Small Presses Want Every Voice to Be Heard

Small Press Month is officially the month of March, but don't tell that to independent booksellers -- those who spoke to BTW explained that they celebrate small presses all year round. That's because small presses play a key role in the identities of their stores, allowing each independent bookstore to offer unique titles that their customers might not find elsewhere.

Tracy Taylor, general manager for The Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, told BTW in a recent interview that the store holds staff "book meetings" every six weeks, where employees bring books to recommend and "more than 50 percent presented from staff member to staff member are small press titles…. In our fiction section, [small press titles] are what people have come to know us for. They are the so-called fill-in-the-gap books that the chains might not spotlight. We look for them and cull out the ones we like and handsell them."

Without question, there is a symbiotic relationship between small presses and independent bookstores, and the Small Press Center (SPC) is hoping that, in March, booksellers will further emphasize this connection, said Karin Taylor, executive director of SPC. "We appreciate so much the support that independent booksellers give small presses throughout the year," she said. "We're hoping that, in these upcoming four weeks, independents will have a particular focus on independent publishers."

SPC, in partnership with Publishers Marketing Association (PMA), first founded Small Press Month in 1997 to highlight the diverse, quality books produced by independent publishers. This year, SPC and PMA are joined by Book Sense and Consortium Book Sales & Distribution to create the month-long celebration. Other co-sponsors include Small Press Distribution, The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, F & W Publications, Independent Publishers Group, National Book Network, and R.R. Bowker.

In celebration of Small Press Month, there will be a number of events. For How to Get Published Day, on Tuesday, March 4, many publishers and published small press writers will be speaking at their local bookstores and libraries, providing tips on the publishing process. Additionally, SPC has compiled a bibliography of books on getting published, which bookstores can use as a guide for creating a How to Get Published book display. (For the SPC's bibliography, click here.)

Also as part of How to Get Published Day, New York City-based SPC will be hosting a seminar on publishing options. Judith Appelbaum, managing director of Sensible Solutions and author of How to Get Happily Published (HarperCollins), will be discussing such topics as approaching and working with a large trade publisher, as well as the benefits of working with a small press. She will also speak about the latest innovations in self-publishing.

From March 29 - 30, SPC will host the Small Press Fair, the country's leading book fair for independent publishers in New York. Over 200 independent book and magazine publishers take part, and special events include literary panels and book arts demonstrations.

Stores with Book Sense were sent free posters celebrating Small Press Month, featuring the slogan "Let Every Voice Be Heard," as well as a list of suggestions of "Six Things to Do for Small Press Month for Bookstores & Libraries" in the most recent white box.

For Small Press Month, Elliot Bay Books' Taylor told BTW that they "just reallocated a display area in our fiction section for small presses. Something different to spark interest."

Mark Sutz, manager of Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, noted that, just recently, he had the idea to highlight a different small press each month. "When I went to [co-owner] Gayle [Shanks] with the idea, she told me that March is Small Press Month," he said.

Sutz noted that he will be spotlighting McAdam-Cage titles in March -- "a really great small press," he added. Additionally, he will post the "Let Every Voice Be Heard" posters.

"We want to make people aware of what small presses do," Sutz said. "We'll put the Small Press Month poster up near the register and after the month is over, we'll transform that poster into our own."

Heather Duncan, director of marketing for the Tattered Cover Book Store, which has two bookstores in Denver, Colorado, said that the bookstores would not be doing anything "big and flashy" for Small Press Month. However, "we will have table displays in each store with small press titles on those tables," she explained. "And we usually have 30-odd events in a month, and, in March, a good handful" will spotlight small press titles.

Additionally, both Tattered Cover stores will display posters, and there will be a notice about Small Press Month on the Tattered Cover Web site, and a mention in the store's e-mail newsletter.

"Small presses are extremely important to the Tattered Cover, as they are for independent bookselling in general," Duncan said. "Titles from small presses add so much to the richness of our title mix -- which truly helps us to differentiate ourselves from our chain competitors. I can't imagine our shelves without them. We are in this business to offer 'the world of ideas' to our customers. Through our selection and our author appearance program (averaging 40 events per month), we are able to present a very diverse array of books, from both small and large presses, to Denver's readers."

For more information on Small Press Month, go to www.smallpress.org. --David Grogan