2007 Believer Book Award shortlist.[6]
In 2004, Soft Skull Press won the 2004 Lambda Literary Award for Transgender/GenderQueer with Charlie Anders' book Choir Boy. Several other Soft Skull book were nomated for 2004 Lambda Literary Awards, including That's Revolting!: Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation ("Anthologies/Nonfiction"), The Haunted Hillbilly ("Gay Men's Fiction"), Skels ("Lesbian Fiction"), Juicy Mother ("Humor"), Manstealing for Fat Girls ("Debut Lesbian Fiction") and Deliver Me from Nowhere ("Transgender/GenderQueer"), among others.[7]
During Denise Oswald's tenure as editorial director, the press received a rave cover review in The New York Times for HOS, HOOKERS, CALL GIRLS AND RENT BOYS, and had its first ever showing at the Pulitzers with finalists in fiction (Lydia Millet) and drama (Rajiv Joseph).