The End of "Opus"

Sunday, Nov 2nd will be the end of the cartoon strip "Opus" and I feel awful about it. I didn't even know that it was back. Ignorant me didn't know that my favorite pudgy penguin had been revived by Berkeley Breathed and had been back in print since 2003.

From Salon by Kerry Lauerman:
"The end of "Opus"" —

Sure, it's been an unnaturally long run for a penguin. Opus, who started with a bit part in Breathed's Pulitzer-winning "Bloom County" (1980-89), starred in "Outland" (1989-95) and finally took center stage in "Opus" (2003-08). But for those of us accustomed to seeing our own thoughts -- and fears, hopes and simmering anger -- take flight in the broken-nosed face of a penguin every week, there's no preparation for his exit, only mourning.

Bloom County was how I survived the Reagan and Bush years. I sure would have loved to read it during the Bush years. God, any amount of funny would have been welcome. See the archives of "Opus" here.

Bitch Magazine might be going under

Bitch is a great magazine and deserved support. Here's how you can help...

The Helix Boycott

I go away for a few days and come back to a full boycott. Cool! It seems that Helix magazine decided to say a few choice racist words to an author in a rejection letter. In the days before blogs, what's an unknown author to do. Just suck it up, that's what. But not anymore. You see there are these thingies called blogs. You can post stuff on 'em. And guess what? Anyone can have one — even an unknown author (at least he is unknown to me).

The response was something I've never seen before. Other authors went on to request — no demand — that Helix take down their stories from the Helix site. Not all of these authors are big names but they are big enough. Authors like Tobias Buckell, NK Jemison, and Yoon Ha Lee requested their stories be taken down stating that they no longer wished their names to be associated with the publication. Again, cool!

Oh, but wait, it gets better. The editor of Helix goes on to criticise the author for posting his racist response. —

Son, hasn't anybody ever told you that public posting of a private email message is contrary to the rules both of accepted internet practice and common courtesy?

When I get a business email from someone and they say something that I want to blog about, I usually ask -- with one exception -- you say something racist or nasty then ALL BETS ARE OFF. My email is just that MINE. You say something nasty to me then expect me not to say something back, you are smokin' some special dope! This is exactly what blogs are for. Blogs give voice to the voiceless. They're a place where democracy and freedom reign. So friggin' get used to it! And this of course, began another stream of argument on the net.

Now, the editor wants to charge the authors $40 for taking their stories down! Aside from being a major jerk, the editor is showing himself to be a bad, bad business person. And, oh yes, a bigot! The editor continues his unprofessionalism by putting up a message for the deleted stories thus —

Story deleted at author's pantiwadulous request.

People of Color have put up with this kind of bullshit for a really long time. We get insulted to-our-faces and then when we say something, we are either accused of being PC freaks or racists ourselves. I AM SO PROUD OF THE AUTHORS WHO CHOSE TO STAND UP AND BOYCOTT THIS MAGAZINE! It is about time that people of conscience band together and say enough is enough and we are not going to take this shit anymore. Let this be a message to every editor, publisher, and author out there that if you pull this crap, there will be consequences. And ya' damn right!

The Knuckle Draggers

Sometimes when dealing with racism and sexism in publishing, the lone female and/or minority can feel isolated and overwhelmed. Maybe they are right, she might think. Maybe all the trouble I've been having is all in my head. Of course this is ludicris, but the constant mantra of "you are crazy" can be wearying. So to the editors of Clarkesworld this weary traveler on the road to publication give thanks and praise for (1) highlighting the issue and (2) being sensible alright guys. You have indeed made my day.

From Clarkesworld by Neil Clarke:
"Cavemen Discovered in the 21st Century" —

I've recently been following a disturbing discussion that is taking place on a major genre magazine's forum. It all started when Jonathan Strahan, a respected anthologist, publicly apologized for not including enough women in Eclipse 2, an anthology to be published later this year. ... At the time I'm writing this, there are nine pages of chatter about this apology in a thread called "Strahan caves to the PC Nazi Brigade", almost all of it by men who feel he should have put those women in their place. After all, they want the "best stories" and if that means cavemen only, well God Bless America! ... Dear lord, people like that do exist. I think I must live a sheltered life or perhaps I just hang out with a better quality of people. No one I know ever behaves like that. Seeing this gives me a much better appreciation of what women and minority authors have to put up with.

Plagiarism, Publishing, and Black Feminism

There something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear...
— Buffalo Springfield

Admittedly, I'm on a different trip than most feminist bloggers. My focus is on books, reading, the book & publishing industry, and the like. So the firestorm on the Woman of Color (WoC) blogs that is brewing is a bit difficult for me to suss out. But there is something very big brewing there and from what I can gleam, it ain't pretty. I'm trying to piece this together so bear with me ...

First, it appears that the blogger Brownfemipower has accused a white feminist blogger/writer, Amanda Marcotte, of plagiarizing her work. After many attempts to gain recognition of the afore mentioned plagiarism Brownfemipower took her blog down.

Now it seems that Amanda Marcotte has gotten herself a book deal with Seal press. I know of them. They are a decent feminist press and have published books from Edwidge Danticat and others. Thus, the WoC bloggers have decided to take action. Some being professors have taken to boycotting Seal press and standing together to speak out about this outrage.

To which Amanda Marcotte and Seal press has made a response. Even Salon Broadsheet has chimed in.

Have I got everything?

It sounds to me that it is high time for an independent black feminist press. I'm just sayin'...

This does, in a strange way, tie into the current political campaign. People of Color have for the last 30 to 40 years been trying to work with the white liberal establishment thinking, wrongheadedly, that they are in someway more receptive to our cause. It has now become clear to me that power only respects power. We must come to the table with equal strength. Which means we need our own institutions funded and maintained on a separate basis from the white liberal establishment. White supremacy is white supremacy. Pure and simple. They will be our friends when it's convenient to them and use us likewise, a la Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Blogger Jeff Fecke (a white guy, BTW) summed this up well in his post:
"The Blindness of Privilege" —

One can't attack the patriarchy with racism, any more than one can undo racial oppression with sexism ... We cannot as a movement achieve equality for women without achieving equality for women of color. We cannot get to a more egalitarian society by marginalizing groups. And we must work assiduously to hold allies to a higher standard.

UPDATE:
Incredibly, this just got uglier. Here is a link to the images from Amanda Marcotte's upcoming book.

The State of Science Fiction Short Stories

I often speak here on this blog about the state of the book industry. Here is another take on the industry that is mostly under the radar screen for most general readers: Science Fiction Short Stories. I've always been impressed with the science fiction genre. It seemed to have figured out a way to identify, cultivate, and publish new writers and exciting new material. There are so many online (and some print) magazines whose life blood are new writers. There are many writing workshops and organizations, from Critters to Clarion, focused on grooming new writers. I've always thought that if general literature was doing the same, instead of pushing the Creative Writing Masters degree route, we would be getting better literature and a more diverse set of writers, both in terms of color and material.

So is this genre going away? SFSignal's column "Mind Meld" asks the question: Is the Short Fiction Market in Trouble? —

David Moles, a finalist for the 2008 Hugo Award, says...

The SF short fiction market is toast. And if you've ever stayed at a London bed and breakfast, you'll know the sort of toast I mean: toast that's been out of the toaster and cooling on a toast rack till the only reason you can spread butter on it is that it's acquired the consistency and tensile strength of a silicone rubber trivet. If you want to know what short SF's future looks like, look at poetry's present. Then subtract all the teaching jobs and grant money...

Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Hugo Award winning short story writer, says...

According to Locus, about 3000 new short stories were published last year in the science fiction and fantasy genre. Someone wrote that we're in the new golden age of sf short fiction, and I agree. So in the number of stories published, no, the market isn't in trouble. It's doing well...

Jeffrey Ford, a short story writer, says... (I really love this guy. He has such a great way of putting things)

The short fiction market? You mean like money? From this writer's point of view, and that's the only point of view I can legitimately speak for on this topic, it seems to me like the pay pretty roundly blows. I suppose, if you really hustled, you could make a living at it, but even then you'd be shitting a slim turd...

Bookselling Comments Answered

The comments on one of my blog posts raised some interesting questions. I think that my answers bear repeating--

Comments from my blog post:
"Neil Gaiman chimes in about books, bookselling, and reading" —

Elizabeth K. Burton said...

Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. For the last five years, since I was first thrust into a publisher's hat, I've heard independent booksellers complain that they can't compete with the superchains and the big boxes and Amazon...and then continue to do try and do precisely that.

In the world according to Wal-Mart, small stores have survived by offering customers what the big retailers can't and won't, yet over and over booksellers have refused to even look at excellent books published by new authors for one reason: no returns. This despite we as the publisher offering a 50% discount for direct fulfillment.

That 75% discount publishers have to give the big retailers may look good, but it also translates into thousands of copies returned. As far as I know, no one has yet calculated the environmental impact of returns, but how can it not be significant?

Independent booksellers are the conduit by which readers can discover new and talented writers. Independent publishers, especially those of us developing the digital publishing model, have the ability to ensure those talented people get published. It would seem that the potential benefit of a collaboration between us is well worth looking into.

jenn said...

This is about to sound mean but here goes...You don't know what the hell you are talking about.

Quote:
“yet over and over booksellers have refused to even look at excellent books published by new authors for one reason: no returns.”

Independent Booksellers have championed many books from many new authors. That's how many of the books that are considered perennial classics got made to be perennial classics

Quote:
“This despite we as the publisher offering a 50% discount for direct fulfillment.”

50% is still minuscule and doesn't pay the rent. Besides the smaller presses are not the ones that can fill our stores. In the end and empty store is a store that is going out of business. As for me, I sell online and this is still a real challenge because of the shipping costs.

Quote:
“That 75% discount publishers have to give the big retailers may look good, but it also translates into thousands of copies returned.”

And as for returns, it is the large chains who are doing all the returning, Independents rarely do returns. It is because we know our customers and know what will sell. The chains are the ones putting the discount book business on steroids and causing the prices of books to rise exponentially, thus causing many of the woes of the Independents. Read Andrew Laities' book the "Rebel Bookseller" he does and excellent job explaining this.

Quote:
“Independent booksellers are the conduit by which readers can discover new and talented writers. Independent publishers, especially those of us developing the digital publishing model, have the ability to ensure those talented people get published. It would seem that the potential benefit of a collaboration between us is well worth looking into.”

We have always championed new writers. I can't even count the number of new writers that I've personally championed and helped get their careers going. Forgive me for sounding pissed, but I really don't feel like being lectured to by someone who obviously thinks that Independent booksellers are idiots. We've been treated this way by the whole industry. Like we are the ones doing evil stupid things that have caused our own demise. It is the industry that has decided that Booksellers are to go the way of the dinosaur and with us goes the very heart of the business

Neil Gaiman chimes in about books, bookselling, and reading

Neil Gaimain, because he is Neil Gaiman, has been offered by his publisher, HarperCollins, the deal of selecting a book of his to be free as an eBook on their site. A bookseller in Alaska wrote to him thus --

From Neil Gaiman's Blog:
"More on free and suchlike" —

Hello Mr. Gaiman:

As a bookseller, I am a bit surprised by your recent comment about free books and the HarperCollins download. When you say, "the problem isn't that books are given away or that people read books they haven't paid for. The problem is that the majority of people don't read for pleasure," you seem to miss the point that all of us booksellers are hoping to sell your book to READERS as well as non-readers. Our situation improves as more non-readers become readers, but we can't survive when the readers go elsewhere. I am not at all against free literature--I firmly believe that the more people read the more people read--but somehow, if we independents are to survive, we need to be included somewhere in the formula. I also believe that we independents have no RIGHT to exist, that our time may have passed or be passing, but it would be nice if we could survive; ...

Gee, I think that this bookseller is a little off his noodle. I know intimately how hard a time that we booksellers are having but jumping on Gaimain's back about a free eBook is not the way to deal with our problems. If anything I think that it is a positive thing that a book will be available like this. It is an enticement for more books to be sold.

Our problems are more from the collusion of large publishers and the chain stores to put us out of business.

Our problems are from us, Independent booksellers, getting a lousy 40% discount while the large chains and Amazon getting the sweet 75% discount (because the are considered distributors). This is just plain unfair.

Our problems are from not having an organization that advocates for us, but for the industry, which means the larger established chain bookstores (that are somehow considered independent) and the large publishers. Yes, I'm taking about the ABA. I think that they abandoned us long ago.

So yelling at Neil Gaiman is silly. Stop it. It's embarrassing. Gainman's answer...

I don't believe that anybody out there who can afford a copy of American Gods is going to not buy it (or another of my books) because it's available out there on line for nothing ... I don't see it as taking money from the pockets of booksellers.

...is exactly right, IMHO. Our profession has been hit by much larger missiles.

Dan Simon and Johnny Temple talk about Independent Publishing

Today Dan Simon of Seven Stories Press and Johnny Temple of Akashic Press were on the Cat Radio Cafe to talk about the state of independent publishing and the 20th Annual Independent and Small Press Fair. Kind of a weird show but definitely worth a listen for Johnny and Dan.

The 2007 Independent & Small Press Book Fair

December 1 & 2, 2007

General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen Landmark Building
20 West 44th Street (bet. 5th and 6th Aves) in midtown Manhattan

Admission: FREE and open to the public

For More Information

The New York Center for Independent Publishing does it again! This weekend they will host the Independent & Small Press Book Fair.

Highlights include:

• December 1, 2:00pm - 2:50pm: Ian MacKaye (Fugazi) on Independent Culture: Q&A with an introduction by Ian Svenonius

• December 1, 4:00pm - 4:50pm: Celebrate 20 Years of our Book Fair: Tama Janowitz (Slaves of New York) & Arthur Nersesian (The F*ck-Up) read from their iconic 1980s novels

• December 2, 3:00pm - 3:50pm: Rugged and Raw: Cutting-edge Urban Readings from Amiri Baraka, Hattie Gossett, and Aaron Petrovich

TimeOut's Article on Race in Publishing

I don't usually think the articles in TimeOut New York about books are that good, but this weeks article was actually a little interesting. They covered, believe it or not, the rather thorny subject of race in the publishing industry. I thought that it was interesting and not really surprising that the article's writer had a hard time finding people willing to talk about the subject. He summed up the situation well when he said:

From an article on TimeOut New York by James Hannaham:
"White Noise" —

Most of the people interviewed seem to agree that the lack of nonwhites in the industry mirrors the social problems of society at large. “It’s a reflection of the culture,” Davis says. “There’s no empirical data to show that publishing is ‘whiter’ than other industries. People of color are unequally represented in several [professions].”

I think that one of the solutions to this problem is to have more black publishing houses. But anyone reading this blog for any amount of time can see what a daunting task that would be given the state of the book world right now. Though, it's still interesting that TimeOut New York would choose to investigate this subject.

Perseus, Friend or Foe?

The Perseus Book Group, is undoubtedly the new "Big Dog" in publishing. With the acquisition of Consortium and the 124 small presses from the PGW fallout, they have become one of the largest publisher/distributors in the US owning approximately 80% of the Indie market. The Indie presses that faced certain doom are, for the most part, glad to have someone come to their rescue. Yet, there is reason for caution.

I remember when Perseus first dismantled themselves for HarperCollins. (It was about the same time that Scholastic also ended it distribution relationship with HarperCollins. Who needs them when you have Harry Potter!) On the surface it looked like they were running from the clutches of Rupert Murdoch, who had just bought HarperCollins. Anyone with any sense of social justice should be concerned with a relationship with him. (Watch out Wall Street Journal!) But then the ax fell. Perseus was merciless. They fired a lot of good people to strengthen their bottom line. Some of them were friends of mine. I was so angry that I stopped doing business with them for almost a year -- not that they would notice because we are so small -- but it was the principle of the thing. So it wasn't surprising to me when Perseus closed up Carroll & Graf and Thunder's Mouth Press.

From an LA Times article by Josh Getlin:
"Publishing gets a little less Indie" —

For Perseus Books Group, which recently acquired Carroll & Graf and Thunder's Mouth Press as part of its acquisition of Avalon Publishing Group, it was a dollars-and-cents issue. The company decided that the two were no longer distinctive enough to thrive in a competitive market.
...
"We hear a lot of talk about biodiversity, but not much about protecting cultural diversity, especially for publishing," said Andre Schiffrin, founder of the New Press, an independent house. Before that, he ran Pantheon Books for nearly 30 years at Random House. "I was impressed when I first heard about Perseus' business plans," he said. "But they're not a bunch of philanthropists."

So sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind, but it is my hope that Perseus doesn't over do it. I keep up with the Perseus catalog and it continues to be strong. The books put out from Basic and Da Capo, Perseus imprints, have been some of my favorites. I hope with their new found muscle they will move with care. We aren't just moving widgets and spockets here. The book business is a business but it is also a cultural institution. An institution that this country needs now more than ever.

Bookslut dishes the dirt on Indie Press Survival

There is so much going on in the book world right now it's not funny. The PGW bankruptcy fallout is still being felt and will be into the near future. Bookslut gives the clearest explanation of its effects that I've seen to date and offers some encouraging news for us lovers of Indie Presses.

From Bookslut by Alexis Wiggins:
"Phoenix Rising: Indie Publishing in the Aftermath of PGW’s Bankruptcy" —

Despite the chaos and the acquisitions, the money down the tubes, and the inordinate amount of time, energy, and tears spent on this publishing bankruptcy disaster, a phoenix does seem to be emerging from the fire. Publishers both large and small, non-profit and for-profit, express excitement, hope, and relief about the future with Perseus. Morgan Entrekin of Grove/Atlantic fairly gushes over the new alliance: “We’ve now created the greatest option for independent publishing – and I’ve been in the independent publishing business for twenty-four years. We really have a better situation than I ever could have hoped for last fall. We keep all the PGW people and relationships, and the business is stable.”

McSweeny's having a Garage Sale, needs to raise money

From a Salon Magazine article by Priya Jain:
"The struggle for independents" —

McSweeney's is holding a garage sale of sorts. An e-mail sent out last week announced that, "for the next week or so," the publishing house founded by Dave Eggers would be selling its new books at 30 percent off and its backlist at 50 percent off.
...
But the excitement stirred by the McSweeney's e-mail had less to do with the booty on offer than with the alarming news that McSweeney's needed to raise money at all. For fans, and for those who follow book-trade news, the e-mail raised the possibility that the much-beloved publisher could become another casualty of a bankruptcy saga that has engulfed the independent-publishing world for six months.

Whole lotta Shakin' Going On

Carroll & Graf Press and Thunder's Mouth Press are to be dropped! They were recently acquired by the Perseus Book Group (via the fall out of the PGW bankruptcy) and now Perseus will drop them both. According to a Locus Magazine report 24 out of a staff of 91 people will be fired. Indigocafe.com doesn't carry a lot of Carroll & Graf but we do look to Thunder's Mouth Press for a lot of our music titles. It's unsettling to watch this shakeout happening in the book industry. I will continue to monitor the going's on in the book world to the best of my meager ability.

Soft Skull Press to become an Imprint

It looks like our buddies at Soft Skull are being bought by a larger company according to Locus Magazine.

From a June 2007 Locus Magazine report:

Independent Publisher Soft Skull Press has been sold to Winton, Shoemaker & LLC, which also recently purchased the Counterpoint imprint from Perseus Book Group. Soft Skull publisher Richard Nash will become executive editor at the new company and will be editorial director of the Soft Skull imprint.

This is part of the PGW bankruptcy fall out which has put a strain on many small presses who where distributed by them. Well, it's better to be an imprint than no-print, knamean! Good luck to them. They are a great press and I hope that Indigocafe.com can sell even more of their titles.

Z Magazine and South End Press Founder on "Democracy Now!"

Michael Albert, founder of Z Magazine and co-founder of South End Press talked about activisim on democracynow.org yesterday.
From democracynow.org interview:

Yeah, I would have been a physicist, that's true. The war and everything else sort of made that impossible. Later on, we founded something called South End Press. It was an attempt to create a publishing house, a book publishing house -- still exists, still going strong -- that would present books about race, gender, class, power, international relations, the whole gamut of things that affect people's lives in a fundamental way.

What is going on with PGW?

I got a letter from the courts the other day letting me know that PGW (Publishers Group West) is going into bankruptcy, or rather that the parent company of PGW is going into bankruptcy. This was kind of a shock since so many good books come out of PGW. I never did like the company that bought them. PGW changed for the worse since they took over. As a small store I didn't always have large orders and they just stopped taking them. Once I was ordering 20 or so books and they wouldn't take the order because it was too small. They told me to call back when I had 30 or more books to order. So I just didn't call back. And now that I have completely changed my business paradigm I don't order from them at all but from a distribution company.

It's a shame though. There are many small publishers that distribute through them and this is really going to hurt them. It seems that Perseus Book Group is going to pick their accounts. Perseus is okay. Not great, just okay.

Andre Schiffrin from the New Press

This morning on democracynow.org Mr. Schiffrin of the New Press explained how the book publishing world has broken down in to being owned by only 5 companies (mostly in Germany: Bertelsmann and Holtzbrinck). I know that it's true. I was just glad to see someone say it in public.

I suppose I've just been depressed about the whole book selling thing. It's so lonely. I feel like an idiot for even trying. This is a business for the rich, not the intellectually curious. I'm so out of my league.