|
When you're the smallest of publishers it sometimes seems as if you have the largest of mountains to climb. Reviewers haven't heard of you, so they don't want to review your books. Distributors haven't heard of you, so they don't take you seriously when you're looking for distribution. Bookstores haven't heard of you, so they don't believe your books will sell. To succeed, you have to carry the ball yourself – every time.
When you start out, it's easy to think that doing good work will be enough. That people will flock to what you're offering simply because of your high quality in the same way that they do with independent movies and music. If there were a venue for readers to identify quality independent work, that might happen, but as of now, such a venue doesn't exist. Instead, books of all types jockey for position in online bookstore listings, regardless of their content or quality. Paid placement and reader reviews are the only mechanisms for standing out, and these are easily manipulated. So, what can a small press do? Well, that's the thing. Everyone, regardless of size, is trying to do something, but until independent publishers begin to take the initiative in forming alliances to promote their work, things will get worse before they get better. A first step would be for independent presses and the authors published by them to proudly acknowledge their independence rather than trying to claim "me too" status with the large corporate publishers. |
Publishers 
