Soft Skull Press
Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company that Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Shoemaker & Hoard, and Soft Skull Press. The company published books under both the Counterpoint Press and Soft Skull Press imprints.
Soft Skull Press
- Founded
- 1992
- Founder
- Sander Hicks
- Headquarters
- New York City
- Activity
- publishing
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Counterpoint LLC was a publishing company that Perseus Books Group launched in 2007. It was formed from the consolidation of three presses: Perseus' Counterpoint Press, Shoemaker & Hoard, and Soft Skull Press. The company published books under both the Counterpoint Press and Soft Skull Press imprints.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Soft Skull Press. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q17082117 · wikipedia · Soft Skull Press
In this article
Overview
Overview
Counterpoint also entered into an agreement for the production, marketing, and distribution of approximately eight Sierra Club book titles each year. Both Wendell Berry and poet Gary Snyder were investors in Counterpoint, with both having works published by the imprint. Jack Shoemaker, Vice-president and editorial director of Counterpoint, had worked with both authors in other companies for more than thirty years. Counterpoint notably published works by Albanian author Ismail Kadare, including A Girl in Exile, The Traitor’s Niche, and The Doll: A Portrait of My Mother. Counterpoint merged into fellow publisher Catapult in 2016.
Key facts
Key facts
• Founded — 2007 • Successor — Catapult • Country — United States • Headquarters — Berkeley, California • Distribution — PenguinRandomHouse • Keypeople — Charlie Winton, CEO Jack Shoemaker, Vice President, Editorial director Richard Nash, Executive Editor • Imprints — Counterpoint Press, Soft Skull Press, Sierra Club/Counterpoint • Url — https: counterpointpress.com
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Soft Skull Press • Parent — Catapult, funded and co-founded by Elizabeth Koch • Founded — 1992 • Founder — Sander Hicks • Country — United States • Headquarters — New York City • Distribution — PenguinRandomHouse • Keypeople — Yuka Igarashi, editor • Topics — Alternative culture, LGBTQ literature • Imprints — Red Rattle Books • Url — https: softskull.com Soft Skull Press is an independent book publisher founded by Sander Hicks in 1992, and run by Yuka Igarashi from 2017 until 2022, when she was hired by Graywolf Press. In 2007, Richard Nash, who had taken Soft Skull over from Hicks in 2001, sold the publisher to Counterpoint, who closed Soft Skull's New York operation in 2010. Counterpoint merged with fellow publisher Catapult in 2016. Subsequently, Soft Skull reopened its New York office with Yuka Igarashi as editor-in-chief, and began to reissue backlist books. These included The Amputee's Guide to Sex by Jillian Weise, Something Bright, Then Holes by Maggie Nelson, and Wayne Koestenbaum's 2004 novel, Moira Orfei in Aigues-Mortes under the new title, Circus. The publisher has since acquired and published new works.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself. It is also recorded that soft Skull Press is associated with United States. The register further records that soft Skull Press is recorded from 1992.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Catalogued output
Publications and programmes
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. Institutional cataloguing adds that pregnant butch: nine long months spent in drag / A.K. Institutional cataloguing adds that soft Skull Press is situated in United States. It is also recorded that soft Skull Press has its headquarters at New York City. Press operates in publishing. Founded by Sander Hicks. Institutional cataloguing adds that soft Skull Press is recorded as publishing house. Established or created in 1992.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Soft Skull Press”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q17082117: Soft Skull Press
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Books by Ismail Kadare and Complete Book Reviews. PublishersWeekly.com.
- 2.Two Years Post-merger, Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull Are Going Strong. PublishersWeekly.com.
- 3.Q and A with an Editor: Yuka Igarashi. The Authors Guild. January 18, 2018.
- 4.Kirch, Claire. Graywolf Hires Soft Skull Editor-in-Chief. PublishersWeekly.com.
- 5.Richard Nash to Leave Soft Skull, Counterpoint. Poets & Writers. 2009-02-26.
- 6.Neyfakh, Leon. Indie Publisher Soft Skull Press Closes Its Doors In New York. The New York Observer. November 2, 2010.
- 7.Two Years Post-merger, Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull Are Going Strong. PublishersWeekly.com.
- 8.BOMB interviews Wayne Koestenbaum about Circus. Soft Skull Press. 2019-10-09.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 7
- Fost, Dan. Jack Shoemaker starts new book venture: Loyal authors follow him to division of Avalon Publishing. San Francisco Chronicle. 2002-12-12.
- Italie, Hillel. Publisher Perseus Announces Layoffs. Fox News. 2007-05-10.
- Jain, Priya. The struggle for independents. Salon.com. 2007-06-21.
- Kinsella, Bridget. Winton, Shoemaker & Co. Buys Counterpoint. Publishers Weekly. 2007-05-10.
- Kinsella, Bridget. Winton Buys Soft Skull Press. Publishers Weekly. 2007-05-16.
- Kinsella, Bridget. Counterpoint, Sierra Club Team Up. Publishers Weekly. 2007-08-16.
- Maher, John. Counterpoint, OR Books Partner on New Fall List. Publishers Weekly. 2016-05-16.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Publishers and printers
5,459 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Södertörn UniversityOrganisation
- SoedescoOrganisation
- Soegijapranata Catholic UniversityOrganisation
- Sofia UniversityOrganisation
- SoftdiskOrganisation
- Soho PressOrganisation
- Sōka UniversityOrganisation
- SokolOrganisation
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Soft Skull Press?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.