It was started by Johnny Temple,[3] bassist of Girls Against Boys and mid-'80s Dischord band Soulside,[4] with the mission "to make literature more part of popular culture, not just a part of elitist culture.

"[5] Akashic Books' collection began with Arthur Nersesian's The Fuck Up[6] in 1997, and has since expanded to include Dennis Cooper's Little House on the Bowery series,[7] Chris Abani's Black Goat poetry series,[8] and the internationally successful Noir series,[9][10] originating with Brooklyn Noir,[11] since expanding to international titles such as Delhi Noir and Havana Noir.

Akashic Books authors include T Cooper, Ron Kovic, Derek McCormack, Melvin Van Peebles, Ryan Adams, Lydia Lunch, Richard Hell, Nina Revoyr, Les Claypool, Pete Hamill, Carlos Pintado, Lawrence Block,[12] Travis Jeppesen, James Greer, Joe Meno, Elizabeth Nunez, Adam Mansbach, and Greg Prato.

[13] In June 2011, Akashic published the widely successful Go the Fuck to Sleep by Adam Mansbach.

In the meantime, the publishing date was moved up to June, and Akashic increased its first printing to 150,000 copies.