PM Press
PM Press is an Oakland-based independent radical publishing house producing books, music, and media on politics, labor, punk culture, and activism for activists, academics, and counterculture communities in the US and UK.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersOakland, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What PM Press does
PM Press is an independent radical publishing house founded in 2007 in Oakland, California, by Ramsey Kanaan and Craig O'Hara, both veterans of AK Press. The company produces books, music, and media across literature, art, music, politics, history, and activism, with a backlist of approximately 700 titles and over $2M paid in royalties to roughly 400 authors including Silvia Federici, Ursula K. Le Guin, Cory Doctorow, and C.L.R. James. Operations are vertically integrated: editorial, production, marketing, and distribution are kept in-house rather than outsourced to trade wholesalers. The company owns and operates a publishing platform (pmpress.org with direct mail order, the Friends of PM subscription book club, and the Outspoken Authors Series), an 18,000 sq ft warehouse in Binghamton, NY purchased in 2021, the Autumn Leaves bookstore in Ithaca, NY acquired in January 2023, and a UK office for international distribution.
Revenue is generated through multiple streams: direct-to-consumer book and merchandise sales via mail order and event tabling, wholesale trade orders, retail sales through Autumn Leaves, music and media sales (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, DVDs), and B2B warehousing/fulfillment services for like-minded organizations such as Labor Notes, Working Class History, and the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee. Distribution channels span direct sales, event-based sales (150+ events annually including anarchist book fairs, punk rock flea markets, academic conferences, and activist gatherings), wholesale partnerships, and channel partners (Cooking Vinyl, Active Distribution, Free Dirt, City Lights, Firestorm Books). Customer segments are diversified across activists and social-justice advocates, academics and educators, and the punk and counterculture community. PM Press remains 100% independently owned with no corporate, institutional, or venture capital backing, and has grown organically from founder-financed start-up through founder-Kanaan-started-AK-Press-at-age-15-in-Stirling-Scotland credentials to an 18-employee operation with US and UK presence.
PM Press firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PM Press
- Legal name
- PM Press
- Website
- https://blog.pmpress.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- PM Press is an Oakland-based independent radical publishing house producing books, music, and media on politics, labor, punk culture, and activism for activists, academics, and counterculture communities in the US and UK.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
PM Press industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Independent Book Publishing
- NAICS
- Book Publishers (51313), Book Publishers (513130), All Other Publishers (513199)
- SIC
- Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Politics, Current Affairs & Social Commentary Publishing (MPAJAAAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Alternative/Independent Newsweeklies & Opinion Press (MPAJADAH), Media Relations & Press Office Services (BPAFADAF)
Keywords
Where PM Press is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oakland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
PM Press business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Book Sales: Sale of published books through direct mail order and event sales; primary revenue stream from publishing approximately 700 titles including literature, politics, history, culture, and activism-focused content
- Music and Media Sales: Sale of CDs, vinyl, cassettes, and DVDs featuring artists such as Utah Phillips and Chumbawamba; executive produced major releases like the Poison Girls 7-CD box set
- Merchandise Sales: Sale of merchandise including fundraiser items that have raised tens of thousands of dollars for nonprofits such as the National Lawyers Guild, Palestine Legal, and No More Deaths
- Warehouse and Fulfillment Services: Provides warehousing and order fulfillment for organizations like Labor Notes, Working Class History, and the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC)
- Bookstore Operations: Operation of Autumn Leaves bookstore in Ithaca, NY (acquired January 2023), housing over 60,000 used and new titles across nearly 6,000 square feet
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
PM Press product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PM Press is an independent radical publishing house that produces and sells approximately 700 titles of books, music, and media covering literature, politics, history, culture, and activism. The company maintains editorial, production, marketing, and distribution fully in-house, selling directly to readers through mail order, event tabling, and its own retail bookstore, while also providing warehousing and fulfillment services to movement-aligned organizations.
Product overview
PM Press is an independent radical publishing house offering a diverse portfolio of published works including books (polemics, memoirs, novels, pamphlets, treatises, manifestos, comics, coloring books, and cookbooks), music (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, DVDs), and merchandise. The company operates the Outspoken Authors Series featuring notable authors, provides warehousing and fulfillment services for like-minded organizations, and owns retail bookstores including Autumn Leaves in Ithaca, NY. Following the acquisition of Just World Books in 2025, PM Press has expanded its reach in Palestinian liberation and Middle East literature. The company operates a book club subscription (Friends of PM Press) and distributes through direct sales, events, and wholesale channels.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- PM Press Book Publishing Independent radical publishing program producing books covering literature, art, music, politics, history, and culture, including polemics, memoirs, novels, pamphlets, treatises, manifestos, comics, coloring books, and cookbooks, with approximately 700 titles published to date.
- Outspoken Authors Series A book series featuring notable authors such as Thomas (World Fantasy Award winner), Ian Shoales, and Meg Elison, combining original short works with critical essays and interviews. The 36th installment, The Tongue I Dream In, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.
- Poison Girls Music Releases Music releases from the Poison Girls band, including the 'Persons Unknown: The Complete Recorded History' 7-CD box set, studio albums, singles, live recordings, and demo materials spanning 1977–1995, jointly released with Cooking Vinyl, Active Distribution, and Free Dirt.
- Friends of PM Press Book Club A book club subscription program offering members exclusive access to PM Press publications and community involvement opportunities.
- Autumn Leaves Bookstore A retail bookstore acquired in January 2023 in downtown Ithaca, NY, housing over 60,000 used and new titles across two floors and almost 6,000 square feet, featuring one of the largest collections of radical literature in the English-speaking world.
- Warehousing and Order Fulfillment Services Third-party warehousing, order fulfillment, and distribution services provided to movement-aligned organizations including Labor Notes, Working Class History, and the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC), leveraging the 18,000 sq ft Binghamton, NY warehouse.
- Just World Books Imprint A publishing imprint acquired in late summer 2025, focused on Palestinian liberation, the Middle East, and broader issues of war and peace, bringing authors such as Laila El-Haddad, Leila Abdelrazaq, Mohammad Sabaaneh, Susan Abulhawa, and the late Refaat Alareer into the PM family.
- PM Press Music Catalog Music catalog of CDs, vinyl, cassettes, and DVDs featuring diverse artists such as folk legend Utah Phillips, pop-punk innovators Chumbawamba, and partner groups including Positive Force and Big Noise.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over $2 million in royalties paid to approximately 400 authors
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use PM Press
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
PM Press technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
PM Press partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and key.
- Cooking VinylcoreJoint release of the Poison Girls Persons Unknown: The Complete Recorded History 7-CD box set with Cooking Vinyl; packaging and distribution handled through their warehouse network.
- Active DistributioncoreCo-publishing partner for the Poison Girls CD box set; UK-based distribution for music releases.
- Free DirtcoreUS distribution partner for the Poison Girls CD box set and other music releases.
- Just World BooksmajorIn late summer 2025, PM Press became the new home of Just World Books, a publisher founded in 2010 with a strong focus on Palestinian liberation, the Middle East, and broader issues of war and peace. This acquisition brought authors including Laila El-Haddad, Leila Abdelrazaq, Mohammad Sabaaneh, Susan Abulhawa, and the late Refaat Alareer into the PM family.
- Autumn Leaves BookstoremajorIn January 2023, PM Press acquired Autumn Leaves, a beloved bookstore in downtown Ithaca, NY. The bookstore now boasts over 60,000 used and new titles over two floors and almost 6,000 square feet, housing one of the biggest collections of radical literature in the English-speaking world.
- City Lights BookskeyPM Press and City Lights Books co-presented a four-day Guy Debord film retrospective in San Francisco to celebrate the new edition of Debord's Complete Cinematic Works.
- Firestorm BookskeyVirtual event hosting partnership with Firestorm Books for the All We Have Is Each Other Speaker Series, featuring events like Don't Breed on Me discussions and Rural Radical Resistance panels.
- Labor NotescorePM Press provides warehousing and order fulfillment services for Labor Notes, an organization focused on labor movement publishing and education.
- Working Class HistorycorePM Press provides warehousing and order fulfillment services for Working Class History, an organization documenting labor and working-class history.
- Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC)corePM Press provides warehousing and order fulfillment services for EWOC, an organization focused on workplace organizing.
- Publishers for PalestinekeyPM Press is a founding signatory of Publishers for Palestine, a global solidarity collective of publishers advocating for Palestinian liberation and boycotting Israeli apartheid.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights7 records
PM Press competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- AK Press: Radical independent publisher and distributor founded in 1990 by PM Press cofounder Ramsey Kanaan; shares PM Press's exact author base, audience, and catalog scope (anarchist, anti-authoritarian, and movement literature), making it the most direct comparable.
- Haymarket Books: Nonprofit radical publisher of progressive, anti-capitalist, and movement-aligned books; operates at meaningfully larger scale but covers the same activist/social-movement subject matter and pursues the same author network.
- Pluto Press: UK-based independent radical publisher of left-wing politics, social theory, and movement literature with global distribution; operates from the same London-adjacent geography as PM Press's UK office and shares the activist and academic target reader.
- Seven Stories Press: Independent publisher of progressive nonfiction, politics, and activism titles; comparable in scale and editorial philosophy to PM Press and an established direct competitor for authors and readers in the US independent space.
- City Lights Books: Historic San Francisco-based independent publisher and bookstore founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti; already a documented partner of PM Press (Guy Debord retrospective) and shares the radical-literature mission and bookstore-plus-publishing model.
- Melville House Publishing: Independent publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction, and political/cultural commentary; comparable in operating philosophy (design-forward, independent, politically engaged) and roughly similar in size and catalog breadth.
- OR Books: Independent progressive publisher of politics, culture, and current affairs with a writer-friendly, anti-corporate editorial model; smaller than PM Press but directly comparable in catalog focus and direct-to-consumer ethos.
Broad incumbents
- Verso Books: Largest independent radical-left publisher with a much broader international catalog spanning Marxist theory, politics, and culture; competes for the same academic and activist readers as PM Press but at significantly greater scale and with trade-house distribution.
Emerging players
- Semiotext(e): Independent publisher and bookshop of radical theory, philosophy, and culture; significant catalog overlap with PM Press's political-theory titles but a smaller, more theory-focused list with strong distribution through the Native Agents imprint.
Others
- PM Press UK / Active Distribution: UK-based radical book distributor and partner of PM Press for music releases and UK fulfillment; adjacent ecosystem participant that both supports and competes for distribution of the same audience's reading material.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
PM Press social profiles
Digital presencePM Press financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PM Press leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
PM Press subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
PM Press funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PM Press 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 PM Press
What does PM Press do?
PM Press is an independent radical publishing house that produces and sells approximately 700 titles of books, music, and media covering literature, politics, history, culture, and activism. The company maintains editorial, production, marketing, and distribution fully in-house, selling directly to readers through mail order, event tabling, and its own retail bookstore, while also providing warehousing and fulfillment services to movement-aligned organizations.
Is PM Press a public or private company?
PM Press is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was PM Press founded?
PM Press was founded in 2007. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is PM Press based?
PM Press is headquartered in Oakland, United States, in the North America region.
How does PM Press make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Book Sales are the primary driver. The others are music and Media Sales, merchandise Sales, warehouse and Fulfillment Services and bookstore Operations.
Who are PM Press's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are AK Press, Haymarket Books, Pluto Press, Seven Stories Press, City Lights Books, Melville House Publishing and OR Books. Verso Books is listed as a broad incumbent. Semiotext(e) is listed as an emerging player. PM Press UK / Active Distribution is listed as an others.
Does PM Press have an API?
No public API is recorded for PM Press.
What industry is PM Press in?
PM Press's product category is Independent Book Publishing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAJAAAM, Politics, Current Affairs & Social Commentary Publishing, with a secondary code of MPAJADAH, Alternative/Independent Newsweeklies & Opinion Press. Its NAICS code is 51313 and its SIC code is 2731.