Joseph Durepos has lived a life in love with books. His avid interest in reading and books led him to a varied career in bookselling and publishing, beginning with a part-time job in a Santa Fe bookstore while attending college in the 1970’s. At 27 he became a publisher’s sales representative for Random House. Later, he worked for a decade as a bookseller for one of the country’s most vibrant independent bookstores located in the Chicago suburbs.
In 1996, Durepos started a boutique independent literary agency selling a wide selection of projects, including The Complete Elder Care Planner (Penguin Random House) by Joy Loverde, The Conversation Piece (Ballantine Books) by Bret Nicholaus and Life’s Greatest Lessons (Simon & Schuster) by Hal Urban.
Durepos went to work for Loyola Press in 2002 as Executive Editor/Trade Acquisitions. While at the Press, he acquired several hundred books, including Dear Pope Francis and The Church of Mercy by Pope Francis, My Life with the Saints by Fr. James Martin, S.J., In the Arms of Angels by Joan Wester Anderson and other best-selling titles including St. John Paul II’s Go in Peace.
His books have won numerous Christopher Awards, Independent Publisher’s Awards and the Association of Catholic Publishers Book of the Year Award three times. A number of his books have achieved “classic” status in the spirituality field, including Simple Truths by Kent Nerburn, The Gift of Peace by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, My Life with the Saints by James Martin, SJ, A Friendship Like No Other by William Barry, SJ, The Invitation by Oriah Mountain Dreamer, and No Greater Love by Mother Teresa.
As both an agent and editor, his books have included New York Times Best Sellers, Publishers Weekly Religion Best Sellers, the Chicago Tribune Best Sellers, Amazon’s Hot 100 Sellers, and have won Publisher's Weekly's Best Books of the Year awards twice.
Durepos retired in late 2018 after four decades as an acquisitions editor, literary agent, publisher’s sales rep and bookseller. He was inducted in to the Association of Catholic Publishers Hall of Fame in 2019. He has recently started a new business, Durepos Literary designed to coach select authors in developing their book ideas and helping bring them to market.
