Read Local

In the current issue of The American Prospect, I have an article about how independent publishers and literary communities are borrowing strategies from the food movement in their search for support.

It begins:

"When I get a little money, I buy books; and if any is left I buy food and clothes." So said Desiderius Erasmus, a Dutch priest born less than 20 years after the printing press was invented. This holiday season, publishers might like to see his ilk in bookshops. Traditionally, the book industry depends upon the December gift-giving season to buoy its entire year. Many publishers shape their catalog around the six-week window of intensified shopping that carries particular urgency in the depths of a recession.

But this "make or break" bookselling strategy is one holiday tradition that a handful of innovative publishers are eager to end.

In search of sustainability, some publishers and booksellers are adapting ideas from the food movement. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) -- in which consumers buy a share of a farm's produce yield for the season -- translates to community-supported publishing (CSP), in which readers subscribe to an independent press that in return delivers books to their doorstep every month. "Buy Local" becomes "Buy Indie." And the do-it-yourself momentum behind home gardening parallels the energy behind literary chapbooks, a traditional form that's finding new popularity and legitimacy in the 21st century. More than a marketing strategy, the sustainability shift is carving out a place for diverse ideas -- even in an economic climate where mainstream publishers abhor risk.

My article is only partially available online right now (unless you a subscriber to TAP), so I hope you'll consider checking out a print copy. (UPDATE: In fact, the article is now fully available online. But check out the print copy anyway, because it's pretty and awesome.) Also featured in the December issue:

• "The Company We Keep", by Ann Friedman
• "Gay on Trial," by Gabriel Arana
• "Hope Against History," by Sasha Polakow-Suransky
• "Beyond Bars," by Adam Serwer

Comments

[John Ettorre]

Lovely piece, Anna, which led me to this lovely blog, which I'll now add to my regular reading list. Keep up the good work.

[Anna Clark]

Thanks so much, John! I appreciate the kind words.