The perception of value is often closely related to the price of an item. Higher cost often equates higher value. Of course this isn’t universally the case. Especially when considering niche items like rare collectibles (where price usually far outweighs the generally perceived value) or universal necessities such as water (cheap, but valuable).
But there is another aspect to value that I feel has gone largely ignored in the world of books. That of the author (publisher)-reader relationship. The world of books is so largely segmented that to apply the price-value ratio universally wouldn’t work. The problem is that some readers value some authors and some book editions more or less than others. Has the author signed the book? Is the book out of print? How many books does the author have? Is the book topical? And with the recent Amazon.com/Macmillian eBook price feud, readers are even less able to apply a cost-vale ration to books (“this book is only $9.99; that book must not be worth the purchase,” goes the logic).
The author (publisher)-reader relationship is largely untapped, and surprisingly so considering how malleable the formula can be. Authors and publishers have a unique commercial position in that their supporters (re: readers) are more than consumers, they are fans. And even more, with the variety of printing and distribution models constantly expanding, publishers and authors have the ability to supply their fans tokens of that unique relationship without much impact in the way of the publisher’s wallet (and sometimes we’re okay with taking a monetary hit in the name of passion).
OWC’s own Tim Hall has been doing this for a while, creating limited slipcases for his books. I tried this by filling preorders of my book with very personal inscriptions and the smell of cigars. And as OW Press moves forward, Tim and I plan to do some extra special bundled slip cases for the first four OW Press releases (Justin Hyde’s Where The Hummingbird Goes to Die, David Blaine’s Antisocial, my Charactered Pieces, and Tim’s One Damn Thing After Another). More on this later.
Today I came across Tank Books, who offer a collection of books, miniaturized and made to look like cigarette packets. Beautiful. I’ve never heard of Tank Books, but this product alone entices me to become a fan. That personalizing, that uniqueness to a product, is where small presses should move as larger corporate publishers hurt for profits, and smaller, micro-presses gain the means to compete. Record companies have been doing it for years (I know anything ANTI puts out, I’ll love, even if I’ve never heard of the musician). Why not presses? I dream of the day I read a blog comment or forum post saying, “have you heard about the new OW Press release?!? I love those guys!”
Caleb,
Good article.
I had actually thought of titling my forthcoming book, “Parental Advisory.” Sure it would be cliche, and the big b&W advisory sticker for a cover a little kitschy, but if I did it, I’m sure folks who would never otherwise buy a poetry collection would at least pick the damn thing up and look.
Question, do those books in the article contain nicotine? We need to market and develop chemically addictive books. Like the Pfizer of publishing. Samples in doctors’ offices, psych wards. One book to kill you, another for to cure your ills. I’m getting carried away.
That’s brilliant! Similar to the way nicotine patches introduce nicotine through the skin, pages in a book could do the same thing. Get on this!
Seriously, if I knew how to make paper, and I knew how to get the chemicals used in nicotine patches, I would start this project tomorrow.
Pardon me for asking, but whatever happened to the poetry and short stories at OWC? I’ve seen nothing for quite awhile except the same few writers (mostly OWC editors) posting pieces, hawking their wares, and patting each other on the ass in the “Comments” section.
You don’t have open poetry submissions. Now you’ve discontinued prose submissions. If this has become a private club, maybe you should consider changing the name from OWC (Outsider Writers Collective) to IWC (Insider Writers Club).
For what it’s worth.
Caleb,
It’s simple– spittoon marinade.
DB,
OW has kind of gone in a new direction, offering opinion, interviews, reviews, etc. But OW’s also open to letting lots of people post stuff. Just get in touch.
Caleb,
Thanks for the heads up. I like anything that can promote bad health and literature at the same time. Two of my favorite things!
Promoting bad health and literature!
What about good health and bad literature?
As for the content here, I think it is just a little bit confusing for people who want to get involved but aren’t sure who to get a hold of or what content is appropriate.
In small press, I think people are very used to the editor-submissions model. Also, drive by communities. But correct me if I am wrong, the intention here is not to necessarily be a literary magazine but rather to give voice to members of the OW community. The discussions have been numerous about community here, I can vouch for that. It is something that is taken to heart, despite the flaws of any group dynamic.
It took me a while to understand that what looks like insider behavior is more the result of a cooperative vs. hierarchy mindset. I just don’t think authority works here.
The best go-to person about contributing to this thing is definitely Caleb. Maybe me second, I dunno. I think OW could always use more contributors, though.
D.B-
Poetry submissions have never closed. I’m not sure where you got that idea. Check the “Contact” page above for the poetry editor email (you’ll also see contact information for many other categories, all of which are open to non-OWC editors, note). As for prose, I was simply too busy to read stuff. I was about the only editor here for a short, hectic period the past couple months. We’re now getting on our feet again, and will likely open up to fiction again soon.
As for OWC editors hawking their wares, this doesn’t happen nearly to the level that you imply above. In fact, I just did a search and the last overt OWC promotion was for Tim Hall’s upcoming chapbook, and it seems reasonable to promote that; it’s a book from our press. Of course we want to get the word out about our books. And that was 22 posts ago. The interim posts have been a variety of reviews, calls for submissions, interviews, and general news pieces that would interest most OWC visitors.
Caleb,
Click on the “Contact” tab above: “We do not have open poetry submissions.” If it’s not open, then I suppose it’s closed. I sent some stuff to poetry submissions on the OWC contacts tab and was published at Gloom Cupboard. Kind of confusing, but certainly a fine zine. I’m all for Lena and Dorla Moorehouse. Scot Young was once the poetry go to guy for OWC. Then Lena Vanelslander posted some really good stuff for a while. What happened?
Maybe like Pat said: “OW has kind of gone in a new direction, offering opinion, interviews, reviews, etc.”
And so it goes.
Anyway–good luck
My apologies, DB. It seems poetry submissions are not open. You are correct. There isn’t one “editor in chief” here at OWC, as we are a collective, so sometimes information can get muddled.
Lena does poetry for Gloom Cupboard and OWC. I’ll ask her about the situation above.
We are always welcome to publishing stuff from a variety of writers. As I said above, I was about the only guy here for the last couple months. One guy can only do so much. But now, we have quite a few more regular contributors, so things should be more consistent.
However, the OWC site is not a lit mag site. There are plenty of those already out there. We are more of a lit news site, with occasional posts of fiction and poetry. Even the old OWC site had news items, reviews, interviews, etc.