Akashic Books is a Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

-based independent publisher. Akashic Books' collection began with Arthur Nersesian

Arthur Nersesian

Arthur Nersesian is an American novelist, playwright, and poet. Nersesian is of Armenian and Irish descent. He was born and raised in New York City...

's THE FUCK UP in 1996, and has since expanded to include Dennis Cooper

Dennis Cooper

Dennis Cooper is an American novelist, poet, critic, editor and performance artist.-Career:Cooper grew up the son of a wealthy businessman in Arcadia, California. His first forays into literature came early, focusing on imitations of Rimbaud, Verlaine, de Sade, and Baudelaire...

's "Little House on the Bowery" series , Chris Abani

Chris Abani

Christopher Abani is a Nigerian author. Abani's first novel, Masters of the Board, was about a Neo-Nazi takeover of Nigeria...

's Black Goat poetry series, and the internationally successful "Noir" series, originating with Brooklyn Noir, since expanding to international titles such as "Delhi Noir" and "Havana Noir."

Akashic Books authors include T Cooper

T Cooper

T Cooper is a FTM American novelist. He is the author of three novels, The Beaufort Diaries , Lipshitz Six, or Two Angry Blondes , and Some of the Parts...

, Derek McCormack

Derek McCormack

Derek McCormack, MSc DipTchg, is Vice-Chancellor of the Auckland University of Technology , New Zealand. As such he is the executive head of the newest of the eight New Zealand universities....

, Melvin Van Peebles

Melvin Van Peebles

Melvin "Block" Van Peebles is an American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, novelist and composer.He is most famous for creating the acclaimed film, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, which heralded a new era of African American focused films...

, Ryan Adams

Ryan Adams

David Ryan Adams is an American alt-country/rock singer-songwriter, from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Initially part of the group Whiskeytown, Adams left the band and released his first solo album Heartbreaker in 2000...

, Lydia Lunch

Lydia Lunch

Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...

, Richard Hell

Richard Hell

Richard Hell is a singer, songwriter, bass guitarist, and writer.Richard Hell was an innovator of punk music and fashion. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins...

, Pete Hamill

Pete Hamill

Pete Hamill is an American journalist, novelist, essayist, editor and educator. Widely traveled and having written on a broad range of topics, he is perhaps best known for his career as a New York City journalist, as "the author of columns that sought to capture the particular flavors of New York...

, Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block

Lawrence Block is an acclaimed contemporary American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series, about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, respectively...

, Travis Jeppesen

Travis Jeppesen

Travis Jeppesen , Florida is an American novelist, poet, and art critic.He grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and moved to New York City at the age of 17. He received his B.A. from The New School, where he studied literature and philosophy...

, James Greer

James Greer

James Greer is an American novelist, screenwriter, musician, and critic. He lives in Los Angeles but spends much of his time in France.-Career as a musician/critic:Greer was Senior Editor and Senior Writer at Spin magazine in NYC in the early 90s...

, Joe Meno

Joe Meno

Joe Meno is a novelist, writer of short fiction, playwright, and music journalist based in Chicago.-Biography:After attending Columbia College Chicago, Meno spent time working as a flower delivery truck driver and art therapy teacher at a juvenile detention center...

, Elizabeth Nunez

Elizabeth Nunez

Elizabeth Nunez is a United States novelist, and distinguished professor of English at Medgar Evers College–CUNY, in Brooklyn, New York. Nunez is also cofounder of the National Black Writers Conference. She emigrated to the United States from Trinidad, and received her Ph.D...

, and Adam Mansbach

Adam Mansbach

Adam Mansbach is an American author and professor of fiction at Rutgers University who wrote the "children's book for adults" Go the Fuck to Sleep. Other books Mansbach has written include Angry Black White Boy and The End of the Jews .-References:...

.

In June 2011, Akashic published the widly successful Go the Fuck to Sleep

Go the Fuck to Sleep

Go the Fuck to Sleep is a book written by American author Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortés. Described as a "children's book for adults", it reached No...

 by Adam Mansbach

Adam Mansbach

Adam Mansbach is an American author and professor of fiction at Rutgers University who wrote the "children's book for adults" Go the Fuck to Sleep. Other books Mansbach has written include Angry Black White Boy and The End of the Jews .-References:...

. Go the Fuck to Sleep

Go the Fuck to Sleep

Go the Fuck to Sleep is a book written by American author Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortés. Described as a "children's book for adults", it reached No...

 was subject to an unintended viral marketing campaign after PDF copies of the book, presumably from advance copies sent to booksellers, were distributed via email. While the book was originally scheduled for release in October 2011, by the end of April the book had hit #2 on Amazon.com's bestseller list,[2] and by May 12 the book was #1. In the meantime, the publishing date was moved up to June, and Akashic increased its first printing to 150,000 copies.[3] Akashic, which acknowledged the importance of social media in popularizing the book ("it's a miracle from the heavens for us"[2]), is trying to prevent piracy of the book.[4]

Akashic Books was started by Johnny Temple, former bassist of Girls Against Boys

Girls Against Boys

Girls Against Boys are an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and currently based in New York City.-Career:...

and Mid '80's Dischord band Soulside http://www.dischord.com/band/soulside, with the mission "to make literature more part of popular culture, not just a part of elitist culture."

The publishing house is currently run out of the (OA) Can Factory in Brooklyn.