08 February 09
Revolution! KnitGrrl Style! Now!
My day job involves me finding the most efficient and cost-effective way for text and images to exist in InDesign files so that the final product to go to our printers is printed exactly the way we want it to be, and so we don’t have to pay extra for any last-minute alterations. It’s a geeky, geeky job. And I love the joy that comes from making a template or a final pdf and seeing how it will work so easily for anyone who has to use the file. It’s not creative, in the sense that I’m not creating something from scratching. But it is creative in the sense that I’m finding the best way for items to exist together. I get all jittery and dancey when I realize that I’ve discovered a way that will save an editor a few hours of frustration and time. I do another dance when I realize that I can automate something and save a composition person some time.
My heart however is currently invested in the craft world. Seeing people make things by hand, seeing these things have a profound effect on the people who end up with them is what really keeps me motivated. But the craft world isn’t just made up of knitting, and sewing, and decoupage. Oh, no! Unless you’ve avoided the craft section at your local library or bookstore recently, you’re probably aware of a huge resurgence in the number of books that are being published about crafting in general and about specific aspects of crafting. I’ve been lucky to know a few people who have had books published about their crafting skills. And they’re all skilled. They all make great crafts. They’re all talented and great writers. But I’ve heard of so many of them get little to no respect from their publisher once the book is printed. Here is a crafter who just took 6 months to a year out of their life, out of their business, out of their family to create a book that they assumed would be publicized and pushed and advertised. And once the final product is ready and delivered to bookstores they’re left with the publisher expecting them to set up and fund their own book tours, they have to beg to have books sent to magazines and newspapers and bloggers for reviews. They have to do all of the work to make their book sell that they assume their publisher will do for them. I know it isn’t just craft book authors who go through this.
I also know that publshing isn’t making a lot of money right now and hasn’t for a long time, actually. It’s hard to make a profit in publishing books. It’s hard to keep everyone’s pockets filled and still have money to invest in making more money. And in many aspects of publishing (specifically feminism and crafting, since I know the most about them), the expectations of the books that they publish seem to be few. It seems like if an author has a decent standing online and could conceivably sell say 2,000 copies of a book, then a publisher is willing to risk publishing the book. The first printing is likely to be low, maybe around 5,000 copies. So if half of them sell, and if the publisher invests minimal time, then they break even and are able to keep a full roster of new books so their catalog is filled.
Which is why I’m delighted to hear about something that Shannon Okey of KnitGrrl is starting. She’s going to self-publish her books. She has the web presence to attract buyers. She is tapped into the market of people who are interested in her works. She has name recognition. And if she’s going to have to do the work of publicizing and submitting her book for review and sale anyway, why not publish it herself. Now I’ve never heard Shannon complain about any of the companies who have published her books in the past. So I can’t really say how much or how little publicity help she’s gotten from her publisher. But I have to commend her DIY effort and encourage others to join her.
I want to see publishers live. I want to see books printed and published and available all over the place. I love books. I love making books, reading books, sharing books, talking about books, thinking about books. But I also love knowing that people who are creative and smart and talented are going to be able to put their books together themselves and publish them through independent on-demand printers instead of relying on a minimum print run of a few thousand. It may end up being that her books only sell a few hundred copies. Or it may end up that they sell many thousand copies. But either way, Shannon’s books will sell because Shannon is willing to put all the hard work necessary into getting them printed. And if she’s doing all the hard work, she deserves all the profits. Stay tuned for more updates on what her books are and when and where they’re available.
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