MetaFilter posts tagged with Publishers

"Publishing is tremendously susceptible to the availability heuristic"

the man of twists and turns — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 07:54:47 -0800

Publishing is a word that, like the book, is almost but not quite a proxy for the “business of literature.” Current accounts of publishing have the industry about as imperiled as the book, and the presumption is that if we lose publishing, we lose good books. Yet what we have right now is a system that produces great literature in spite of itself. We have come to believe that the taste-making, genius-discerning editorial activity attached to the selection, packaging, printing, and distribution of books to retailers is central to the value of literature. We believe it protects us from the shameful indulgence of too many books by insisting on a rigorous, abstemious diet. Critiques of publishing often focus on its corporate or capitalist nature, arguing that the profit motive retards decisions that would otherwise be based on pure literary merit. But capitalism per se and the market forces that both animate and pre-suppose it aren’t the problem. They are, in fact, what brought literature and the author into being.

Via

Exercising the Power of Market Share

Toekneesan — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:43:39 -0800

Last week, small press distributor Independent Publishers Group (IPG) announced that Amazon has decided to stop selling Kindle editions for the publishers IPG represents. The decision impacts over 500 small publishers and almost 5,000 Kindle titles. Neither party has offered much in the way of specifics, but other publishers have been reporting that Amazon has been pressuring them to offer higher discounts and/or pay a “co-op” fee of an additional 3%-4% on all sales to cover the cost of offering “automation and personalization” services (i.e. Customers who bought x also bought y). Authors and publishers have been reacting to the development.

The Most Dangerous Man in Publishing

Horace Rumpole — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:27:07 -0800

Barney Rosset, former owner of the influential Grove Press and Evergreen Review, boundary-shattering publisher of Tropic of Cancer, Waiting for Godot, and Naked Lunch, and U.S. distributor of I Am Curious (Yellow), died yesterday at the age of 90.

Big Al

terrier319 — Mon, 24 Jan 2005 12:10:46 -0800

He spent a lifetime peddling smut and once had an $11 million fortune, but after losing everything and becoming just another homeless New Yorker, Al Goldstein is now happy pushing bagels instead of porn.

What a cool idea!

jonmc — Sat, 13 Apr 2002 13:27:32 -0800

What a cool idea! A poetry publisher that not only puts out an online journal, but also distributes poems via gumball machines. As of now there's only 7 Gumball Poetry machines worldwide, mostly in the Western US, but they're ready to make more. Next time you've got a quarter jinglin' in your jeans skip the gum and get some free verse instead.

Crimethinc

raaka — Thu, 11 Apr 2002 14:38:25 -0800

Crimethinc is a new publisher that’s getting a bit of mainstream press mostly on the basis of a book called Evasion, which is a nonfiction account of a latter day Huck Finn cum Hayduke. (Any store that uses an Evan Dorkin comic to illustrate a point gets my dollars.)

More consolidation in book publishing.

Bootcut — Thu, 17 Jan 2002 09:47:27 -0800

More consolidation in book publishing. Today Publishers Group West was bought by Advanced Marketing. PGW was the largest distributor of indy publishers in the US. They've distributed everything from pot-growing manuals to Dennis Cooper. If, in months to come, you see even less risk at your local superstore, don't be suprised.

Publishers' Worst Nightmare : Information for Free.

leo — Sat, 19 Aug 2000 19:48:05 -0800

Publishers' Worst Nightmare : Information for Free. There are p e o p l e working night and day on putting a meter on the information we either want or need. While they're well within their right to do so, it's refreshing to come across an alternative approach.