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{{Short description|American book publisher (1975β2006)}} {{Infobox company | name = Loompanics Enterprises, Inc.<br />([[Trade name|d.b.a]] Loompanics Unlimited) | logo = [[File:Loompanics Logo.png|center|150px|Loompanics Logo]] | type = [[Privately held company|Private]] | industry = Publishing, Catalog book sales | foundation = 1975 | defunct = {{End date|2006|05|08}} | hq_location = [[Port Townsend, Washington]] | products = Books | revenue = | key_people = Michael Hoy, President, Book editor<br />Lou Rollins, Proof reader<br />Gia Cosindas, Publicist | num_employees = | net_income = | operating_income = }} '''Loompanics Unlimited''' was an American book seller and publisher specializing in nonfiction on generally unconventional or controversial topics. The topics in their title list included drugs, weapons, survivalism, anarchism, sex, [[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]], and so on.<ref>{{cite news |first=Robin |last=Clarke |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-08-27-9308270118-story.html |title=Anarchy Reigns at Loompanics |work=[[Chicago Times]] |date=27 August 1993 |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Sonni |last=Efron |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-05-fi-2525-story.html |title=Manuals Fit for Mayhem--by Mail |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=5 January 1992 |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=[[Associated Press]] |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19910908&slug=1304340 |title=Publisher Profits From Horrifying And Bizarre |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |date=8 September 1991 |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> Many of their titles describe some kind of illicit or extralegal actions, such as ''Counterfeit I.D. Made Easy''<ref>{{cite book |last1=Luger |first1=Jack |title=Counterfeit I.D. Made Easy |date=1990 |publisher=Loompanics Unlimited |isbn=0915179903 |pages=137}}</ref> and ''Opium for the Masses'', while others are purely informative, such as ''Uninhabited Ocean Islands'', ''How to Buy Land Cheap'' and ''The Muckraker's Manual'' (recommended by [[Stewart Brand]]).<ref>{{cite news |last=Brand |first=Stewart |title=Do your own muckraking |work=[[Albuquerque Journal]] |date=24 September 1985 |page=51}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Frauenfelder |first=Mark |url=http://www.streettech.com/bcp/BCPgraf/StreetTech/loompanics.htm |title=Loompanics |website=Street Tech: [[Gareth Branwyn]] & Peter Sugarman's Tech Review Site |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> ==Company history== Loompanics was in business for nearly 30 years. Its publisher and editor was Michael "Mike" Hoy<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Badenhausen |first=Kurt |date=8 February 1999 |url=https://www.forbes.com/global/1999/0208/0203028a.html |title=Crime 101 |magazine=Forbes |access-date=26 March 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001216104800/https://www.forbes.com/global/1999/0208/0203028a.html |archive-date=16 December 2000}}</ref> who started Loompanics Unlimited in East Lansing, Michigan, in 1975.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/1997/08/covert-catalog/ |title=Covert Catalog <!-- Regular column name: Street Cred --> |date=August 1997 |first=Simson |last=Garfinkel |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |volume=5 |issue=8 |access-date=2016-03-17}}</ref> In 1982 he moved the business to Port Townsend, Washington, where his friend and fellow publisher [[R. W. Bradford]] had earlier relocated.<ref>{{cite news |first=Kasia |last=Pierzga |title=Alternative publisher calls it quits |work=Port Townsend Leader |date=25 January 2006}}</ref> In January 2006, Loompanics announced that it was going out of business,<ref>{{cite web |last=Riismandel |first=Paul |date=January 24, 2006 |url=https://mediageek.net/2006/01/one-the-uss-greatest-publishers-going-out-of-business/ |title=One the US's Greatest Publishers Going Out of Business |website=mediageek.net |publisher=Author |access-date=26 March 2012}}</ref> and that it was selling off its inventory. In the spring of 2006, [[Paladin Press]] announced that it acquired the rights to 40 titles previously published or sold by Loompanics, including the works of [[Claire Wolfe]], Eddie the Wire, and other popular Loompanics authors.<ref>[http://www.paladin-press.com/faqs Paladin Press FAQ]</ref> == Market position == [[File:LoompanicsHQ.jpg|thumb|right|Former "world headquarters" of Loompanics in [[Port Townsend, Washington|Port Townsend]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]]]] In addition to Loompanics' large annual catalog of all its stock, Loompanics regularly mailed its customers a thinner quarterly supplement featuring a selection of books interspersed with articles about government propaganda and conspiracies, and/or underground resistance. The addressing side of the cover included a World War II American graphic of an eagle carrying a stack of volumes and the slogan, "Our men want books!" Loompanics did not fall into the categories of mainstream [[Liberalism|liberal]], [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]], or [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] politics. While Michael Hoy expresses a preference for free markets, he also criticizes libertarians for championing multinational corporations, which he describes in a 2005 article<ref name="hoy-2005">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.loompanics.com/Articles/whycorporations.html |title=Why corporations are not people, and the unsavory consequences of pretending that they are: A challenge to 'libertarians' |first=Mike |last=Hoy |date=Spring 2005 |magazine=Loompanics Supplement |location=Port Townsend, WA |publisher=Loompanics Unlimited |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626045114/http://www.loompanics.com/Articles/whycorporations.html |archive-date=2007-06-26}}</ref> as being entirely different entities from individuals. Hoy characterizes them as governmental entities, since their [[limited liability]] is the result of government fiat, rather than contractual dealings among individuals. Thus, in some ways, Hoy argues,<ref name="hoy-2005" /> corporations have more rights than individuals. He also criticized<ref name="hoy-2005" /> libertarians for brainwashing themselves, stating: {{blockquote |text="Libertarian" followers have been taught numerous thought-stopping techniques by "Libertarian" leaders, so that anyone who attempts to discuss the non-market reality of corporations is slapped with a negative label ("anti-corporate," "anti-trade," etc. β there are lots), and then any questions raised by that person are literally unthinkable to "Libertarians."}} Hoy's articles, which systemically lambasted the policies of all major political groups, earned him the wrath of organizations across the political spectrum.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Scott |last=Kauzlarich |date=May 10, 2005 |url=http://rationalargumentator.com/issue35/loompanics.html |title=A libertarian response to Loompanics Unlimited |magazine=The Rational Argumentator: A Journal for Western Man |volume=35 |access-date=26 March 2021}}</ref> Loompanics' FAQ stated that the company's name is a play on words inspired by Hoy's fondness for ''[[National Lampoon (magazine)|National Lampoon]]''.<ref>{{cite web |date=2016-02-02 |url=https://makinguse.artmuseum.pl/en/loompanics-unlimited/ |title=Loompanics Unlimited |website=Making Use: Life in Postartistic Times |publisher=Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw |access-date=26 March 2021}} [https://makinguse.artmuseum.pl/en/o-wystawie/ Credits]</ref> == Advertising rejections == [[File:Our men want books.jpg|thumb|right|WWII graphic, appearing on each printed catalog.]] According to Gia Cosindas, [[Amazon (company)|Amazon.com]], [[eBay]], and [[Google]] refused to allow Loompanics to advertise on their sites, since some of the books' content violates their editorial guidelines.{{r|Cosindas 2005}} Specifically, Google wrote, "At this time, Google policy does not permit the advertisement of websites that contain 'the promotion of violence [and] drugs or drug paraphernalia.'"<ref name="Cosindas 2005">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.loompanics.com/Articles/CovertCensorship.html |title=Covert Censorship on the Web |first=Gia |last=Cosindas |date=Spring 2005 |magazine=Loompanics Supplement |location=Port Townsend, WA |publisher=Loompanics Unlimited |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423085518/http://www.loompanics.com/Articles/CovertCensorship.html |archive-date=2007-04-23}}</ref> == Legacy and aftermath == On May 8, 2006, Loompanics stopped accepting retail orders.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wolfe |first=Claire |date=18 January 2006 |title=Thinking about Loompanics going out of business |website=ClaireWolfe.com |publisher=Author |url=http://clairewolfe.com/wolfesblog/00001917.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060204085322/http://clairewolfe.com/wolfesblog/00001917.html |archive-date=4 February 2006}}<!-- Also archived at [https://www.billstclair.com/clairewolfe.com/wolfesblog/00001917.html BillStClair.com] --></ref> Their website encouraged potential customers to contact other publishers, who have had several Loompanics titles transferred to them, or became the new publishers of established Loompanics authors. Last Earth Distro,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lastearthdistro.net/products/category/188/~/~/Loompanicsbr |title=Loompanics |website=lastearthdistro.net |access-date=26 March 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-date=1 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001235254/https://www.lastearthdistro.net/products/category/188/~/~/Loompanicsbr }}</ref> Last Word Books & Press,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lastwordbooks.org/quicksearch/all/loompanics |title=Loompanics |website=lastwordbooks.org |access-date=26 March 2021 }}{{dead link|date=September 2023}}</ref> [[AK Press]], Earthlight Books, Eden Press, FS Books, [[Laissez Faire Books]], Lehman's, New Falcon Publications, Privacy Alert Online, [[Ronin Publishing|Ronin Press]], Steve Arnold's Gun Room and [[Uncle Fester (author)|Uncle Fester]]'s Books acquired most of Loompanics' back stock. Some titles have been reprinted by [[Paladin Press]] and Delta Press.<ref>{{cite web |author=Loompanics Staff |title=Loompanics Unlimited is closed |publisher=Loompanics Unlimited |url=http://www.loompanics.com/34.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021044506/http://www.loompanics.com/34.html |archive-date=2006-10-21}}</ref> ==Publications== * [https://archive.org/download/LoompanicsGoldenRecords/Golden_Records.pdf ''Loompanics' Golden Records: Articles & Features from the Best Book Catalog in the World!''] (1993). **Republished by [[Microcosm Publishing]]. * [https://archive.org/download/Loompanics_Catalog_2003/Loompanics-Catalog-2003.pdf ''Loompanics Unlimited'' Catalog] (2003). == References == {{Reflist|2}} ==Further reading== * {{cite magazine |title=Ace Backwards Interviews Michael Hoy of Loompanics Unlimited |magazine=Flipside |number=71 |date=March 1991}} * {{cite magazine |url=https://boingboing.net/2011/07/20/fbi-releases-files-o-1.html |title=FBI releases files on controversial booksellers Paladin and Loompanics |magazine=[[Boing Boing]] |date=20 July 2011}} * {{cite magazine |last=Mizokami |first=Kyle |date=17 January 2014 |title=Manual for mayhem: How one man tried to teach everyday people to make anti-tank missiles |magazine=War is Boring |via=[[medium.com]] |url=https://medium.com/war-is-boring/manual-for-mayhem-how-one-man-tried-to-teach-everyday-people-to-make-anti-tank-missiles-84f1fffea3be |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20150810012156/https://medium.com/war-is-boring/manual-for-mayhem-how-one-man-tried-to-teach-everyday-people-to-make-anti-tank-missiles-84f1fffea3be |archive-date=2015-08-10}} * {{cite news |last=Triplett |first=William |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200910040333/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1985-11-23-8502220910-story.html |title=Self-help books for the anarchist survivalist iconoclast mercenary in you |work=[[Sun-Sentinel]] |location=Fort Lauderdale, Florida |date=23 November 1985 |url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1985/11/23/self-help-books-for-the-anarchist-survivalist-iconoclast-mercenary-in-you/ |url-status=live |archive-date=2020-09-10}} == External links == * [https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8244.Loompanics_Unlimited An incomplete list of books published by Loompanics Unlimited] at [[Goodreads]] * [http://stauntonmedialab.com/video-profiles-h/147-michael-hoy AuthorViews video interview with founder Michael Hoy] at Staunton Media Lab {{Authority control}} [[Category:Publishing companies established in 1975]] [[Category:Defunct book publishing companies of the United States]] [[Category:Defunct companies based in Washington (state)]] [[Category:Companies disestablished in 2006]] [[Category:Companies based in Port Townsend, Washington]]
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