Small independent publishing houses, bless ’em, tend to run the gamut from bare bones to dicey—and a writer had best be prepared to take up the slack. When Gina Frangello’s first novel, My Sister’s Continent, was released in 2006, for instance, her Portland-based publisher, Chiasmus Press, didn’t provide much marketing support. “This isn’t an indictment of them,” Frangello says. “I love their books and they had outstanding taste and a lot of integrity.” But at the time, like many indies, she notes, Chiasmus consisted of a husband and wife running the business out of their home. If you wanted a book tour or radio interviews, “you had to take it upon yourself.”
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Founded four years ago by its president, Jim Bildner, LVF has a small but seasoned staff of four. Editorial director Ande Zellman says they don’t usually buy print ads and gave up on giving money directly to publishers and authors. But they do have relationships with bookstores like Barnes & Noble, which hosts the LVF book club on its Web site. And to level the playing field between independents and the major corporate publishers, they also create reading guides for book clubs, develop online networking strategies, and employ a publicist. What’s more, they’ll stick with a book for years if there are signs of life. “The sad thing about the publishing industry at the moment is that they’re putting out an avalanche of books but giving them little or no attention,” Zellman says. “It’s hard for any book to get a fair shake.”
LVF only considers manuscripts submitted by publishers or agents, and certain requirements have to be met before it will take one on. For example, Frangello’s publisher would have had to bump up the size of its initial run for London Calling to satisfy LVF standards. To help Impetus with the cost of doing that, Frangello’s pal Alpana Singh, the sommelier and host of Check, Please!, had planned a wine tasting benefit for early November. But then last Friday things took an unexpected turn. Impetus copublisher Willy Blackmore made a sudden announcement that the company was closing its doors “because of financial difficulties” and “will not be publishing Gina’s book or any others.”
The request for federal funding wasn’t approved, but, according to Sky Theater manager Mark Webb, the planetarium is still hoping to replace the old, two-ton machine—all gears and motors—with something more appropriate for the digital age. Webb says a new system would allow for more flexible, accurate, and up-to-date programs and “would let us see space from anywhere in the known universe.”
Gay Liberation Network’s Andy Thayer, who placed the anti-Dobson ads, says they were paid for by donations from the dozens of people and organizations that signed on to them. Among those putting their money and names to the cause was State Representative Greg Harris, who last week was still hoping that the Hall of Fame would change its mind and “honor those who have made positive contributions to broadcasting, and not those who have used the medium to preach intolerance and bigotry.”
