Comments on: Books for Sale http://catalystbookpress.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/books-for-sale/ The places, ideas, and people that change us Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:27:49 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: catalystbookpress http://catalystbookpress.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/books-for-sale/#comment-124 catalystbookpress Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:37:41 +0000 http://catalystbookpress.wordpress.com/?p=48#comment-124 Hi, this is weird place to put this comment--wouldn't the post on publishing itself let you put a comment there? You're pointing out a lot of the problems with the institutionalizing of literature, and I couldn't agree with you more. I've made similar comments about the problems with professionalization in the humanities in other blog posts on this site. Hi, this is weird place to put this comment–wouldn’t the post on publishing itself let you put a comment there? You’re pointing out a lot of the problems with the institutionalizing of literature, and I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve made similar comments about the problems with professionalization in the humanities in other blog posts on this site.

]]> By: Terry Adams http://catalystbookpress.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/books-for-sale/#comment-123 Terry Adams Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:35:59 +0000 http://catalystbookpress.wordpress.com/?p=48#comment-123 Hi there, I am the latest socially-illegitimate author to be "Shepherded" by off The Grid Press. They are wonderful editors! I suggest that the gigantic volume of academic publishing (in scholarly, as well as the creative writing area) is subsidized by universities to the degree that the "Presses", in that case, don't really pay for the publishing either. What makes a Press, or a Publisher is the cumulative process of peer review which builds a reputation. Much publishing is funded by the need of universities to bolster reputations as producers of writers and writing. We can be thankful that money comes from somewhere, but we have to stop treating it as the life blood of our voices. Off The Grid Press is a wonderful alternative editorial/review institution working to galvanize talents, both editorial and creative, outside the mainstream, outside academia, and a little to the left of the Economy. I would assert that the majority of poetry published these days comes out of contests, and in that case the publisher is not paying either. The contests are lotteries where the cost is shared among the entrants, which means, ultimately, the cost is paid by the authors. The fees I paid to contests over the last 40 years would fund at least one lucky book. And I think the "Open Market" has been less and less involved in either the funding or selection of poetry. The big name publishers and academia are pretty much a closed loop, providing pressure to publish, peer review, funds for publishing, and market. That is the loop that has strangled (strangled-out) many of us. In that case I could assert that the authors pay for their own publishing also, through their tuition to get a degree, and then through their teaching labor, editorial work, etc. to keep the mill going. I don't mean to disrespect the institutions entirely, except when I feel disrespect aimed toward me. Terry Adams, author, "Adam's Ribs," available through Off The Grid Press Hi there, I am the latest socially-illegitimate author to be “Shepherded” by off The Grid Press. They are wonderful editors! I suggest that the gigantic volume of academic publishing (in scholarly, as well as the creative writing area) is subsidized by universities to the degree that the “Presses”, in that case, don’t really pay for the publishing either. What makes a Press, or a Publisher is the cumulative process of peer review which builds a reputation. Much publishing is funded by the need of universities to bolster reputations as producers of writers and writing. We can be thankful that money comes from somewhere, but we have to stop treating it as the life blood of our voices.

Off The Grid Press is a wonderful alternative editorial/review institution working to galvanize talents, both editorial and creative, outside the mainstream, outside academia, and a little to the left of the Economy.

I would assert that the majority of poetry published these days comes out of contests, and in that case the publisher is not paying either. The contests are lotteries where the cost is shared among the entrants, which means, ultimately, the cost is paid by the authors. The fees I paid to contests over the last 40 years would fund at least one lucky book.

And I think the “Open Market” has been less and less involved in either the funding or selection of poetry. The big name publishers and academia are pretty much a closed loop, providing pressure to publish, peer review, funds for publishing, and market. That is the loop that has strangled (strangled-out) many of us. In that case I could assert that the authors pay for their own publishing also, through their tuition to get a degree, and then through their teaching labor, editorial work, etc. to keep the mill going. I don’t mean to disrespect the institutions entirely, except when I feel disrespect aimed toward me.

Terry Adams, author, “Adam’s Ribs,” available through Off The Grid Press

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