FirstForumPress, a division of Lynne Rienner Publishers, was established in 2008 to coincide with LRP's twenty-fifth year as an independent presence in scholarly and textbook publishing.

FirstForum emerged as a solution to a problem. We know that book sales are no measure of the value of scholarly research. We also know that the sales of many scholarly books do not generate enough income to cover the costs of publishing them. So . . . how can we provide a forum for important work that may otherwise be overlooked because of today's market constraints? We designed FirstForum to do just that—to publish specialized scholarly research of the highest quality in a timely and cost-effective fashion.

Like its parent company, FirstForum is committed to taking chances on new ideas and to publishing each book with care from the review process and quality manufacturing to thorough promotion and world-wide distribution. We are also determined to keep our book prices as low as possible. To accomplish this, we work with final digital files prepared by our authors (to whom we provide a user-friendly template that generates attractive finished pages).

A few more details:

We publish in the fields of international studies and comparative politics (all world regions), US politics and public policy, and sociology, criminology, and criminal justice (with a US focus).

Our books are advertised extensively in our catalogs and brochures, which are mailed around the world, as well as on our website and in key periodicals. We exhibit at numerous conferences (click here for our meeting schedule). Sending review copies to journals is also a crucial part of our marketing program. And, of course, we are eager to take advantage of any other promotional opportunities that arise. This is all done in close consultation with our authors.

We welcome the opportunity to talk with you about your next book project, or about publishing in general.