Just a thought, but as I know many of you are big fans of the type of fiction and poetry being published by many of the independent publishers out there - maybe you'll consider helping one do something to climb a little bit out of the hole that the recent AMS bankruptcy has put them in. I certainly am not privy to details, but can't imagine that Soft Skull Press, who used PGW (who AMS bought a few years back if I understand properly) as a distributor, can be feeling too good about things with their fourth quarter (yes, that means holiday sales) sales dollars being tied up in a bankruptcy court.
Thinking about it a bit, I was reminded that Soft Skull started to offer subscription plans last year - both fiction and poetry. While I don't recognize all of the poetry titles, most of the fiction titles included I either know are good from having read or samples them (say Electric Flesh by Claro) or heard fantastic things from trusted sources (The Lost Thoughs of Soldiers by Dana Falconer).
I don't know how much the $100 for fiction or $50 for poetry can actually help these fine folks, but if you've got a little Xmas money burning a hole in your pocket, wander on over and take a peek at their offers. Or peek at the websites of some of your other favorite smaller presses that may have been burnt for some distribution cash and order directly from them.
easy to do and totally worthwhile!
Posted by: steven gillis | January 07, 2007 at 09:20 AM
I agree. It is worth it to support them. The outer perimeter of publishing is a brutal business and is constantly under assault from the big houses.
By the way, twice in the post the word "whole" was used for hole.
Just an FYI.
Michel
Posted by: michel | January 07, 2007 at 11:29 AM
Damn, I hate it when I use synonyms incorrectly - spellcheck can't help me out there! Thanks Michel.
Posted by: Dan Wickett | January 07, 2007 at 11:38 AM