At that time the distribution of magazines and periodicals through newsagents was controlled by a group of three wholesalers who would not take on radical titles. PDC worked to challenge this while building an alternative distribution network. The needs of the magazines, especially monthly publications with a growing audience like
Spare Rib and
The Leveller, demanded a fortnightly distribution run which ensured the magazines would be delivered regularly. This aggregation of magazine and book deliveries structured the work at PDC from the outset and included use of
Red Star Parcels (rail) and alternative distributors like
Suma Wholefoods as well as the
Royal Mail. PDC co-op members would deliver parcels, collect magazine returns and sell new titles to the bookshops on the fortnightly run. “PDC was a powerful catalyst for growth in the radical book trade, as radical bookshops, stalls, and groups running occasional events, could easily obtain a range of stock from one source, while publishers knew there would be a reliable market for their output”. As PDC established a network in bookshops, newsagents and non-traditional sales outlets and developed a regular pattern of fortnightly distribution deliveries and sales representation across the UK, and to some shops in Europe and the USA, it increased the sales of many political and alternative magazines. Previously there had been no organised means of distribution, but now publishing groups could focus on writing and production, although not all magazines were impressed by the work of PDC. PDC created and developed a profile in both the book and newsagent trades, and became known and respected as a distributor of radical, feminist, ecology and left-of-centre publications It enabled bookshops to obtain a wide range of publications from one source. “PDC was really important. Without the distribution network there were many publications, newspapers, leaflets etc that we would not have been able to circulate. These were the days before social media and digital communication. The rise of alternative publishing, bookselling and distribution systems were about taking control of the whole process, not being at the mercy of straight publishers, etc, deciding what could and couldn't be produced and shared. It was about seizing political power, the ability to be self-determining and creating a radical new culture.” As PDC grew it was listed in book trade, library directories and listings. This was an important trade recognition and a link to enable wider access and distribution of the books and magazines. In a pre-internet world getting the word out on new publications was far slower and more arduous. PDC was also credited in citations in academic books and journals, another step in the acknowledgement of the role PDC played. In 1980 it was described as "the most vital internal element in the growth of the alternative book trade in Britain in the 1970s". When PDC stopped trading at the end of 1983 it left a huge gap for publishers and bookshops. == Finance ==