Comments for Catalyst Book Press

Comment on Yet another horrific printing mistake by terena

terena — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:27:49 +0000

OMG that JUST happened to me! It must be a common mistake. I got back the book proof and suddenly had this feeling I forgot to update the table of contents. Yep, sure enough. No page numbers.

Glad your designer noticed. Whew!

Comment on What Exactly Is Publishing Anyway? Take II. by terena

terena — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 01:25:48 +0000

I agree with your thoughts about the music industry. Bands make their own CD’s all the time and no one cares, just as long as the music is good. The same should go for books, but for some reason it doesn’t. Maybe it’s because the technology to easily make a book is so new, compared to the technology of making music (before CD’s there were thousands of tapes made by garage bands everywhere).

I also agree with your definitions of what a Vanity press, and I agree a Vanity press isn’t necesserely a bad thing, just as long as the quality of the work is good. That’s my biggest problem with ALL forms of publising, and this goes for the big houses too. I’ve read too many books that are poorly made and/or poorly written. It doesn’t matter who published it, it’s still a bad book.

Comment on Killing Trout & Other Love Poems by A Rare Underground Poetry Review: Killing Trout & Other Love Poems | The Trout Underground Fly Fishing Blog

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:01:14 +0000

[...] when I posted (long ago) about David Fraser’s Killing Trout and Other Love Poems, I was interested enough to dip my beautifully manicured manscaped toe back in poetry’s [...]

Comment on appalling: leaving graduate school, starting a small literary press by Don Goodman

Don Goodman — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:43:34 +0000

My wife is a book lover but she finances the book recycling industry since I’m not going to pay for storage of all those paperbacks.
You are not a book lover only. You are an ambitious book lover. This means you are going to a) marry a very rich man (assuming you are interested in that sort of thing) to finance your ambition, b) you will be very poor or c) you will write successful books and instead of spending your vast fortune on drugs, gambling or traveling in Africa, you will spend it all on literary geniuses who sell 63 books a year each and you will still be really poor.

At the end, when you look back, what will you see? Fair question…

Regards,

Don Goodman

Comment on Books for Sale by catalystbookpress

catalystbookpress — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:37:41 +0000

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.

Comment on Books for Sale by Terry Adams

Terry Adams — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:35:59 +0000

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

Comment on What Exactly Is Publishing Anyway? Take II. by Books and Magazines Blog » Archive » What Exactly Is Publishing Anyway? Take II.

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:45:52 +0000

[...] Original post by Catalyst Book Press [...]

Comment on What exactly is publishing, anyway? by What Exactly Is Publishing Anyway? Take II. « Catalyst Book Press

What Exactly Is Publishing Anyway? Take II. « Catalyst Book Press — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:15:02 +0000

[...] of Off the Grid Press. His disgrunted comment was in reference to my blog post of last January, What Exactly Is Publishing, Anyway? Mr. Stern takes issue with my suggestion that Off the Grid Press is no different from a vanity [...]

Comment on Contact by What Exactly Is Publishing Anyway? Take II. « Catalyst Book Press

What Exactly Is Publishing Anyway? Take II. « Catalyst Book Press — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:09:28 +0000

[...] Contact [...]

Comment on Contact by catalystbookpress

catalystbookpress — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 01:33:13 +0000

I didn’t say you publish bad books–only wondering if what you do is different from vanity presses, when the authors pay for the printing costs. But you are making a great point that producing beautiful books, even if authors undertake the expense themselves, is very different from what AuthorHouse or others do. And I have seen your books and yes, you’re right, they are beautifully produced. I understand the culture of publishing these days is very different from the tried and true days of old–and thus, I’m exploring these questions of what it means to publish vs. what it means to self-publish. Terena of Medua’s Muse pointed out in a comment under the blog in question, in which I refer to your press, that what you were doing was book shepharding–and I like that phrase, which I think describes what you’re doing much better than “vanity” press. I’ll gladly post a blog about it and refer to your comment here….