Wisdom Publications launches new site, expands reach through freshly inked deal with Simon & Schuster

Wisdom Publications has entered into an agreement with Simon & Schuster for the sales and fulfillment of its entire catalog of Buddhist books.

Lion’s Roar Staff
2 October 2013
Wisdom Publications

Wisdom Publications, the nonprofit charitable organization and publisher of Buddhist books, has entered into an agreement with Simon & Schuster, Inc. for the sales and fulfillment of its entire catalog of contemporary and classic Buddhist books.

Wisdom has also relaunched its website to coincide with the changes. Says Wisdom Marketing and Promotions Manager Lydia Anderson, “Our new design makes browsing easier than ever, and we’ve expanded our book and author pages. We’ve also launched a new blog, organized our catalog into special interest collections, and begun offering DRM-free ebooks for sale on the site.” More on all of this after the jump.

Publishing works from all major Buddhist traditions, Wisdom is dedicated to cultivating Buddhist voices the world over, advancing critical scholarship, and preserving and sharing Buddhist literary culture. The company’s popular works include meditation manuals such as Mindfulness in Plain English, over a dozen titles by the Dalai Lama, and esteemed translations of core reference texts; all are distributed worldwide and translated into more than thirty foreign languages.

“There is clearly a large and dedicated audience for works of Buddhist interest, and they have been well-served by Wisdom Publications for many years,” said Stephen Black, S&S’s Vice President of Client Publisher Services. “Their singular catalog is a great complement to our portfolio of distributed titles, and we look forward to working with them to grow the readership for their works in both domestic and international markets.”

Based in Somerville, Massachusetts, Wisdom was established in 1978 by Tibetan Lama Thubten Yeshe and is now headed by Tim McNeill, who has been Publisher/CEO since 1988.

McNeill says Simon and Schuster are a fine fit for Wisdom’s front- and backlist of books, acknowledging the global publishing leader as “a company that from its very beginnings demonstrated a commitment to helping people by publishing personal improvement and philosophy books by legendary authors Dale Carnegie and Will Durant. We look forward to working with Simon and Schuster to better fulfill our mission of nurturing communities of readers and authors by being a source of high quality, polished and carefully chosen works.”

The agreement is effective January 1, 2014, and covers the US and all worldwide territories, with the exception of the United Kingdom and Australia.

Lion s Roar Staff

Lion’s Roar Staff

Lion’s Roar is the website of Lion’s Roar magazine (formerly the Shambhala Sun) and Buddhadharma: The Practitioner’s Quarterly, with exclusive Buddhist news, teachings, art, and commentary. Sign up for the Lion’s Roar weekly newsletter and follow Lion’s Roar on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.