The Deixis Press Weekly - Issue #53

Greetings bibliophiles,

This newsletter started out as a way to discuss stuff I was learning as I stumbled around the guts of publishing, trying to put it all together. Of course, after 10 books I’ve got reasonably good at making books a tangible reality, and I’ve come to understand, if not fully accept, the issues that plague me as an independent publisher, especially the hurdles that large publishers don’t face.

For example, all of my books are marked “returnable” at Ingram Spark, and I have set an admittedly low-ish discount (something like 30%), but when bookstores try to order from Gardners, they see that the books are not returnable and that they get only a 10% RRP discount. And I’d really, really, REALLY LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING THERE but Gardners, who hold all of the power, don’t particularly care to inform me about anything.

All of that was less of an issue when I wasn’t trying to get into bookstores. But now I’m trying to venture toward bookstores more, so it’s recently become concerning. And the bookstores themselves (somenotall) set some remarkable requirements for independent publishers. Selling my books to (somenotallof) them is almost like preparing for a job interview. And I have this sneaky suspicion: do the same self-flagellation rules apply to the big-name publishers they stock? Does a penguin need to go down on its feathery knees? Does Simon have to bend over backward while Schuster juggles? 🤨 I'll leave that for you to consider.

Worse, I’ll never know if the lack of reply is because I’ve been deemed unworthy or because my email has gone into spam. As it is wont to do. Well. there we are.

In less irritating news, you can continue to pre-order The Burn Street Haunting and The Cartoon Life and Loves of a Stupid Man. Excited? You better be! Here is a selection of the links you could use to do that. (Other URLs are available.)

I also had a meeting with an author yesterday who is very likely to become the newest member of the Deixis family in summer 2024. Of course, anything could happen, so I won’t say too much yet, but I look forward to adding even more subject matter variety to my already diffuse list. Damn, there are a lot of good stories out there.

And for all those on tenterhooks about the launch party, invitations are almost on their way! A little change though: instead of going the Paperless Post route, I'll be sending out invites via email—just finishing up the final graphic. Stay aware! and look in your spam folder ffs

Yours,

Angel