Changing the Country, One Book at a Time

[Editor's Note: This is the first of two parts of our Roundtable Discussion on Progressive Publishing. You can download the audio of this talk from AlterNet in two parts: Part One, Part Two. The second half of the discussion was published on Friday.]

Introduction

In our world of fast-changing technologies, information overload, instant pundits and a relentless global 24/7 news cycle, books are, perhaps surprisingly, still vitally important. Yes, in the era of the Internet and media convergence on the web, Gutenberg's invention is still holding its ground, even though there is some decline in the number of books being sold, in a business sector that has its ups and downs.

There are many reasons why books remain a central part of many of our lives. One heartening reason is books represent deeper thinking than what we get in our day-to-day news scanning, and, happily, many people still want to dig and know more to make sense of our crazy and disconcerting world. And in some cases, book authors get enough respect and attention to jumpstart a national conversation.

Nevertheless, the trends in book publishing reflect media consolidation in other areas -- there are the big conglomerates and the little guys. As much as 80 percent of trade publishing is controlled by large publishing houses. Still, book sales are big business: Barnes and Noble, Borders and Amazon are all battling for market share. The Internet is helping to make many more books available than the brick and mortar stores can contain -- the so-called "long tail" that is supposed to strengthen small, independent publishers.

One might think that the smaller independent progressive book publishers would be thriving, especially in the face of the Bush administration's rampant unpopularity. But, surprisingly, political publishing is in the doldrums. The publishing boom of post-9/11 and the earlier Bush years have faded, along with the effectiveness of progressive activism. Is there a connection with books and the state of political engagement?

AlterNet invited four stalwarts of the progressive publishing universe to Mo Pitkin's in New York City to chat about the state of all things book publishing on January 11, 2006. Anthony Arnove is an author and editor at Haymarket Books as well as the literary agent for progressive heavies Arundhati Roy and Noam Chomsky. Dan Simon is the founder and publisher of Seven Stories Press, who has had some notable publishing successes -- currently with Kurt Vonnegut's "A Man Without A Country." (Seven Stories, in partnership with Akashic Books, published AlterNet's "The Five Biggest Lies Bush Told Us About Iraq" by Christopher Scheer, Robert Scheer and Lakshmi Chaudhry.)

Sarah Bershtel is the longtime associate publisher of Metropolitan Books, an imprint of Henry Holt and Co., where she has been the force behind notable political publishing including Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed" and her newest "Bait and Switch"; also on Metropolitan's roster is Thomas Frank's "What's the Matter With Kansas?" and many others.

The fourth participant was Colin Robinson, a dynamic Brit, who had major success at Verso Books before moving over to the New York City-based nonprofit New Press in 2001. New Press is considered the heavyweight of independent political publishing, given the number of books it publishes, and its creative titles and fundraising prowess. Robinson, as chief editorial operative, was seen as a compelling fit by many at the New Press. But, much to the shock of some of his fellow publishers, Robinson left at the end of the year do to editorial differences. In Editor and Publisher, Diane Wachtell, executive director of the New Press, acknowledged the differences over running the non-profit publishing houses. "The New Press is an interesting hybrid and there's nothing written down on just how you go about making it work. We all care about it, but we don't all have the same vision on how to make it work," Wachtell said.