Small publishing firm thrives by finding its niche

In 1999, after 23 years of owning and operating a publishing house, Avery Publishing Group in Garden City Park, Rudy Shur found himself back at square one. Avery, the company he started in 1976, had been acquired by Penguin Putnam Inc.

What to do but start another company and call it Square One Publishers.

"It sounded like a good name," Shur said. "Nobody else had it."

Square One is celebrating its 10th anniversary, not an easy feat in the fast-changing world of publishing. Square One has done it, Shur said, by becoming a niche publisher of titles that are somewhat off the beaten track. Square One has published a book about treasure hunting, "The Urban Treasure Hunter," by Michael Chaplan; gambling, "Beating the Casinos at Their own Game," by Peter Svoboda, and health, "The Acid-Alkaline Food Guide," by Susan Brown.

Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee last year made a movie out of Square One's book "Taking Woodstock," by Elliot Tiber, a tale about Bethel, N.Y., the town near the famous 1969 rock festival that was overrun by music lovers who did not make it to Max Yasgur's farm. Square One is soon releasing comedian Pat Cooper's "How Dare You Say How Dare Me," with a forward by Jerry Lewis.

So how does Shur do it? "Essentially we follow our own instincts," Shur said. And in the digital age, he said, Square One's books sell because they appeal to special interests. The company has about 400 books in print.

Publishers Weekly has listed Square One among its fastest-growing small publishers for the past five years. But Shur is happy to remain small.

"I'm using the same business model as I did" at Avery, Shur said. "It's working out reasonably well at Square One."