Dunwoody Press

All about language programs, courses, websites and other learning resources
Speakeasy
x 7658

Dunwoody Press

Postby Speakeasy » Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:13 pm

Some forum members will undoubtedly recall that Dunwoody Press was a highly-respected publisher of language-learning materials for many of the "less frequently studied" languages. And then, they seemed to disappear. For those of you who might be interested in following the story, I have appended the link to the HTLAL discussion thread "What Happened to Dunwoody Press?" particularly because there has been a recent post. http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=39881&PN=1&TPN=1

EDITED: For my habitual typographical errors.
4 x


Speakeasy
x 7658

Re: Dunwoody Press

Postby Speakeasy » Fri Mar 25, 2016 11:02 am

Long-time HTLAL Member, flatlandlama, has posted a very interesting report on the HTLAL discussion thread "What Happened to Dunwoody Press?" for which I have appended the LINK: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=39881&PN=1&TPN=3
3 x

galaxyrocker
Brown Belt
Posts: 1120
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 12:44 am
Languages: English (N), Irish (Teastas Eorpach na Gaeilge B2), French, dabbling elsewhere sometimes
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=757
x 3334

Re: Dunwoody Press

Postby galaxyrocker » Thu Apr 28, 2016 1:19 am

It looks like they have an Amazon store now

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_hi_1?me ... 1459624251


Not sure how the prices compare to those they offered if you emailed them though.
1 x

Φιλόσοφος
Yellow Belt
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 3:55 pm
Languages: Native: Spanish
Speaks: English
Reads: French, German, Italian
Studies: a couple dozen more
x 161

Re: Dunwoody Press

Postby Φιλόσοφος » Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:05 am

Has anyone ordered something from Dunwoody Press recently? They're no longer offering their books through Amazon.
0 x

Daristani
Orange Belt
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:43 pm
x 384

Re: Dunwoody Press

Postby Daristani » Thu Jan 11, 2018 4:58 pm

Dunwoody Press never sold their books on Amazon; they only sold them from their own website, which was very buggy and often didn't work well in terms of processing orders, so a potential purchaser had to deal with them and provide credit card information either via telephone or via e-mail -- which some people were probably reluctant to do. I suspect that if the books had been sold on Amazon, the books would have been much better known, and substantially more would have been sold.

After the Dunwoody Press website went down, and the company essentially disappeared from sight, various independent sellers on Amazon gradually emerged over time with Dunwoody books; some of these offered, and still offer, the Dunwoody products for ridiculously high prices, while others (much less frequently) offer some of them for very low prices. One of these independent sellers called itself "Dunwoody Press", and indeed offered a number of new Dunwoody books at generally inflated prices, and so may have had some connection with the company at one point. That seller now seems to have disappeared from Amazon.

I was told a couple of years ago by one of Dunwoody's authors that the actual Dunwoody Press company was still in business and preparing new publications, but there was no formal website and the marketing aspect was at that time up in the air.

This old thread on the HTLAL website discusses some of the problems I mentioned above, but also (on the third page of the thread) provides contact instructions (for the actual Dunwoody Press and not the dealer operating under that name on Amazon) and a list of the publications available as of that time. Whether the contact details and available publications list are still valid, I can't say, but you might give them a try if you can't find what you're looking for at a reasonable price elsewhere.

http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/fo ... 39881&PN=1
3 x

Φιλόσοφος
Yellow Belt
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 3:55 pm
Languages: Native: Spanish
Speaks: English
Reads: French, German, Italian
Studies: a couple dozen more
x 161

Re: Dunwoody Press

Postby Φιλόσοφος » Thu Jan 11, 2018 7:07 pm

Dunwoody Press sold their books directly at Amazon last year. Here is their store:

https://www.amazon.com/sp?_encoding=UTF8&asin=&isAmazonFulfilled=&isCBA=&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&orderID=&seller=ADRBZA2WSEG65&tab=&vasStoreID=

As you can see, they're not offering any books at present. They also sold them through a representative, but she is no longer working with them either. I heard from them last on November, when they wrote this:

"The materials will be available again. We are reassessing our inventory and working to get these back up online with Amazon. (Name of the representative) no longer manages the Dunwoody Press program, but is still working in the affiliated program. If you have requested materials through her she should have passed those on to us."

I have not been able to contact them or order materials since then.
1 x

Daristani
Orange Belt
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:43 pm
x 384

Re: Dunwoody Press

Postby Daristani » Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:05 pm

Although I'd had the impression that the "Dunwoody Press" selling on Amazon was not the actual publisher, you may well be right on this score. If so, the sudden disappearance of the Amazon "storefront" seems quite consistent with their chronic inability to get their products to the public in an effective way, which is a real shame given the high quality of their publications.

I've bought quite a number of their books (mostly on Turkic and Iranian languages) over the years, both directly from the original website and from used-book dealers since that website went down, and occasional bargains sometimes show up (e.g., I've picked up a number of items ranging from a penny to 10 dollars or less, plus postage). But I'd be very happy, and would eagerly buy some more of their books at their regular prices, if they would go back into business in a regular way with the full inventory (including audio) available rather than buying items hit-or-miss via Amazon et al.

In any event, I can't provide any current information on the company or their plans, but hope that they pop up in active business again soon.
1 x

Φιλόσοφος
Yellow Belt
Posts: 95
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 3:55 pm
Languages: Native: Spanish
Speaks: English
Reads: French, German, Italian
Studies: a couple dozen more
x 161

Re: Dunwoody Press

Postby Φιλόσοφος » Thu Jan 11, 2018 8:20 pm

Daristani wrote:Although I'd had the impression that the "Dunwoody Press" selling on Amazon was not the actual publisher, you may well be right on this score. If so, the sudden disappearance of the Amazon "storefront" seems quite consistent with their chronic inability to get their products to the public in an effective way, which is a real shame given the high quality of their publications.

I've bought quite a number of their books (mostly on Turkic and Iranian languages) over the years, both directly from the original website and from used-book dealers since that website went down, and occasional bargains sometimes show up (e.g., I've picked up a number of items ranging from a penny to 10 dollars or less, plus postage). But I'd be very happy, and would eagerly buy some more of their books at their regular prices, if they would go back into business in a regular way with the full inventory (including audio) available rather than buying items hit-or-miss via Amazon et al.

In any event, I can't provide any current information on the company or their plans, but hope that they pop up in active business again soon.


The Amazon store was manged by Dunwoody Press directly since they knew the name of the representative from whom I had ordered some materials independently. From her I had also ordered the audio for some of the books that I had purchased from second-hand sellers. But like I said, she no longer works with them, and though she has forwarded them my inquiries, it's been a week and they have not replied.

Interestingly, some of the manuals are showing up brand-new at very reasonable prices from a seller called WonderBook, though of course not the ones I need (Gujarati Newspaper Reader, Advanced Georgian Reader):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/8186323139/sr ... 509&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.com/Turkish-Newspape ... per+Reader

I wonder if they include the audio.
2 x

languist
Orange Belt
Posts: 164
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 8:55 pm
Languages: English (N)
Learning: Mostly, how to procrastinate + French, Spanish, Darija, Russian, Slovak, Circassian, Greek
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7523
x 368

Re: Dunwoody Press

Postby languist » Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:31 am

If anyone happens to see a copy of the Abkhaz (or Chechen) Reader during their quest for Dunwoody Press products, please let me know! I hadn't heard of this company before, but having now looked through their catalogue it's disappointing to see that a(n apparently high quality) publisher offering materials for so many lesser-known has essentially disappeared from the market.
0 x


Return to “Language Programs and Resources”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests