Exact Change

What Exact Change does

Exact Change is an independent literary publishing house founded in 1989 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was established by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang — musicians known from Galaxie 500 — and operates as a small, privately held press with no disclosed external investors or funding rounds. The company specializes in experimental and avant-garde literature, with a catalog concentrated in Surrealism, Dada, Pataphysics, and 19th/20th century avant-garde art movements. Its list includes both standard trade editions and rare or collectible volumes, indicating a backlist strategy aimed at readers, academics, and collectors interested in this literary niche.

The publisher's product is a focused catalog of translated and reissued experimental works, priced at $13.95–$19.95 for standard editions and $35.00 for rarer titles. It sells through a direct-to-consumer e-commerce channel and distributes through D.A.P./Artbook, the art-book wholesale channel that gives small presses access to museum stores, independent bookshops, and specialty retailers. The business model is transactional book sales with no subscription, advertising, or licensing layer evident in the input. Operations appear lean, consistent with a founder-run micro-press sustained by steady backlist demand and selective new-title acquisition.

Exact Change has remained a niche specialist rather than scaling into general trade publishing. There is no evidence of digital product extensions, AI-assisted tools, or platform plays; the moat rests on curatorial expertise and rights relationships developed over more than three decades. The publisher's growth profile is therefore best read as steady-state rather than expansionary, with revenue limited by the small addressable market for experimental avant-garde literature in English.

Name

Exact Change

Legal name

Exact Change

Website

https://exactchange.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Exact Change is a Cambridge, Massachusetts–based independent literary publisher founded in 1989, specializing in Surrealist, Dada, Pataphysical, and avant-garde works sold via DTC e-commerce and D.A.P./Artbook wholesale distribution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Independent Literary Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (513130)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYMPAJAAAD

Mass Market & Paperback Publishing

Media, Entertainment & Sports/Publishing (Books, News, Magazines)/Book Publishing (Trade & Consumer)

Keywords

• Independent book publishing
• Experimental literature
• Avant-garde fiction
• Literary translations
• Out-of-print rarities

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Book Sales: Exact Change generates revenue through the direct sale of published books and out-of-print rarities to consumers. Books are sold at fixed retail prices ranging from $13.95 to $19.95 for standard editions and $35.00 for rare/out-of-print items. The company ships worldwide from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Exact Change is an independent publishing house that selects, edits, and sells trade paperback editions of experimental and avant-garde literature emphasizing Surrealism, Dada, Pataphysics, and other 19th- and 20th-century literary movements. The press publishes a curated catalog of foundational texts by authors such as Apollinaire, Aragon, Artaud, Cage, Dalí, Kafka, Pessoa, Roussel, and Stein, many of which had been left out of print by larger publishers or were previously unavailable in North America. The company also offers a small selection of out-of-print rarities and limited editions, distributed worldwide directly and through D.A.P./Artbook.

Product overview

Exact Change is a book publishing company specializing in experimental literature with an emphasis on Surrealism, Dada, Pataphysics, and other nineteenth and twentieth century avant-garde art movements. The company publishes a catalog of books that includes foundational texts by authors such as Guillaume Apollinaire, Louis Aragon, Antonin Artaud, John Cage, Giorgio de Chirico, Salvador Dalí, René Daumal, Morton Feldman, Alice James, Alfred Jarry, Franz Kafka, Lautréamont, Gérard de Nerval, Fernando Pessoa, Raymond Roussel, Philippe Soupault, Gertrude Stein, Denton Welch, Unica Zürn, Pablo Picasso, and Chris Marker. The product portfolio consists of trade paperback editions of avant-garde literature organized as a unified publishing program, similar to Penguin Classics or the Library of America but focused on neglected works. Additionally, the company offers out-of-print rarities including limited stock items and special editions. Exact Change distributes to the trade through D.A.P.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Immemory: Gutenberg Version by Chris Marker A printed adaptation of Chris Marker's multimedia CD-ROM memoir exploring zones of travel, war, cinema, and poetry through interconnected text and image, targeted at readers of experimental literature and film.
• Mount Analogue by René Daumal A foundational Surrealist, Pataphysical, and Gurdjieffian mystical novel telling the story of an expedition to a mountain whose existence can only be deduced, translated by Roger Shattuck, targeted at literary enthusiasts and students of mysticism.
• The Book by Stéphane Mallarmé The collected drafts and notes of Stéphane Mallarmé's legendary, ultimately unfinished project for an ideal book encompassing all books, translated from handwritten manuscript by Sylvia Gorelick, for literary scholars and poetry readers.
• Joseph Cornell's Dreams edited by Catherine Corman A collection of artist Joseph Cornell's own dreams culled from his voluminous diaries in the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, targeted at art historians, surrealism enthusiasts, and readers of experimental memoir.
• The Blue Octavo Notebooks by Franz Kafka Franz Kafka's collection of smaller notebooks written from late 1917 until June 1919, containing short stories, fragments, and famous aphorisms in their original context, for Kafka scholars and literary readers.
• In Youth is Pleasure by Denton Welch A 1945 coming-of-age novel by Denton Welch recounting a summer holiday with precisely realized details of physical and social surroundings, targeted at readers of literary fiction.
• Dark Spring by Unica Zürn An autobiographical coming-of-age novel by Unica Zürn tracing the roots of her obsessions and sexual awakening, written as an exorcism rather than a memoir, for readers of surrealist autobiography.
• Give My Regards to Eighth Street: Collected Writings by Morton Feldman An authoritative collection of Morton Feldman's writings on the New York School of painters, poets, and composers including Pollock, Guston, Rothko, and Cage, targeted at readers of mid-century American art and music.
• Composition in Retrospect by John Cage John Cage's statement of methodology examining central issues of his work including indeterminacy, nonunderstanding, inconsistency, imitation, variable structure, and contingency, for readers of experimental music and composition.
• The Death and Letters of Alice James edited by Ruth Bernard Yeazell Selected correspondence of Alice James, sister of Henry and William James, edited with a biographical essay by Ruth Bernard Yeazell, targeted at literary historians and 19th-century American studies scholars.
• Maldoror & the Complete Works by Comte de Lautréamont The complete annotated collection of Comte de Lautréamont's writings, the only such collection available in English, featuring translations that influenced the Surrealist movement, for surrealist literature scholars.
• The Heresiarch & Co. by Guillaume Apollinaire A collection of short stories about heretics, provincial romantics, and adventurers in crime by Guillaume Apollinaire, his first book and reportedly his favorite, for readers of French avant-garde fiction.
• The Poet Assassinated by Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire's tragicomic mock-epic autobiography-à-clef recounting the life and death of Croniamantal, with woodcuts by André Derain, targeted at surrealist poetry and art readers.
• The Adventures of Telemachus by Louis Aragon Louis Aragon's 1922 novel that appropriates the title and plot of a 17th-century epic but replaces moralistic underpinnings with Surrealist dedication to the strange, beautiful, and erotic, for surrealist literature readers.
• Paris Peasant by Louis Aragon One of the central works of Surrealism by Louis Aragon, a mythological account of modern Paris using the city as a framework with ephemera, philosophy, dream, and satire, for surrealist literature readers and Paris enthusiasts.
• Watchfiends & Rack Screams by Antonin Artaud Work from Antonin Artaud's final period (1945-1948), including scatological glossolalia composed during and after his incarceration at Rodez asylum, targeted at readers of late avant-garde and theater of cruelty literature.
• Hebdomeros & other writings by Giorgio de Chirico Giorgio de Chirico's dream-like novel of situations and landscapes, considered the finest work of Surrealist fiction, with translations by John Ashbery and Mark Polizzotti, for surrealist fiction readers.
• Oui: Writings 1927-1933 by Salvador Dalí Salvador Dalí's writings from his period most closely allied with the Surrealists, documenting his friendships with Buñuel and García Lorca and the development of his Paranoid-Critical Method, for surrealist art and literature readers.
• Exploits & Opinions of Dr. Faustroll, Pataphysician by Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry's anarchic novel of absurdist philosophy, the central work of his oeuvre and the invention of 'Pataphysics, the science of imaginary solutions, for readers of absurdist and pataphysical literature.
• The Supermale by Alfred Jarry Alfred Jarry's carnal novel where André Marcueil proves his ability to make love an infinite number of times, described as a mock Jules Verne adventure, for readers of absurdist fiction.
• Aurelia & other writings by Gérard de Nerval Gérard de Nerval's document of dreams, obsession, and insanity, a favorite of Joseph Cornell's, including previously untranslated stories and Robert Duncan's version of 'Chimeras', for surrealist literature readers.
• The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa Fernando Pessoa's iconic work composed under 'heteronyms' with distinct biographies, left on disordered scraps of paper in a trunk with no fixed sequence, for modernist literature readers.
• The Education of the Stoic by Fernando Pessoa The only manuscript left by Fernando Pessoa's Baron of Teive heteronym, explaining 'the impossibility of producing superior art', for modernist literature scholars and Pessoa's readers.
• The Burial of the Count of Orgaz & Other Poems by Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso's collected prose poems from 1935-1959, written during an emotional crisis when he halted painting to devote himself to poetry, for readers of modernist poetry and Picasso enthusiasts.
• How I Wrote Certain of My Books by Raymond Roussel Raymond Roussel's key essay on his method, accompanied by selections from all his major works of fiction, drama, and poetry, translated by New York School admirers, for experimental literature scholars.
• Last Nights of Paris by Philippe Soupault Written in 1928 by Surrealist founder Philippe Soupault, translated by William Carlos Williams, presenting a vivid portrait of Paris and its nocturnal underworld, for surrealist literature readers.
• Everybody's Autobiography by Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein's sequel to The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, a meditation on success and identity in America posing as representative American experience, for modernist literature readers.
• Maiden Voyage by Denton Welch Denton Welch's account of his sixteenth year when he ran away from public school and was sent to Shanghai, his first book that created a sensation on 1943 publication, for readers of literary coming-of-age fiction.
• A Voice Through A Cloud by Denton Welch Denton Welch's heartbreaking account of his recovery from a bicycling accident that left him partially paralyzed, finished as he was dying from complications, for readers of literary memoir.
• Nine Poems by Charles Simic (Out-of-Print Rarity) Charles Simic's first Exact Change book from 1989, a 24-page oversized chapbook subtitled 'A Childhood Story,' printed in an edition of 500 copies, targeted at collectors of rare and out-of-print literary editions.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• D.A.P./ArtbookcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExact Change books are distributed to the trade (bookstores, libraries, educational institutions) by D.A.P./Artbook. This partnership enables broad retail distribution across the book trade, reaching customers beyond the direct e-commerce channel. D.A.P. (Distributed Art Publishers) is a major distributor specializing in art and literary books.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Melville House Publishing: Melville House is an independent publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry with a strong catalog of translated and experimental works. It shares Exact Change's small-press, author-and-translator-focused ethos and trade paperback distribution model.
• Archipelago Books: Archipelago Books is a nonprofit independent publisher of literary translations and international fiction, sharing Exact Change's emphasis on translated avant-garde and experimental works. Both presses operate small, curator-driven catalogs targeting literary enthusiasts and academic audiences.
• City Lights Books: City Lights is a San Francisco-based independent publisher and bookstore founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, with a storied history of Beat and avant-garde publishing. It shares Exact Change's mission of preserving and disseminating experimental and non-mainstream literary work through small-press trade editions.
• NYRB Classics (New York Review Books): NYRB Classics reissues neglected literary works in trade paperback editions, overlapping directly with Exact Change's mission of making out-of-print avant-garde and literary titles available to new readers. Both presses position themselves as curators of overlooked literary heritage.
• Dalkey Archive Press: Dalkey Archive Press is an independent publisher dedicated to experimental and neglected fiction and poetry, with strong overlap to Exact Change's avant-garde and translation-focused catalog. Both presses operate as small literary imprints championing out-of-print or under-recognized international authors.
• New Directions Publishing: New Directions is a long-established independent publisher of avant-garde and international literature, founded in 1936. It publishes many of the same modernist and experimental authors (e.g., Kafka, Pessoa, Stein-related works) as Exact Change, making it the closest direct comparable in scale, mission, and catalog overlap.

Broad incumbents

• Penguin Classics: Penguin Classics is the dominant trade publisher of canonical literary works in affordable paperback editions, a major reference point against which Exact Change positions itself. It operates at vastly greater scale but occupies the same classics/curated-literature category Exact Change serves in a niche capacity.
• Library of America: Library of America is a nonprofit publisher of authoritative American literary editions in durable hardcover format. Exact Change explicitly positions itself as a 'looking-glass version' of Library of America for avant-garde works, making it a direct conceptual comparator despite differences in format and geography.

Emerging players

• Green Integer: Green Integer is a small independent publisher based in Los Angeles focused on avant-garde, modernist, and experimental literature in affordable editions. It shares Exact Change's concentration on 19th-20th century experimental writers and operates at a comparable small-press scale.
• McPherson & Company: McPherson & Company is a small independent literary publisher of poetry, fiction, and criticism with overlapping avant-garde and translation interests. It operates at similar small-press scale to Exact Change and serves comparable niche literary audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Exact Change