New World Library

New World Library
Founded1977
FounderMarc Allen and Shakti Gawain
Headquarters locationNovato, California, U.S.
DistributionPublishers Group West (US)
Publishers Group UK (UK)[1]
Publication typesBooks
Official websitewww.newworldlibrary.com

New World Library is an American publisher of books for adults and children. The press focuses on publishing New Age books concerning the mind, the body and the spirit. The company is located in Novato, California and has 16 employees.[2]

In 1977, Marc Allen and his girlfriend at the time, Shakti Gawain, self-published hand-stapled booklets under the name Whatever Publishing; they consider this to be the founding of the press.[3] Total sales in 1977 were $800.[3] Their first three books were written by Marc Allen. Their fourth, Shakti Gawain's Creative Visualization, in December 1978, became an international bestseller.[citation needed] The success of Gawain's book launched the new company as a source of books for the creative and New Age communities. In the mid 1980s, they changed their name from “Whatever Publishing” to “New World Library“.[3] Gawain also founded Nataraj Publishing as a division of New World Library.[4]

In 2000, New World Library entered into a joint venture with H J Kramer, the publisher of Dan Millman, Sanaya Roman, and John Robbins's Diet for a New America.[citation needed] In 2001, they began publishing the works of Joseph Campbell. As of 2023, there are 30 books in his series, including a revised edition of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which has sold over half a million copies.[citation needed] In 2007, New World Library acquired Inner Ocean Publishing, involving the purchase of 45 titles, including books by MoveOn, Jean Houston, and Barbara Marciniak.[citation needed]

New World Library has worked with distributor Publishers Group West (PGW) since 1978 which makes it PGW's oldest distribution client.[3]

  1. ^ "Publishers". Publishers Group UK. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
  2. ^ "About Us". New World Library. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  3. ^ a b c d "Dedicated Issue: New World Library". Shelf Awareness. September 20, 2017. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
  4. ^ Maher, John (November 16, 2018). "Shakti Gawain, New World Library Cofounder, Dies at 70". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 2024-01-08.