The Taunton Press evolved out of one man's love for woodworking and his frustration with the lack of quality information on the craft. After a fruitless search for instruction or adaptable project plans on building bookshelves for his home, Paul Roman decided to use his previous experience as a technical editor at a major publishing house to create the resource himself and developed Fine Woodworking magazine. Over the next 26 years, the company developed into an innovative publisher of high-value information for people who seek to enrich their lives, launching a series of successful magazines, books and online products on the House & Home.
Fine Woodworking
Roman left his public affairs post at General Electric in 1975 to publish Fine Woodworking magazine from his home with his wife, Jan.
They received overwhelming support to begin publication of the magazine, with more than 25,000 woodworkers subscribing to it sight unseen because of its promise to deliver valuable expertise and inspiration directly from lifelong woodworkers. The magazine offered these craftsmen a chance to finally connect with fellow enthusiasts. Many subscribers also used the magazine to develop their own furniture businesses in an era of increasing self-reliance. Fine Woodworking expanded its subscription base quickly, growing to 100,000 readers in three years largely because it enabled woodworkers to develop their own skills instead of merely following the plans and patterns of others. Subscribers appreciated the principles the magazine was founded upon, including the inclusion of only relevant advertising.
Expansion into home building
As Fine Woodworking grew in popularity, the growing Taunton staff realized that they had struck a chord with people who were eager for in-depth, expert information on their interests. After publishing its first book in 1977, the Biennial Design Book, Taunton expanded its offerings with a second magazine. Fine Homebuilding launched in 1981 for those who cared about quality home-building and home improvement including consumers, home builders, designers and the growing number of owner-builders in America at the time. By 1985, the company had created its first video on how to dovetail a drawer, Fine Woodworking surpassed 250,000 readers and Fine Homebuilding was already reaching more than 203,000 people. The growing success of the company led to its move to a 27-acre location in Newtown, Connecticut, and a doubling of its office space.
Explorations into the home and garden
Over the next decade, Taunton expanded into several other enthusiast areas and successfully launched four new magazines: Threads, for people who love to sew, in 1985; Fine Gardening magazine, dedicated to helping people create beautiful outdoor spaces, in 1988; Fine Cooking magazine, devoted to fun and success in the kitchen, in 1994; and Inspired House, a shelter magazine for the way people really live, in 2003. The company also experimented with magazines in boating, home furniture, and kitchen gardening. Advancing its leading position in the House & Home market, Taunton established a highly successful line of beautifully illustrated home design books, woodworking guides, home gardening design guides, and home-building titles. Recent best-sellers include the Not So Big House series, which have sold a combined 1,000,000 copies since 1998.
Charging into the future
Today, Taunton's magazines and books are category leaders and reach millions of people each year. The company continues to expand its offering of information and inspiration for people actively engaged in shaping how and where they live, embracing the business principles and core values established more than 30 years ago. Taunton's management team is guiding the company along a broad path to enlarge and enrich its successful presence in the areas of woodworking, homebuilding, home design, gardening, cooking and fiber arts. With 300 outstanding employees and a large pool of expert writers and authors from across the country, it is well-positioned to explore multimedia avenues of growth. Each new venture carries with it Taunton's standards: high-value information and inspiration from the experts themselves as well as a strong commitment to the reader. |
|
The Taunton Press is a unique, innovative company that's dedicated to serving a growing market of home design, home-building, gardening, cooking, fiber and woodworking enthusiasts. Since 1975, Taunton has created magazines, books and videos that reflect the shared passion of our staff, our authors and our readers. This dedication, combined with the partnership of expert, "hands-on" authors, describes why Taunton's publications uniquely inform and inspire millions of people every year.
These are people who love to create spectacular gardens, shape wood into one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture, turn bolts of fabric into personally designed garments, build and remodel homes to fit their everyday lives, and prepare dishes both simple and gourmet -- always with an eye towards quality.
A family-owned company, The Taunton Press was founded by Paul and Jan Roman with a clear vision for providing high-quality information and inspiration. Starting with Fine Woodworking magazine, Taunton has always taken a different publishing approach, one that emphasizes the value of the reader and their long-term relationship with the magazine. On the heels of Fine Woodworking's success, the company continued to publish new titles including Fine Homebuilding, Threads, Fine Gardening, Fine Cooking, and Inspired House. Taunton, which published its first book in 1977, currently features more than 500 titles and publishes 50 new books every year, each hand-crafted to deliver new insights, ideas, and inspiration.
Today, The Taunton Press continues to reach new generations of House & Home enthusiasts with Web-based products, important trend-setting books such as The Not So Big House and special magazine issues such as Tools and Shops, Houses, and Kitchens & Baths. In the future, we look forward to exploring new ways of serving our customers as they discover the personal satisfaction that's found in celebrating new pursuits that enrich their everyday lives.
|
