"Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in Cambridge, MA in 1973 by five women and two men: Patricia Cumming, Marjorie Fletcher, Lee Rudolph, Ron Schreiber, Betsy Sholl, Cornelia Veenendaal, and Jean Pedrick.

Notable poets published by Alice James Books include Franny Choi, Taylor Johnson, Sumita Chakraborty, Kevin Goodan, Alessandra Lynch, Andres Cerpa, Cynthia Cruz, Jane Kenyon, Donald Revell, Jean Valentine, David Kirby, Cole Swensen, Brian Turner, Kaveh Akbar, Robin Becker, Frank X. Gaspar, Mary Szybist, Forrest Hamer, Sarah Manguso, Kazim Ali, Ellen Doré Watson, Fanny Howe, B.H.

Alice James Books itself has been featured in such magazines as Ms, Poets & Writers, Publishers Weekly,[17] Slate, and Poetry Daily.

The press previously offered the Kinereth Gensler Awards, a regional, annual competition open to residents of New England, New York and New Jersey.

Winners of the Kinereth Gensler Awards became active cooperative members, judging future contests and participating in editorial and executive decisions.

[23][24] Since 2022, Alice James Books has its headquarters in Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine, where they host an independent publishing internship.