IN THE BEGINNING Technically it would be fair to say that RDR Books began in 1992 at the Frankfurt Book Fair. It was there that a book entitled Secrets of The Pond was acquired, and published with the Nature Company the following spring. With the help of water filled see through windows and die cut fish, this book introduced readers from 5 to 105 to the wonders of ducks and dippers, water striders, diving beetles, rainbow trout and frogs found in ponds, reeds, marshes, rivers and lakes. Publication of the book was delayed for a brief heart stopping moment when the Chinese printer ran out of money and couldn't afford to buy paper. Fortunately RDR's ship came in and the proceeds of this title led to publication of our first book offered to the general book trade, Hilda Hollingsworth's World War II coming of age story, Places of Greater Safety.

RDR's first office on Woolsey Street in Berkeley, California, benefited enormously from efficient use of space. At one point some titles on the company's early list were stored in an unused shower where staff diligently kept a "shower inventory." Although the core of the company's business was independent booksellers, the company also worked with bookstore chains that were just moving in to the superstore era. With the help of designer Bonnie Smetts and publishing guru Peter Beren, RDR quickly moved into travel guidebooks and I Should Have Stayed Home, a humor series that has made the company the world leader in trouble travel publishing.

COMING SOON - The I Should Have Stayed Home Series: Setting the Standard for Hopelessness