Resources: Vendors and Publishers

PARC corresponds with and mails a directory of these resources to prisoners, their friends and family members. We are often the first point of contact for people to connect with prisoners' rights organizations, community organizations, prison literature and arts projects, family and visiting resources, health care and legal resources, parole and pre-release resources, and the prison abolition movement.

Download a PDF copy of the 2023 edition linked here.

Resource Category
Edward R. Hamilton Books

Vendor of overstock and bargain books, some hardbound and others paperbound (type of binding listed in catalogs). Sends out FREE book catalogs, organized by the following subject areas: Arts & Education; Fiction; Healthy Living; History; Home & Garden; Biography; Cookbooks; Military History; Craft/Needlecrafts; Science & Nature; New Arrivals; and Bargain Books. Serves people nationally.


Books, Magazines, and Publishers, Vendors and Publishers
Forbidden Books Library, LLC

Publishes and distributes "The Texas Write Writer's Survival Guides" including THE TEXAS CITEBOOK which contains 1,400+ Texas caselaws on 100 legal topics and has a foreword by the National Lawyers Guild. To receive an order form and more info send SASE.


Books, Magazines, and Publishers, Vendors and Publishers
Freebird Publishers

Offers prisoner titles such as Cell Chef Cookbook, Life With A Record, Start Thinking Outside Prison, Post-Conviction Relief series, Habeas Corpus Manual, and many books, guides, photos, and a wide variety of gifts, all made in the USA. Send a pre-addressed stamped envelope for their packet of color brochures. To see more best to order their 88-page color catalog send $5 and add $5 more for shipping with tracking. Produces Inmate Shopper (current issues always available), which is America's largest book of resources for inmate services plus many other sections of reading and entertainment. PARC recommends the Inmate Shopper because it reviews and rates many businesses that service inmates. Order online, by phone, by text, email or mail by sending a payment for $26.99 (including shipping & tracking) to the address listed. Accepts all facility checks, money orders, credit/debit cards, Venmo at @freebirdpublishers, Cash App at $freebirdpublishers, PayPal.me/freebirdpublishers


Books, Magazines, and Publishers, Vendors and Publishers
Haymarket Books

Haymarket Books is a nonprofit, radical book distributor and publisher based in Chicago. They believe that activists need to take ideas, history, and politics into the many struggles for social justice today. The books they offer reflect their values and are mostly non-fiction. Write to request free books on themes around Black liberation, radical history, women’s liberation, and poetry. Serves people nationally.


Books, Magazines, and Publishers, Vendors and Publishers
Pathfinder Press

Pathfinder Press is a publisher whic carries books on the works of revolutionary and working class leaders, in many different languages. Prisoners receive a 50% discount off the cover price, with a flat rate of $2.75 for shipping and handling per order (one or more titles). Write for a free catalog. Serves people internationally.


Books, Magazines, and Publishers, Vendors and Publishers
PM Press

PM Press carries counter-culture, anti-prison, and similar titles including The Prison-Industrial Complex and the Global Economy, Let Freedom Ring: A Collection of Documents from the Movements to Free U.S. Political Prisoners, and more. Prisoners receive a 50% discount. No longer offers printed catalog; must view website (asking for outside help if needed) for listings of books. Check your selection against the prison's contraband list as many political books are banned. Serves nationally.


Books, Magazines, and Publishers, Vendors and Publishers
The Paperback Shop

A family operated used bookstore that has specialized in mailing books to inmates for 25 years.  Send an S.A.S.E for our information and one page info/order form. This is a bookseller, not a free books program. Please, read the information and instructions on the form before sending a list of books wanted.  They carry new and used paperbacks, magazine subscriptions, calendars, and puzzles. They do not have a catalog, but will work with you to send the books that you want.  Families & Friends can also order online. Nationwide service, but depends on state regulations for receiving books in your state. Nationwide Service, But depends on state regulations for recieveing books in your state.


Books, Magazines, and Publishers, Vendors and Publishers