Small Presses?

[BrianY]

I'm noticing another change in terminology that's leaving me scratching my head. It seems that any publisher that isn't one of the "Big 5" is now called a "small press." This means that companies like Chronicle, Rowman & Littlefield, and WW Norton are now "small presses." Can this be? I feel like I'm really being left behind in author terminology.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I do not think the issue is with the number of books published and sold, that is the the size of the publisher, but with the perceptions of authors who spend more time blogging than writing books. Or did I get this all wrong? Sorry if I sound dense.

 

[James Charles]

I'm noticing another change in terminology that's leaving me scratching my head. It seems that any publisher that isn't one of the "Big 5" is now called a "small press." This means that companies like Chronicle, Rowman & Littlefield, and WW Norton are now "small presses." Can this be? I feel like I'm really being left behind in author terminology.

The big five have so many so-called imprints. I don't think they are called small.

 

[BrianY]

The publishers I mentioned aren't small at all. I believe that they're wrongly called "small" so that boosters of self-publishing can push the narrative that the only possibilities are the big 5 and buying some service from them.

 

[CarolMS]

The publishers I mentioned aren't small at all. I believe that they're wrongly called "small" so that boosters of self-publishing can push the narrative that the only possibilities are the big 5 and buying some service from them.

Sounds like it's wise to know who's doing the talking and what their motivation is before buying any services from them or buying what they say. Self-publishing seems to have opened the door to all kinds of greedy tricksters just out to take advantage of hard-working writers who deserve a chance to publish with at least some success, and the advantages of publishing with the Big 5, even for the few who make it out of the slush pile, seem to be dwindling anyway. Further, I think many lump independent and small presses together, but not all indies are small, as you point out. I'm guessing this is requiring a lot more research by writers than it used to. Bummer. I just want to write!

 

[Hannah F]

I think (I could be wrong) that because "indie" is now used interchangeably between independent company traditional publication and self-/hybrid-publishing, the independent trad publishers are moving towards the term "small press".

 

[BrianY]

I'm sorry, but it's impossible for me to believe that Rowman & Littlefield or W.W. Norton would describe themselves as small presses. The last time I heard, they were still calling themselves "independent."

What's bothering me is that as we speak, the whole vocabulary of writing is being re-purposed in a way that makes any alternative to self publishing seem more distant and pointless. If what's happening really is something new, how about some new words to describe it?