I agree with Tony--especially on this point. Authors need to actively
promote their work. It's crucial at the level of alternative press.
I'm still grinding my teeth at night about our "thanks" for
publishing a well-known New Zealand poetess who 1) incorporated the book
into a larger volume published by New Zealand University press--with
absolutely no notice of the fact that we had optioned it and were in
fact at press with it, and then did nothing to promote our book when we
sent her copies except list it on her resume. What a grand gesture!
That was a large amount of pocket change to throw away on this person,
and we still have a ton of the things underfoot.
In addition we published an experimental gentleman who began firing off
pdf files of the volume to everyone he knew with no thought that perhaps
he might discourage sales by doing so. In addition he refused to help
us when a very talented reviewer was going to write an in-depth review
of the book and I suggested to him that maybe he could suggest a
possible venue for the review.
Go figure.
We're one of the few presses that doesn't do print on demand, but real
editions of perfect-bound books, so it's really important for potential
authors to understand that we have invested and do invest lots of time
and money and worry in the end product.
But oh well,
Jess
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