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Booksellers Reflect on Self-Publishing

by Joe Biel, Karin de Jong, Jae Kyung Kim, Geoffrey KixMiller, Liz Mason, Craig Mathis, Mark Pawson, Temporary Services and Steven Svymbersky

Published by Half Letter Press

5.5"x8.5", 52p, full color, offset printed, saddle stitched

$10.00

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Featuring among other people, Quimby's Chicago and NYC zine-slingers spilling some tea about the world of selling self-published periodicals.

The publisher sez:

At long last, a new Temporary Services booklet - made with 8 wonderful contributors from the artist book, zine and self-publishing bookselling universe.

For this booklet we reached out to book stores and distributors that we have worked with -- in some cases for just a couple years, and in others for almost the entire time that we’ve been making and selling booklets and books. We sent everyone this description of the publication we wanted to produce:

Artist publishing is thriving. As printing continues to become more accessible, and subjects like zine-making become part of college and high school curricula, the number of self-publishers is exploding. There are an ever-increasing number of art book fairs, zine fests and events for self-publishers, but distribution of the countless titles people produce remains a challenge as the number of participants in the field surges. Many people that work in bookstores that carry artists’ books and zines are also publishers themselves. We invited some of the booksellers we work with to reflect on the state of self-publishing as they experience it at the stores they work in, manage, or own. What insights can they share about the state of self-publishing? What advice can bookstores offer to self-publishers? How can artist publishers and bookstores work together in mutually supportive ways? What approaches are working and where are there weaknesses in the publisher and distributor relationship?

This collection provides a detailed and generous array of observations, stories, and advice. We hope it is valuable to anyone that is interested in publishing, and wants their work to be in stores and other spaces for books. There are so many other great shops we couldn’t include; readers should talk to them too.

Compiled by Temporary Services with writings by Steven Svymbersky / Quimby's Bookstore NYC, Mark Pawson, Joe Biel / Microcosm Publishing, Jae Kyung Kim / einBuch.haus, Karin de Jong / PrintRoom, Craig Mathis / Printed Matter, Liz Mason / Quimby's Bookstore, Geoffrey KixMiller / Tomorrow Today