Press Release: Rowman & Littlefield Buys Stackpole Books
LANHAM, Md.—December 21, 2015—Rowman & Littlefield announced today that it intends to acquire the assets and liabilities of Stackpole Books, a venerable specialist publisher whose roots go back to the 19th century.
Based in Mechanicsburg, PA, near Harrisburg, Stackpole Sons was founded in 1930 by the sons of E.J. Stackpole Sr. – E.J. Stackpole Jr., a decorated general in World War I, and Albert Stackpole. The house, with offices in Harrisburg and Manhattan, published fiction by Damon Runyon and John Fante and autobiographies by Benny Goodman and Huey Long.
In 1959, Stackpole Sons and Military Service Publishing Company – previously acquired by E.J. Stackpole Sr. -- were merged into Stackpole Books. M. David Detweiler IV, the grandson of E.J. Stackpole and the family’s fourth generation to lead the company, joined Stackpole in 1980 and was its President until his untimely death in September 2014.
Stackpole Books has long been known for its military-related titles, including the best-selling Army Officer’s Guide, now in its 52nd edition. The house is also known for its highly regarded nature series and a large list of angling titles. Ninety new titles are published annually and the company has a backlist of approximately a thousand titles. Judith Schnell, the longtime Publisher of Stackpole Books, will continue in that capacity.
Stackpole’s Chairman of the Board, John Granatino said, “In Rowman & Littlefield, we have found a publisher that can operate Stackpole in the way our late president and chairman, David Detweiler, did, with respect for our eight decades of traditions and innovations. We look forward to this next chapter for the Stackpole imprint.”
Jim Childs, Publisher of Rowman & Littlefield’s trade publishing division, Globe Pequot, said, “Stackpole is a storied publisher with an enthusiast publishing program that perfectly complements Globe Pequot’s unique market position. The resulting combination gives Globe Pequot, Lyons Press, and Stackpole a dominant market position across several genres, most notably the Outdoor, Fly Fishing and Military History categories. I look forward to publishing this list under the Stackpole imprint and expanding its reach through our multi-channel marketing initiatives.”
Customer orders will continue to be processed in the Stackpole warehouse in Mechanicsburg until the end of April when all order processing and order fulfillment will be moved to National Book Network (NBN) in Blue Ridge Summit, PA. NBN is Rowman & Littlefield’s trade distribution arm. Until then, all orders and payments should be sent to Stackpole’s Mechanicsburg office.
About Rowman & Littlefield
Rowman & Littlefield is one of the largest independent book publishers in North America. Located just outside Washington DC, the company has strengths in academic publishing in the humanities and social sciences, government and official data, educational publishing for K-12 and trade publishing. Rowman & Littlefield publishes approximately 2,000 new books annually along with electronic editions. Rowman & Littlefield International was founded in 2013 in London. It also owns National Book Network (NBN) and NBNi in the U.K., both of which offer distribution services to other book publishers.
