Adam Robinson
http://www.publishinggenius.com
Adam Robinson lives in Baltimore, where he operates Publishing Genius Press. His book of poems, Adam Robison and other poems, will be published by Narrow House Books this year.
A Few Thoughts on Promotion
A few weeks ago Justin Taylor’s book, Everything Here is the Best Thing Ever, was threatening the NY Times bestseller list. It was, like, #1000 in sales at Amazon. My first thought was, HYPE. I thought, “Nah, it can’t be all that good, it’s just a book, who cares, he’s not my friend, I’ll buy it but whatever, HYPE.” I’d seen an ad for it on the back of Book Forum. HYPE.
BUT DAMN. READ MORE >
Adam Robinson—
The Outsider Writers Collective is holding a fundraiser auction. They’re selling all 5 of their titles in a pretty cool, handmade slipcase. Bidding starts at $27: dirt cheap for this much goodness. Check it out.
2
On Earth As It Is
I don’t know if someone else was going to write about this here at htmlgiant, and they still oughta if they wanna, but in the meantime let me say: everyone tune your browser to On Earth As It Is, a new web journal that uses prayer as a story telling form. As the website puts it, “On Earth As It Is is a cycle of prayer narratives, or dramatic monologues addressed to God, from writers of different faiths.” It’s run by our beloved Matthew Simmons and Bryan Furuness, and so far they’ve run two pieces (one per week). Last week we were given an Augustinian-but-more-lovely apologia from Melanie Rae Thon:
What more evidence do you need?
Snow melts into dark earth and here in damp woods white trillium blossoms.
and yesterday, from Erin McGraw, “A Statement from the Defense.” READ MORE >
Uncategorized / 28 Comments
March 19th, 2010 / 9:56 am
March 19th, 2010 / 9:56 am
Bookstore Interview: Normal’s Books & Records, Baltimore
Google “Baltimore used bookstore” and click “I’m feeling lucky.” You will be. The first hit is Normal’s Books & Records, one of the best used shops I’ve ever been to. It isn’t just the selection that makes it great, though it’s clear that Rupert Wondolowski, who runs the buying there, knows great literature beyond the classics. It isn’t just the personality of the store, even though there are plenty of funny signs and doodads around to keep your friends interested while you spend an hour searching for some lost dub record. What I like best about Normal’s is: dang, they are invested in the local arts scene. Aside from stocking all the amazing books, music, zines etc. that get put out around town, the collective hosts weekly shows at the Red Room, which is attached to the store, Rupert runs an always-interesting reading/performance series called “Shattered Wig Night” and he also puts out an old-school tape-up journal called The Shattered Wig Review. Oh yeah, and he wrote a pretty dynamite book called The Origin of Paranoia as a Heated Mole Suit (Publishing Genius 2008). Interview about bookselling after the break. READ MORE >
Bookstore Interview: Pilot Books, Seattle
I have done a couple interviews with booksellers that I’ll be putting up over the next weeks. I guess I get interested in stores that contact me to buy books. That indicates how hardworking they must be, and how smart, and how invested they are in the indie lit scene. I think it’s great.
This first installment is with Summer Robinson, who founded Pilot Books in Seattle. She’s a writer, a professional copywriter full time, and so aware of the indie lit scene that she says it’s easy to keep on top of what’s happening. And she doesn’t just stay current; as a dedicated bookseller she’s filling one the most important roles for publishing. I think it’s great and inspiring.
Email interview after the break. READ MORE >
Uncategorized / 37 Comments
March 10th, 2010 / 8:14 pm
March 10th, 2010 / 8:14 pm
The Best of (What’s Left of) Heaven
Mairéad Byrne made a survey. I took it. Is it scientific research? Is it a poem? Is it a joke? Is it about couches? Or comfort or people? She wrote a poem in 2006 called “The Good News” that says, like, “The cross between a poem & a carrot is a poem./The cross between a poem & a forklift truck is a poem” — so I guess the survey is a poem. I like to think of it that way as much as I like to think of it as research or a joke. READ MORE >
Adam Robinson—
Laura Ellen Scott gives 21 writing tips, including, “13. Write what you know, especially you white people out there” and “17. Italics, italics, italics. Especially for flashbacks.” This is the sort of sharing the Internet was invented for.
People think if a book is at Amazon it is somehow more “legitimate”
Below is an excerpt from a paper I wrote about some of the business aspects of publishing. Let me know if you have any questions.
As the buzz on Light Boxes picked up last spring, I found it increasingly difficult to keep up with fulfillment. Even Amazon, who had previously been sending Purchase Orders for 2-3 books at a time, started to send orders in the dozens every week, and for shipment to multiple distribution centers. This policy of theirs is extremely frustrating, because for one thing, they don’t pay for shipping even while they demand a 55% discount. For a publisher participating in their “Advantage” program, this structure is backbreaking. Having to mail books to four places, in special packaging (since they’ll destroy any book they deem unsellable), eliminates the already-tiny margin and drives up the cost to the user. For instance, a paperback book like Light Boxes, at 167 pages, stretches product value with a $14.95 price tag. At that amount, though, PG is paid $6.73 per copy. Okay, that isn’t too bad. Subtract from that the cost of production (including printing, design, art rights, cataloging numbers, promotional items and copies and so on), the amount PG earns is closer to $2.25. Now consider Amazon’s tendency to order books to four different locations, which means that shipping has to be paid four times, and the result is that it actually costs about $.30 to sell a book with them. Separately, Amazon charges the customer (or enduser) $3.99 for shipping, which means that the cheapest Light Boxes will sell for through them is $18.94. Having paid this kind of money can cause readers to have certain expectations, and I am always afraid that the shortness of the book will disappoint them. READ MORE >
Adam Robinson—
Whoa, you’d be crazy not to read “Object,” by Richard Wehrenberg, Jr over at Slingshot, then say something about it somewhere on the Internet. These “please help” campaigns are risky, but I appreciate the faith, passion and sacrifice that goes into them. Sacrifice? Well, damn, Josh Kleinberg is giving away a bunch of (20) really great books to people who do him the kindness of promoting the stories. 75% of the books, he says, will be hard for him to part with. Go take a look. (Google alerted me to this deal because one of the books he’s giving away is mine. Thanks Josh!)