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Silver Print Press was founded in 1990 as a last resort. After unsuccessfully shopping the book Vermont People to the big New York publishers, author and photographer Peter Miller re-mortgaged his house and published the book himself. Silver Print Press was born.
It turned out that Peter had been smarter than the big publishers - Vermont People immediately sold out of its first print run. So he reprinted, and it kept on selling. And selling. Peter became a familiar face to the bookstore owners around the state. He didn't work with book distributors or sales reps. He did it all himself. Instead of shipping books to customers, he would deliver them out of the back of his Jeep. Instead of calling stores and pitching them on the book, he would show up on their doorstep.
Bolstered by his success, he then took on an even more ambitious project - traveling to the Plains states and doing a book on that region. People of the Great Plains, released in 1996, was a huge success as far as the critics were concerned, but sales never came close to matching those of Vermont People. The Plains states were too far away for Peter's method of hand selling. Book distributors didn't know how to classify People of the Great Plains, and the discounts they required were too much for a tiny publisher to absorb. It was clear that for Silver Print Press to succeed it would need to focus on Vermont and her neighbors, bypass the traditional distribution channels, and be shameless about self-promotion.
Not long after the release of People of the Great Plains, Peter stumbled across files of photographs he had taken in Paris in the 1950s. He knew they'd make a great book, but he also knew that Silver Print Press was not the best publisher for the project. Random House was. One of their imprints, Times Books, released The First Time I Saw Paris in early 2001 to steady sales.
In the meantime, Peter had been mulling over a new book idea. Having lived in Vermont for most of his 65 years, he saw the landscape and people changing. Most of the change was for the worst. One positive, though, was the influx of women farmers who were helping to keep the land open and the agricultural spirit of the state alive. Four years later, in 2002, Vermont Farm Women was released. It was the best of both worlds - great reviews and strong sales.
That was followed by Vermont Gathering Places, a book supported by the Preservation Trust of Vermont, which cares very deeply about preserving Vermont's small towns as a metting place for Vermont's citizens. This became the last book in Peter's Vermont Trilogoy. In addition, they're now working with other like-minded Vermonters like film director John O'Brien, whose films include the must-see Man With a Plan and Nosey Parker.
Well, we have to admit, Silver Print Press is a one person office located next to Ben & Jerry's the largest tourist attraction in the state. Speaking personally, the road I live on (Route 100) is become congested and sprawl is creeping up. I am beginning to feel uncomfortable.
Sadly, even Vermont has fallen prey to a flurry of modernization. Some change has been unquestionably good. Some has been less so. If you call the office and ask Peter where the office is located, they'll tell you Colbyville, Vermont. Never heard of Colbyville? Well, technically it no longer exists as it was absorbed into the Village of Waterbury some years back. It only exists at Silver Print Press, where a town of 49 people or so can continue to live. You'll read about it in a forthcoming book by Peter. • Peter Miller's Bio
• Peter Miller's "Wild" Bio
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