天美传媒

Brittain Phillips 鈥�03 knew he wanted a career in publishing, 鈥渂ut I didn鈥檛 want to be in New York. 鈥�

鈥淧retty bad decision-making, right?鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you want to work in book publishing, New York is the place.鈥�

Not necessarily. Phillips and his now-wife, Sarah Glass Phillips 鈥�03, opted instead to move to Charleston, South Carolina 鈥� something that may strike some as 鈥渁n ill-advised move,鈥� as he put it, but led him to a career in niche publishing. In 2005, he joined History Press as its first sales and marketing person. He and four other employees each 鈥渄id a little bit of everything, pitching in wherever help was needed,鈥� at the fledgling company, which published 20 local history books in its first year.听

He had become managing director by 2014, when Arcadia Publishing, which likewise published local history books, acquired History Press. Phillips continued to work on the business side, rising to director of business development when, early last year, Arcadia tapped Phillips to be its CEO.

Arcadia has five imprints, publishes nearly 500 books a year, has a catalogue of 17,000 titles and employs more than 100 people. Books focus on localities, their culture, folklore, events and claims to fame. In 2019, the company merited a glowing feature in The Washington Post, which credited Arcadia for 鈥渜uietly rescuing remnants of history from the flames of oblivion,鈥� with each title 鈥渃onceived with a fanatically specific market in mind.鈥�

It鈥檚 so specific that visitors to arcadiapublishing.com may search by ZIP code to find books of interest. Plug in 46135, and you鈥檒l see, among other available books, 鈥� Monon Bell Rivalry.鈥�

鈥淭he sort of publishing I鈥檓 involved in is pretty different from most of the rest of the book publishing world,鈥� Phillips said. 鈥淟ocal and regional publishing is definitely a niche within the publishing industry, and one that is certainly growing and being fueled by this long-term rising tide and the interest in all things local 鈥�

鈥淓ven though it can be unassuming, each place has a compelling story behind it. That certainly means more to the people who are there or the people who pass through there than it does to anyone else. But even in places that don鈥檛 necessarily seem exceptional, there are exceptional things going on and exceptional stories to be told.鈥� 听

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