I just received this report from Soho Press’s Director of Publicity, Sarah Reidy who spoke this morning at the conference about the issues facing independent publishers:
This morning, I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel as part of the 4th Annual New York Round Table Writers’ Conference about Independent Publishing Houses. Hosted by the wonderful Tina Jordan, the VP of the Association of American Publishers, we discussed everything from Amazon’s new POD policy to the personal connection that indie houses are more likely to provide (sorry big houses). Besides myself, writers heard from Michael Braziller (Persea Books), Dick DeBold (Higganum Hill), Jim Fleming (Autonomedia), and Richard Nash (Soft Skull/Counterpoint). After changing the panel title from “Small but Mighty: Indie Publishing” to “Small AND Mighty” (thanks, Tina), each panelist discussed our companies, the advantages and disadvantages to going independent (including the money/advance factor), how to best approach editors, how to best self-promote, and how self-publishing and electronic content have changed the nature of our biz.
The conference continues tomorrow at the New York Center for Independent Publishing and lunch will be with best-selling novelist Alice Hoffman.