Foghorn - by Vicki DeArmon (Paperback)

About the Book

"In the mid-80s, with the advent of the personal computer, publishing entrepreneurs sprang up throughout the San Francisco Bay Area ushering in a heyday of small press publishing. At twenty-eight, Foghorn Press publisher Vicki Morgan is in the middle of this phenomenon, while still trying to extricate herself from a bad marriage and build a life in the City. Her alcoholic ex-husband isn't happy with the bloodless coup to get him out of Foghorn, but luckily Dave, Vicki's eccentric younger brother, healing from a break-up of his own, joins her to help build the business. As Morgans, they have been raised to "take the mountain" which they now see as Foghorn Press. Together the siblings revive their hope for the future by working 100-hour work weeks, drinking Mickey Bigmouth beers, and creating jokes that they alone find hilarious while great music of the era from Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman, Bonnie Raitt, and Don Henley plays on the office cassette player. They rehash their past relationships and analyze the failings of the teen parents who raised them while they take inventory, ship orders, layout books, and market them, making the publishing up as they go along. The duo endures a fleet of good old boys, questionable authors, humor-resistant employees, calculating distributors, and one con man. But just when they realize some success, they begin to clash in their approach to business and life. Foghorn charts the climb of a young woman in the world of business, revealing the crazy intensity of a determined entrepreneur who "will do anything" to succeed. It's a love story between siblings and a celebration of the lexicon and power of family. Amid the backdrop of San Francisco in the tumultuous 1990s, it revisits a unique time in Bay Area history when small presses-powered by personal computers-took the publishing field"--

Book Synopsis

The heyday of small press publishing in San Francisco lives again

This memoir that reads like fiction recounts the never-before-told story of the heyday of small presses in the 1980s and 1990s in San Francisco when Bay Area presses-armed with arrogance and personal computers--took the publishing field. The invention of the desktop computer was akin to the invention of printing press at the end of the Middle Ages, heralding a renaissance in the book business and ushering in a hotbed of creativity recognized even by New York City, the long-held center of all things publishing. In these glory days, presses like Foghorn Press, Nolo Press, Ten Speed Press, Heyday Books, Wilderness Press, New World Library, and Chronicle Books were a just few of many to partner with independent neighborhood bookstores to stage the first San Francisco Bay Area Book Festival which drew 35,000 readers.

This is the often comic story of one of those presses and its intrepid publisher, Vicki Morgan. At Foghorn Press, Vicki was 25, young and brash and ambitious. She set out to quixotically build a book publishing company from scratch with her eccentric brother to help. As part of their optimistic Morgan heritage, the siblings employed every strategy they had to grow Foghorn Press with no capital, 100-hour work weeks, cheap beer, irrepressible belly laughs, and no book publishing experience. Over 13 years, they assembled a cast of often preposterous authors and resistant staff while surviving a drunken ex-husband, a con artist, calculating distributors, a fleet of good ol' boys, terrible cash flow, and their own differing aspirations. Books were brought to market and miraculously sold from their offices in the Boiler Room until Foghorn became a resounding success with sales, media, acclaim. But of course, the story doesn't end there.

Review Quotes

"DeArmon takes readers on a thrilling, laugh-out-loud adventure as she transforms a humble dream into a powerhouse publishing house. With wit and grit, she navigates the highs and lows of building a business from the ground up-all while juggling a turbulent personal life, including a rocky marriage and a boyfriend allergic to commitment.

This behind-the-scenes look into the world of independent publishing is both inspiring and deeply human. Packed with heart, humor, and hard-earned wisdom, it's a story you won't want to put down--or see end." --Nina Schuyler, award-winning author of Afterword and In This Ravishing World

"This is so well told and personal that every step along the way is both entertaining and heart felt. I was mesmerized and deeply engaged. A book not to be missed for many reasons not the least about what it takes to run a publishing company from ground zero." --Sheryl Cotleur, Buyer, Copperfield's Books

"Starting with its subtitle--'the nearly true story of a small publishing empire'--Foghorn is an intriguing tale that reads like a novel but feels like truth in the highest sense of the word. Publishing people will especially enjoy the story of a Bay Area startup that makes good; everyone will enjoy the full nearly true story." --John Mutter, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Shelf Awareness

"Foghorn is not just a tale of business success but also a story of the power of storytelling and the impact that words can have on individuals and society. Through Vicki's journey, readers are reminded of the importance of pursuing one's passions, embracing challenges, and staying true to one's vision, even in the face of adversity." --Calvin Crosby, co-owner, The King's English Bookshop

"Foghorn captures a moment in time when the desk-top computer revolutionized publishing and the small press movement forever changed the staid New York centric book world. Seizing opportunity, DeArmon and her brother grow a uniquely West Coast company, Foghorn Press. DeArmon's entertaining memoir is told with honesty and humor." --Donna Galassi, Publishing Consultant and former Associate Publisher of Foghorn Press

"A publishing executive's unsparing and compelling look at the impact of a small press...this novelistic memoir focuses on the publishing business in the San Francisco Bay Area...publishing executive DeArmon delves into her tenure leading Foghorn Press and its impact on her personal and business relationships. The descriptions of the inner workings of book publishing, especially in the Bay Area, will captivate bibliophiles." --Kirkus Reviews

"Vicki DeArmon takes us on a ride through glittering, pre-Internet San Francisco as she navigates between her lust for success and yearning for family. As she makes the complex choices that shape her future, she finds her own version of feminism--one that's both unapologetic and refreshingly honest." --Ann Marie Brown, Travel Writer