X-communication began in 1994 as the freelance moniker of author and book designer Tony Dierckins, X-comm’s owner and publisher. Dierckins has worked in publishing since 1988 and has written over a dozen books, including the Duct Tape books and calendars. In the mid 90s he and Duct Tape co-creator Tim Nyberg operated Bad Dog Press, a national humor publisher specializing in parodies such as When I'm an Old Man, I'll Wear Mixed Plaids. Bad Dog dissolved in 1998 and Dierckins spent two years teaching writing and document design at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He never stopped helping people self publish under the X-communication banner.

In 2001 Dierckins turned X-comm into a trade publishing house with the launch of True North: Alternative and Off-Beat Destinations In and Around Duluth, Superior, and the Shores of Lake Superior (now out of print). X-comm now focuses on publishing books that celebrate the history of Duluth and the Western Lake Superior region, including 2008’s Crossing the Canal: An Illustrated History of Duluth’s Aerial Bridge, the first full-length book on Duluth’s famed bridge ever published.

In 2005 Dierckins began X-presso Books, an imprint of X-comm, in order to offer affordable self-publishing solutions. To date X-comm has published a dozen books while X-Presso has helped both individuals and organizations bring more than twenty titles to press, from simple poetry collections to full-color coffee table histories.