McSweeney’s lost roughly $130,000 in the AMS/PGW crisis at the beginning of 2007, and “like most small publishers,” they write on the website , “our business is basically a break-even proposition in the best of times, so there’s really no way to absorb a loss that big.” To ease the burden, the imprint is slashing prices on all its existing inventory, and if saving 30-50% on their books isn’t enough inducement, they’re also auctioning off original pieces from artists like Chris Ware and David Byrne.
“This is the bulk of our groundbreaking business-saving plan,” the announcement reveals, “to continue to sell the things we’ve made, albeit at a greatly accelerated pace for a brief period of time. We are not business masterminds, but we are optimistic that this will work.” To get all advocate-y for just a momemnt, here’s hoping; sure, you might be able to find great books like Yannick Murphy‘s Here They Come or Salvador Plascencia‘s The People of Paper in trade paperback at your local bookstore, but why not take this opportunity to pick up the hardcover for just $11? And if those two novels don’t catch your eye, something else in the catalog probably will.