Publisher Donald Kornblum, who started the Toothpaste Press in 1970 while he was a student at the University of Iowa, spoke about his experiences operating a small publishing company last night.
A small audience of local publishers and other interested people gathered in the Special Collections room of Baker Library to listen to Kornblum's speech "Wake Up and Print the Coffee, 25 Years in Small Press Publishing," which he gave as part of the College's Book Arts Program.
The Toothpaste Press was just the beginning for this award-winning publisher.
Kornblum outlined his journey from aspiring poet to award-winning publisher and illustrated his experiences with amusing anecdotes from his experiences throughout years of publishing.
Kornblum said he decided to enter the publishing field when he wanted to print his own poems.
He showed his poems to the publisher of a poetry magazine who said, "You know I always thought poetry should be as difficult to break into as the Longshoreman's Union."
With a $35 press he found in an auction house, Kornblum was able to start the Toothpaste Press. He converted his sun porch into a workshop and began printing his first book titled "Scattered Brains."
From 1974 to 1984, Kornblum's top annual salary was $3,000. Following the birth of his daughter, Kornblum decided it was time to begin a more lucrative business. He closed the Toothpaste Press and began the Coffee House Press.
While his first publishing company only printed books using handset methods, his second company paid printing companies to print the books by machine.
The first year the Coffee House Press was in business, it earned $75,000-- as opposed to the Toothpaste Press' initial annual take of $175.
The Coffee House Press now has an annual budget of $750,000 and a seven-person staff. It sells 40,000 books every year.
As a letter press printer, Kornblum puts his artistic ability to work in choosing appropriate paper, ink color and type face and at designing the cover and the page layout.
Kornblum showed slides that proved he could print just about anything. A sliver from the top of a stump proved appropriate for the background of a nature poem. Once Kornblum even used his own foot print. He stamped it on each book.
Kornblum has won 30 book design awards including the Literary Market Place Corporate Award for Adult Trade Books.
In his introductory remarks, Special Collections Librarian Philip Cronenwett, head of the Book Arts Program, said this award is given "for publishing books that make a difference in people's lives."
Kornblum's company was the first small press to receive this award.
