Finding its niche: Chicago Press Review continues to publish unique stories, eyes future of publishing with e-books

Back in 1973, Linda and Curt Matthews were English teachers frustrated by the uncertainty of finding a teaching position at the college level. So they moved on, and one might say the couple found an even more challenging and frustrating alternate career -- book publishing.

The Matthews are the founders of Chicago Review Press, which has since grown into a sturdy midsize publisher with a book distribution arm, Independent Publishers Group, acquired in 1986. This sister company groups together other small independent presses, thus creating a book list able to compete with the larger publishing houses.

At first, the Matthews began by publishing, among other things, poetry and literary novels out of their basement. There was some life there but not enough.

"It was all very arty," Linda Matthews recalls. "We quickly realized that if we wanted to eat we'd better find some other way to sell some books."

Shortly thereafter, Chicago Review Press got on the map thanks to several popular Chicago guidebooks—the city guide Sweet Home Chicago and Rick Kogan's Chicago Nightlife. With these books, the company began to build a reputation as a niche publisher of general nonfiction, children's activity books, African-American topics and books on music and film.

"We're mining the field that exists right under the big New York houses," Chicago Review publisher Cynthia Sherry said. "We might start out with 10,000 copies but a number of our books sell better year after year and go on to gain cult status."

Chicago Review looks for authors with a platform, someone who has a track record, as well as a unique story to tell.

Reymundo Sanchez's My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King was one such book. At the time, it was a story that had not been told. "For someone who grew up in Chicago, it was really an eye-opener," Sherry said.

Over the years, other popular titles have included Bill Adler's Outwitting Squirrels, Jennifer Toth's The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath New York City, Owen Hurd's Chicago History for Kids and Frank Hohimer's The Home Invaders, which was the inspiration for the popular James Caan film "Thief." The newest book on the Chicago Review Press roster is David Buckley's Elton: A Biography—as in Elton John.

The acquisition of Independent Publishers Group supplied a huge growth spurt for the company.

"That helped get us in the door at the big chain accounts that were just getting started and didn't want to mess with little publishers," Matthews said.

Added Sherry: "We were selecting really high quality small presses and linking them together. The bookstores appreciated that selection."

Currently, Chicago Review Press publishes around 60 titles a year on four different imprints. The company, along with Independent Publishers Group, is housed in a red brick building, a beehive of activity, near the corner of Chicago and Franklin.

Linda Matthews is director of the publishing arm and Curt Matthews serves as CEO for both companies. He keeps the company's warehouse at Chicago and Pulaski, home to 5 million books, running smoothly. He's also the company's technology wizard, says his wife.

"Curt forces us to bring our technology to the absolute limit of what is possible," Matthews said. "It's a hard and complex thing to do but it's really paid off for us."

Over the last 30-plus years, the Matthews have seen and been affected by just about every sea change in the book publishing business.

"Oh yes, we've seen it all," Linda Matthews said, laughing. "But you either figure out how to change and adapt or you go out of business. There's an element of good fortune here but I think it's partly a combination of foresight and caution. We have been cautious and that's helped us financially."

But Matthews admits she worries "all the time" about the future of the book.

"As long as a bunch of old fogies like me are around, books will be fine," she said. "But what about younger people? How much do they read? That's the question for the future."

One step for the future has been an aggressive move to have many Chicago Review titles as possible available in e-book format. It's a tiny part of the business for now but in the future that may change. And having one foot there is comforting for all involved.

"We're really on the cutting edge as far as getting our books out there in electronic formats," Sherry said. "And we really pay a lot of attention to their online presence. It's a must because so many people go online to find out about books.

Sherry says she feels "pretty optimistic" about the future.

"I think books are a really unique product. I mean we're not making widgets; they're all individual. Books may be a smaller part of the overall entertainment market as time goes on but I feel that whole market is growing and books are going to grow along with it."