McFarland & Co.
McFarland & Co. is a niche scholarly and reference book publisher producing print, ebook, and audiobook titles across 14+ subject categories, serving individual readers, booksellers, libraries, instructors, and authors through direct e-commerce and wholesale channels.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1979
- HeadquartersWest Jefferson, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What McFarland & Co. does
McFarland & Co. (operating as McFarland Books) is a niche scholarly and trade book publisher headquartered in Jefferson, United States, producing print, ebook, and audiobook titles across 14+ subject categories — including Pop Culture, Sports, Military History, Literature, Transportation, History, Body/Mind/Spirit, Games & Hobbies, Social Sciences, and True Crime. The active catalog exceeds 13,000 titles, anchored by deep reference series such as decade-by-decade encyclopedias and companion volumes (e.g., the Horror Films series, Studies in Gaming, McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction, McFarland Myth and Legend Encyclopedias). The publisher operates through named sub-brand imprints including Exposit Books (true crime, paranormal) and Toplight Books (body/mind/spirit), and supports authors via a dedicated Author Resources hub with manuscript preparation, photo/permissions guidelines, an Editorial Directory, and post-publication promotion workflows.
Revenue derives primarily from one-time book sales via the company's own e-commerce storefront (mcfarlandbooks.com) and wholesale/trade channels serving booksellers, libraries, and institutional buyers, with secondary income from rights and permissions licensing for backlist titles. Per-title unit pricing ranges from $19.99 to $95.00 (sale-priced down to $15), with no subscription tiers or enterprise contracts. Go-to-market is hybrid: direct-to-consumer via the storefront, channel-partner wholesale through bookseller direct accounts, and sales-led institutional outreach to libraries and instructors (including professor exam copy requests). Marketing channels include a branded podcast ('Best Part of the Book'), newsletter/catalog mailing, dedicated media inquiry outreach, and a content-marketing website with categorized browse, New Arrivals, Editors' Picks, and Bestsellers sections. The technology stack is a standard WordPress/WooCommerce storefront with no proprietary AI/ML platform disclosed; operations rely on traditional editorial, print, and digital publishing workflows. A single $185,000 funding round in July 2023 is the only capital event disclosed.
McFarland & Co. firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- McFarland & Co.
- Legal name
- McFarland
- Website
- https://mcfarlandbooks.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1979
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- McFarland & Co. is a niche scholarly and reference book publisher producing print, ebook, and audiobook titles across 14+ subject categories, serving individual readers, booksellers, libraries, instructors, and authors through direct e-commerce and wholesale channels.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
McFarland & Co. industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Book Publishing
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (513130), Book Publishers (51313), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs (EDAGAFAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Author Website, Storefront & Direct-to-Reader Commerce (D2C Sales) (MPAJAJAE)
Keywords
Where McFarland & Co. is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- West Jefferson
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
McFarland & Co. business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Book sales (print and digital): Revenue generated through one-time purchases of print books, ebooks, and audiobooks via the company's own storefront and trade channels. Prices vary by title (from sale-priced $15 to $95 hardcovers), with periodic sale pricing on selected titles.
- Rights, permissions, and licensing: Secondary revenue from 'Rights & Permissions' and 'Rights Licensing' pages, covering reprint permissions and rights sales for backlist titles.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | One time/ perpetual license | Per-title unit pricing across 14+ subject categories |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
McFarland & Co. product offering
Product offeringCore offering
McFarland & Co. is a book publisher that acquires, edits, produces, and sells a large backlist catalog of scholarly, reference, and pop-culture titles in print, ebook, and audiobook formats across 14+ subject categories, distributed through its own e-commerce storefront, bookseller wholesale accounts, library/institutional sales, academic exam-copy channels, and international fulfillment. Supporting the catalog are an Author Resources editorial workflow, a "Best Part of the Book" podcast, a newsletter and print-catalog program, and rights & permissions licensing for backlist reuse.
Product overview
McFarland & Co. operates as a single unified product — a niche scholarly and trade book publishing catalog (marketed as McFarland Books) — with the catalog organized into a platform-plus-modules architecture in which the main McFarland Books catalog spans 14+ subject categories (Pop Culture, Sports, Military History, Literature, Transportation, History, True Crime, Body/Mind/Spirit, Games & Hobbies, Social Sciences, Art/Architecture/Photography, Science & Technology, Interdisciplinary Studies, and Genre). On top of this core catalog, the publisher offers named sub-brands and modules: the Exposit Books and Toplight Books imprints provide curated thematic sub-catalogs (true crime/paranormal and uplifting body/mind/spirit, respectively), while book series such as Studies in Gaming, McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction, Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy, McFarland Myth and Legend Encyclopedias, and others function as branded scholarly modules. Supporting services include McFarland Author Resources (manuscript preparation, delivery, and promotion), the Best Part of the Book podcast, and a newsletter signup/catalog distribution program for booksellers, libraries, students, and instructors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Exposit Books: Focuses on a wide range of true crime topics, as well as sexuality, the paranormal, dark fascinations and morbid curiosities.
- Toplight Books
- Studies in Gaming
- McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction
Products and services
- McFarland Books McFarland Books is the publisher's primary imprint and overall catalog, offering print, ebook, and audiobook titles across 14+ subject categories including Pop Culture, Sports, Military History, Literature, Transportation, History, Body/Mind/Spirit, Games & Hobbies, Social Sciences, True Crime, Science & Technology, Interdisciplinary Studies, Art/Architecture/Photography, and Genre. It is sold directly to consumers via the McFarland website and through booksellers, libraries, instructors, and international customers.
- Exposit Books Exposit Books is a McFarland imprint offering a curated sub-catalog of titles on true crime topics as well as sexuality, the paranormal, dark fascinations, and morbid curiosities, sold via the McFarland website and trade channels.
- Toplight Books Toplight Books is a McFarland imprint that curates a sub-catalog of uplifting and positive books intended to help readers improve their understanding of the body, mind, and spirit, sold via the McFarland website and trade channels.
- Studies in Gaming Studies in Gaming is a McFarland book series that publishes scholarly works about table-top games, board games, video games, and role-playing games, distributed via the McFarland website and trade channels.
- McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction McFarland Companions to Mystery Fiction is a book series that publishes scholarship about mystery, detective, and crime fiction, sold through the McFarland website and trade channels.
- Best Part of the Book (Podcast) Best Part of the Book is McFarland's official podcast, associated with the publisher's media and author outreach efforts, featuring authors and selected book excerpts to drive discovery and engagement with the catalog.
- McFarland Author Resources McFarland Author Resources provides services for new and seasoned authors, including manuscript preparation guidelines, photo and permissions guidelines, multicontributor manuscript support, delivery instructions, post-delivery workflows, promotional resources, the Editorial Directory, and forms and sample documents for prospective and current McFarland authors.
- Rights & Permissions Licensing Rights & Permissions Licensing is McFarland's program for granting reprint rights, permissions, and licensing for backlist titles, generating secondary revenue from the publisher's content catalog.
Quantifiable outcome
- Catalog of more than 13,000 titles across 14+ subject categories (e.g., 2,986 Pop Culture, 2,616 Interdisciplinary Studies, 1,777 History, 1,765 Social Sciences, 1,721 Literature, 1,497 Military History, 1,262 Sports).
Companies that use McFarland & Co.
Customer profileSegments7 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
McFarland & Co. technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
McFarland & Co. partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators28 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
McFarland & Co. competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Rowman & Littlefield: Independent academic and scholarly publisher producing reference and trade scholarly titles across a wide range of humanities and social science subjects. Closely comparable in business model, catalog breadth, and niche academic positioning to McFarland.
- University Press of Kentucky: Academic and regional scholarly publisher known for specialized reference and trade books in military history, regional history, and sports — directly overlapping with McFarland's strongest subject verticals (Military History 1,497 titles, Sports 1,262 titles).
- Bloomsbury Academic: Academic publishing division of Bloomsbury Publishing producing scholarly reference and trade academic titles in the humanities and social sciences. Operates with a similar niche scholarly-plus-trade hybrid model.
- Penn State University Press: University press publishing scholarly reference and trade books in regional history, literature, sports, and American studies. Comparable catalog focus and institutional library distribution model.
- Sourcebooks: Independent publisher combining trade and niche non-fiction/reference titles with strong direct-to-consumer and bookstore distribution. Comparable scale, independent ownership profile, and breadth across non-fiction verticals.
- Skyhorse Publishing: Independent trade publisher with a deep backlist of niche non-fiction, reference, and specialty titles. Overlaps with McFarland on military history, sports, true crime, and pop-culture reference output.
- McFarland & Company Inc. (real-world reference): Listed here only as a self-reference benchmark; the real-world McFarland is an independent scholarly publisher based in Jefferson, NC with a decades-deep backlist comparable in focus and scale to the data described.
Broad incumbents
- Routledge (Taylor & Francis): Major academic publisher producing humanities and social science scholarly reference works. Overlaps significantly with McFarland's reference and scholarly catalog, but at much greater scale and with broader portfolio.
- Oxford University Press: Largest university press in the world, publishing scholarly reference and trade titles across the humanities, social sciences, and reference categories that compete with McFarland's content library at a different scale and price point.
Emerging players
- Dalkey Archive Press: Independent literary and reference publisher focused on niche scholarly and experimental works. Smaller scale than McFarland, but overlaps in catalog focus on literature, genre studies, and specialized reference.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
McFarland & Co. social profiles
Digital presenceMcFarland & Co. financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
McFarland & Co. leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
McFarland & Co. funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
McFarland & Co. M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about McFarland & Co.
What does McFarland & Co. do?
McFarland & Co. is a book publisher that acquires, edits, produces, and sells a large backlist catalog of scholarly, reference, and pop-culture titles in print, ebook, and audiobook formats across 14+ subject categories, distributed through its own e-commerce storefront, bookseller wholesale accounts, library/institutional sales, academic exam-copy channels, and international fulfillment. Supporting the catalog are an Author Resources editorial workflow, a "Best Part of the Book" podcast, a newsletter and print-catalog program, and rights & permissions licensing for backlist reuse.
Is McFarland & Co. a public or private company?
McFarland & Co. is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was McFarland & Co. founded?
McFarland & Co. was founded in 1979. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is McFarland & Co. based?
McFarland & Co. is headquartered in West Jefferson, United States, in the North America region.
How does McFarland & Co. make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Book sales (print and digital) is the primary driver. The others are rights, permissions, and licensing.
Who are McFarland & Co.'s main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Rowman & Littlefield, University Press of Kentucky, Bloomsbury Academic, Penn State University Press, Sourcebooks, Skyhorse Publishing and McFarland & Company Inc. (real-world reference). Broad incumbents are Routledge (Taylor & Francis) and Oxford University Press. Dalkey Archive Press is listed as an emerging player.
Does McFarland & Co. have an API?
No public API is recorded for McFarland & Co..
What industry is McFarland & Co. in?
McFarland & Co.'s product category is Book Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAGAFAJ, Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs, with a secondary code of MPAJAJAE, Author Website, Storefront & Direct-to-Reader Commerce (D2C Sales). Its NAICS code is 513130 and its SIC code is 2731.