I don't disagree with you, Ian. What I say may well be as influenced
by publication frustration in the present as much as any experience in
the past. In fact all past publication stories have a certain warmth
to them, compared to my current situation of having many projects
ready to go
and not being able to "go" them.
Mairead

On 10/22/05, ian davidson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Mairead
>
> Don't want to be awkward but I really don't understand what you're getting
> at here. Surely to be able to buy books in batches of 30-40 to sell at
> readings is an advantage? Less outlay? Less storage? And it does mean that
> sales can continue for years. Isn't that a good thing? Am I the only poet
> whose earliest publications are completely unavailable?
>
> Are you and Mark talking about books being a limited run, like artists
> prints? I think that's fine if that's what you want to do and I have some
> beautifully designed books that are my favourite possessions. And print on
> demand doesn't stop that. But print on demand means that fairly substantial
> collections of poetry can be published and kept available for a long time
> (leaving aside reservations about the life cycle of technologies). Because
> of print on demand i can fairly economically buy large quantities of good
> poetry that otherwise would probably need a significant grant or private
> funds to publish.
>
> Not sure we're not talking at cross purposes here. It simply seems to me
> another useful technology for printing and distributing poetry.
>
> Ian
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >
> >My other reservations about print-on-demand included the odd feeling
> >produced by a combination of the book not really selling yet never
> >really being done. As I am the principal purchaser of the book, it
> >would probably suit me better to buy 500 copies to sell at readings
> >etc. That would account for half of a 1,000 book run. Then in a few
> >more years I might buy the other 500 if necessary! And it would be
> >over! With pod I might be more inclined to feel that order 500 copies
> >would be only encouraging the madness. And if I did manage to sell
> >them and order my 500 more in a few years then distant or close
> >relatives might come along every year or two and order one copy more
> >and the water torture would continue. Mark Weiss has talked to me
> >backchannel about this experience of
> >no-end-in-sight and reminded me that the author-publisher contract
> >should cover size of print run regardless of the printing technology.
> >Maybe print-on-demand strips illusions I am comfortable with. There
> >is a lot to think about. Not least the respectability of publishers,
> >especially very respected academic and literary publishers as Ian has
> >pointed out.
>
>
>