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Легко ли быть издателем
Андре Шиффрин - американский издатель, кавалер ордена Почетного Легиона (Франция), лауреат одной из самых престижных литературных премий Италии (Il Premio Grinzane Cavour, 2002 г.). Наградами он удостоен не только за свою издательскую деятельность, но и за эту книгу, представляющую нечто среднее между мемуарами профессионала и памфлетом.
С 1961 г. А.Шиффрин работал в Пантеоне - подразделении издательского гиганта Рэндом-Хауз, которое специализировалось на интеллектуальной литературе. В 1990 г., когда новые владельцы Рэндом-Хауза принялись изымать из планов все, что не отвечало их мнению о вкусах массового потребителя, редакторы "Пантеона" подали заявления об увольнении. Основав независимое издательство "Нью-Пресс", А.Шиффрин поставил во главу угла качество, а не прибыльность книг. Подробно рассказывая о расцвете и гибели "Пантеона", автор проливает свет на закулисную жизнь крупных коммерческих издательств, а также показывает механизмы, используемые концернами в борьбе за рынок. Но даже в таких условиях, как доказывает А.Шиффрин, делясь опытом "Нью-Пресс", независимое интеллектуальное издательство способно выжить.
С 1961 г. А.Шиффрин работал в Пантеоне - подразделении издательского гиганта Рэндом-Хауз, которое специализировалось на интеллектуальной литературе. В 1990 г., когда новые владельцы Рэндом-Хауза принялись изымать из планов все, что не отвечало их мнению о вкусах массового потребителя, редакторы "Пантеона" подали заявления об увольнении. Основав независимое издательство "Нью-Пресс", А.Шиффрин поставил во главу угла качество, а не прибыльность книг. Подробно рассказывая о расцвете и гибели "Пантеона", автор проливает свет на закулисную жизнь крупных коммерческих издательств, а также показывает механизмы, используемые концернами в борьбе за рынок. Но даже в таких условиях, как доказывает А.Шиффрин, делясь опытом "Нью-Пресс", независимое интеллектуальное издательство способно выжить.
213 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
11 people are currently reading
526 people want to read
About the author
André Schiffrin
25 books14 followersAndré Schiffrin was a European-born American author, publisher and socialist (born 1935).
Schiffrin was the son of Jacques Schiffrin, a Russian Jew who emigrated to France and briefly enjoyed success there as publisher of the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, which he founded, and which was bought by Gallimard, until he was dismissed on account of the anti-Jewish laws enforced by the Vichy regime. Jacques Schiffrin and his family had to flee and eventually found refuge in the United States. As the younger Schiffrin recalls in his autobiography, A Political Education: Coming of Age in Paris and New York (2007), he thus experienced life in two countries as a child of a European Jewish intellectual family.
Schiffrin opposed both the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the U.S. war in Vietnam. He was one of the founders of the organization that became Students for a Democratic Society.
For nearly 30 years Schiffrin was director of publishing at Pantheon Books, where he was partially responsible for introducing the works of Pasternak, Foucault and others to America. Schiffrin quit Pantheon in 1990 and established the nonprofit The New Press, explaining that he did so because of economic trends that prevented him from publishing the serious books he thought should be published. Schiffrin discusses what he regards as the crisis in western publishing in his book The Business of Books: How the International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read (2000).
Schiffrin was the son of Jacques Schiffrin, a Russian Jew who emigrated to France and briefly enjoyed success there as publisher of the Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, which he founded, and which was bought by Gallimard, until he was dismissed on account of the anti-Jewish laws enforced by the Vichy regime. Jacques Schiffrin and his family had to flee and eventually found refuge in the United States. As the younger Schiffrin recalls in his autobiography, A Political Education: Coming of Age in Paris and New York (2007), he thus experienced life in two countries as a child of a European Jewish intellectual family.
Schiffrin opposed both the Soviet invasion of Hungary and the U.S. war in Vietnam. He was one of the founders of the organization that became Students for a Democratic Society.
For nearly 30 years Schiffrin was director of publishing at Pantheon Books, where he was partially responsible for introducing the works of Pasternak, Foucault and others to America. Schiffrin quit Pantheon in 1990 and established the nonprofit The New Press, explaining that he did so because of economic trends that prevented him from publishing the serious books he thought should be published. Schiffrin discusses what he regards as the crisis in western publishing in his book The Business of Books: How the International Conglomerates Took Over Publishing and Changed the Way We Read (2000).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
March 14, 2015
When I searched for this book on goodreads *by its title*, the first two suggestions were a freakonomics sequel and a Malcolm Gladwell book, which more or less proves that Schiffrin is right and large publishing conglomerates who expect each individual book to make a profit, and each publisher to make a super-profit, are simply incapable of printing good, worthwhile books.
When I finally found it, the two first reviews were both from people who read this book before setting up their own press. I have no idea if their presses publish things I would consider good, but Schiffrin (R.I.P.) has written that kind of inspiring book. He discusses his father's role in setting up Pantheon, his own travails in publishing, and his own founding of The New Press. He makes me want to start a press of my own, a substantially easier proposition now than when he wrote this one (c. 2000).
As an historical document, this is fascinating, too: only one mention of amazon, nothing (of course) on publishers like NYRB and Europa, only a glimmer of how important Dalkey would become... Not even the occasional "great books I have published" paragraph kept me from finishing this in a day. He published some great books! Good for him.
When I finally found it, the two first reviews were both from people who read this book before setting up their own press. I have no idea if their presses publish things I would consider good, but Schiffrin (R.I.P.) has written that kind of inspiring book. He discusses his father's role in setting up Pantheon, his own travails in publishing, and his own founding of The New Press. He makes me want to start a press of my own, a substantially easier proposition now than when he wrote this one (c. 2000).
As an historical document, this is fascinating, too: only one mention of amazon, nothing (of course) on publishers like NYRB and Europa, only a glimmer of how important Dalkey would become... Not even the occasional "great books I have published" paragraph kept me from finishing this in a day. He published some great books! Good for him.
August 4, 2017
Brilliant book as It helped me while I was preparing to write my book No Place To Stand Alone, It gives you a deep understanding of the current business climate.
August 17, 2019
You thought neoliberalism and New Public Management was just for governments, did you? Fear no more;- its force through the channels of business management was just as starkly exploitative and ultimately destructive as it was for governance. In this short, highly readable memoir-turned-study, a founding editor of The New Press remembers how Random House bought out his father's publishing house, Pantheon, and how it was itself, in turn, cannibalized and stripped for profitable parts by international media conglomerates.
Here is the apparent paradox Schiffrin, like most confronted by neoliberal transformations, faced: profits are rapidly rising, growth is seemingly everywhere, and at the same time the fundamental core of activities are ransacked while those at the top, newly emplaced and at the helms of multinational conglomerates, grow obscenely rich. The difference is that he faced it while helming one of the more prestigious, if newly rising publishing houses for trans-Atlantic literature in English, and that he was consequentially in a place to write about how he saw this happen. Along the way, Schiffrin mildly strips the illusions from cultural prestige and reminisces about some of his favourite authors and books - fair play to him.
In many ways, as other readers have pointed out, this book feels more and more like an artefact of its times. With the advent of Amazon - which does get mentioned, once in passing - and with the outsized influence of new media on the publishing industry, this book has much more to offer as a historical vision looking backwards along the 1930s to the 1990s than it does a forward looking vision of what the future might hold. You know what? I'm more than fine with that. Schiffrin reminds people of the earliest impulses in 20th century publishing while demonstrating the boost that North American publishing received as a consequence of the wave of culture-minded immigrants, especially Jewish immigrants to New York, in the wake of the Nazi rise to power in Europe, and he connects that with the subsequent destruction of governance and business at the hands of rapacious billionaires espousing neoliberal politics in the '80s and '90s.
That's a hell of a story and it is in danger of being forgotten without books like this one.
Here is the apparent paradox Schiffrin, like most confronted by neoliberal transformations, faced: profits are rapidly rising, growth is seemingly everywhere, and at the same time the fundamental core of activities are ransacked while those at the top, newly emplaced and at the helms of multinational conglomerates, grow obscenely rich. The difference is that he faced it while helming one of the more prestigious, if newly rising publishing houses for trans-Atlantic literature in English, and that he was consequentially in a place to write about how he saw this happen. Along the way, Schiffrin mildly strips the illusions from cultural prestige and reminisces about some of his favourite authors and books - fair play to him.
In many ways, as other readers have pointed out, this book feels more and more like an artefact of its times. With the advent of Amazon - which does get mentioned, once in passing - and with the outsized influence of new media on the publishing industry, this book has much more to offer as a historical vision looking backwards along the 1930s to the 1990s than it does a forward looking vision of what the future might hold. You know what? I'm more than fine with that. Schiffrin reminds people of the earliest impulses in 20th century publishing while demonstrating the boost that North American publishing received as a consequence of the wave of culture-minded immigrants, especially Jewish immigrants to New York, in the wake of the Nazi rise to power in Europe, and he connects that with the subsequent destruction of governance and business at the hands of rapacious billionaires espousing neoliberal politics in the '80s and '90s.
That's a hell of a story and it is in danger of being forgotten without books like this one.
December 21, 2020
3,5 🌟
"A ideia de que a nossa sociedade foi afectada de forma decisiva pela importância do dinheiro é amplamente reconhecida. Os valores que antes eram considerados como forcas compensatórias têm rapidamente desaparecido. Não só os nossos bens, mas os nossos empregos e mesmo nós próprios tornámos-nos mercadoria para ser vendida e comprada à mais alta licitação. Já em outros momentos históricos ocorreram transformações deste tipo. Mas agora, devido à globalização e à industrialização dos meios de comunicação, os seus efeitos são ainda mais assombrosos. O que aconteceu com o trabalho dos editores não é pior do que o que sucedeu com outras profissões liberais. Mas a mudança que ocorreu no meio editorial é de grande importância. É apenas nos livros que investigações e argumentações podem ser conduzidas de forma prolongada e em profundidade. Os livros têm sido tradicionalmente o único meio no qual duas pessoas, um autor e um editor, concordam em que há algo que precisa de ser dito, e por isso o partilham com o público por um pequeno montante de dinheiro."
"A ideia de que a nossa sociedade foi afectada de forma decisiva pela importância do dinheiro é amplamente reconhecida. Os valores que antes eram considerados como forcas compensatórias têm rapidamente desaparecido. Não só os nossos bens, mas os nossos empregos e mesmo nós próprios tornámos-nos mercadoria para ser vendida e comprada à mais alta licitação. Já em outros momentos históricos ocorreram transformações deste tipo. Mas agora, devido à globalização e à industrialização dos meios de comunicação, os seus efeitos são ainda mais assombrosos. O que aconteceu com o trabalho dos editores não é pior do que o que sucedeu com outras profissões liberais. Mas a mudança que ocorreu no meio editorial é de grande importância. É apenas nos livros que investigações e argumentações podem ser conduzidas de forma prolongada e em profundidade. Os livros têm sido tradicionalmente o único meio no qual duas pessoas, um autor e um editor, concordam em que há algo que precisa de ser dito, e por isso o partilham com o público por um pequeno montante de dinheiro."
August 15, 2010
A chilling tale of how consolidation among publishers and the demand for short-term profits led to the decline of quality books (including among university presses). Schiffrin edited at Pantheon for many years; his father, a Jewish European exile who fled Vichy France, was the founder of the well-respected publishing house Editions de la Pléiade before founding Pantheon. Once S.I. Newhouse bought Random House, things began to go downhill for Pantheon, and Schiffrin was forced out. In 1990 he founded The New Press, a non-profit publishing house. Published in 2000, this book does not quite address issues raised by e-books (although Schiffrin thinks a business model for university publishers with monographs that only a tiny handful of readers will want should involve publishing them online). It's a short book, so it can't be a comprehensive look at the business of books, but it's informative and provides an insider view that is both personal and institutional.
Read
March 6, 2023Schiffrin opened my eyes to the world of publishing and the dangers of the giant profit-above-all-else media conglomerates. Save the independent publishers!
July 8, 2022
Este livro fala sobre, como diz o próprio título, a influência que os grandes grupos económicos (da área editorial) tem sobre nós. É bastante interessante porque fala sobre a primeira pessoa e temos o ponto de vista de um editor, além de falar de um dos maiores grupos económicos editoriais - Penguin Random House. Os capítulos finais foram mais abstratos e gerais, declarando várias verdades que se enquandram até hoje, apesar do livro ser de 2013.
É um ótimo livro sobre o mercado editorial e recomendo a quem queira saber um pouco mais.
É um ótimo livro sobre o mercado editorial e recomendo a quem queira saber um pouco mais.
November 10, 2019
While his noble agenda sometimes feels like it flirts with bias—and thus a subjective / incomplete picture—Schiffrin’s account of the disastrous impact of unbridled capitalism on the post-WWII publishing in America (as well as abroad) should be essential reading for anyone working in the industry, published in the industry, or an aspiration toward either.
January 10, 2025
Apesar de muito do que se conta neste livro parecer ter acontecido ontem mas, na verdade, já foi há umas décadas, era bom haver uma parte II e, mais importante ainda, um estudo assim sobre o caso português.
May 21, 2021
"It is only in books that arguments and inquiries can be conducted at length and in depth. Books have traditionally been the one medium in which two people, an author and an editor, could agree that something needed to be said, and for a relatively small amount of money, share it with the public. Books differ in crucial ways from other media. Unlike magazines, they are not advertiser-driven. Unlike television and films, they do not have to find a mass audience. Books can afford to go against the current, to raise new ideas, to challenge the status quo, in the hope that with time an audience will be found. The threat to such books and the ideas they contain—what used to be known as the marketplace of ideas—is a dangerous development not only for professional publishing, but for society as a whole. We need to find new ways of maintaining the discourse that used to be considered an essential part of a democratic society."
Besides serving as an interesting memoir of someone having lived through the tectonic shifts in the publishing industry, this essay is a love letter to books, ideas, and their cultural, societal, and democratic value.
The key conceptual take-away idea is that of 'market censorship'. When censoring is involved, we usually think about deliberate decisions to deny the appearance of certain ideas, for whatever reasons. Here however, Schiffrin argues convincingly that applying the values and theory of the markets to a cultural product like books involves its own censoring mechanisms. This is so because, usually, new ideas or new authors take time to catch on. Some of the best books (and classics) out there were hardly bestsellers in their first printing. Publishing and editorial decisions were therefore long based on the knowledge and insight of editors and publishers, weighing the intellectual and cultural significance of authors and their ideas. Even though some books never made a profit on themselves, the fact that the idea is out there, and could potentially have an impact, is what was considered most important.
Yet somewhere during the 70s/80s, big conglomerates were buying up publishing houses, radically altering the rationale of which books are publishable. In particular, by attaching a future market value to new books ('how many copies will we sell?') an inherent censorship is built-in as only established authors, entertainment-driven products, or books catering to the mass instead of the niche market are being considered. Taking a chance on an author is no longer considered good business, in the process denying a whole scale of new ideas and texts to see the light of day.
In sum, the democratic value of having a 'free marketplace of ideas' is completely eroded when only the 'market value of an idea' is being considered.
Besides serving as an interesting memoir of someone having lived through the tectonic shifts in the publishing industry, this essay is a love letter to books, ideas, and their cultural, societal, and democratic value.
The key conceptual take-away idea is that of 'market censorship'. When censoring is involved, we usually think about deliberate decisions to deny the appearance of certain ideas, for whatever reasons. Here however, Schiffrin argues convincingly that applying the values and theory of the markets to a cultural product like books involves its own censoring mechanisms. This is so because, usually, new ideas or new authors take time to catch on. Some of the best books (and classics) out there were hardly bestsellers in their first printing. Publishing and editorial decisions were therefore long based on the knowledge and insight of editors and publishers, weighing the intellectual and cultural significance of authors and their ideas. Even though some books never made a profit on themselves, the fact that the idea is out there, and could potentially have an impact, is what was considered most important.
Yet somewhere during the 70s/80s, big conglomerates were buying up publishing houses, radically altering the rationale of which books are publishable. In particular, by attaching a future market value to new books ('how many copies will we sell?') an inherent censorship is built-in as only established authors, entertainment-driven products, or books catering to the mass instead of the niche market are being considered. Taking a chance on an author is no longer considered good business, in the process denying a whole scale of new ideas and texts to see the light of day.
In sum, the democratic value of having a 'free marketplace of ideas' is completely eroded when only the 'market value of an idea' is being considered.
March 24, 2014
Man, it bums me out that I'll never get to know André Schiffrin, the man is in an inspiration to me starting Deep Vellum, and I strive to follow in his footsteps--for example, I wrote a little piece about starting Deep Vellum in 2014 that merely echoes so much of what he wrote in this book in 2000! Beyond prescient, a sage, a mountain of a man, a publisher of integrity, a role model. RIP, sir.
"What has happened to the work of publishers is no worse than what has taken place in other liberal professions. But the change that has occurred in publishing is of paramount importance. It is only in books that arguments and inquiries can be conducted at length and in depth. Books have traditionally been the one medium in which two people, an author and an editor, could agree that something needed to be said, and for a relatively small amount of money, share it with the public. Books differ in crucial ways from other media. Unlike magazines, they are not advertiser-driven. Unlike television and films, they do not have to find a mass audience. Books can afford to go against the current, to raise new ideas, to challenge the status quo, in the hope that with time an audience will be found. The threat to such books and the ideas they contain—what used to be known as the marketplace of ideas—is a dangerous development not only for professional publishing, but for society as a whole. We need to find new ways of maintaining the discourse that used to be considered an essential part of a democratic society. The New Press and the other small publishers I've described have begun to deal with the challenge, but much more is required than what we've been able to accomplish so far. We must hope that in coming years more people, here and abroad, will realize how dangerous it is to live in a culture with a limited choice of ideas and alternatives, and how essential it is to maintain a wide-ranging debate. In short, to remember how important books have always been in our lives."
"What has happened to the work of publishers is no worse than what has taken place in other liberal professions. But the change that has occurred in publishing is of paramount importance. It is only in books that arguments and inquiries can be conducted at length and in depth. Books have traditionally been the one medium in which two people, an author and an editor, could agree that something needed to be said, and for a relatively small amount of money, share it with the public. Books differ in crucial ways from other media. Unlike magazines, they are not advertiser-driven. Unlike television and films, they do not have to find a mass audience. Books can afford to go against the current, to raise new ideas, to challenge the status quo, in the hope that with time an audience will be found. The threat to such books and the ideas they contain—what used to be known as the marketplace of ideas—is a dangerous development not only for professional publishing, but for society as a whole. We need to find new ways of maintaining the discourse that used to be considered an essential part of a democratic society. The New Press and the other small publishers I've described have begun to deal with the challenge, but much more is required than what we've been able to accomplish so far. We must hope that in coming years more people, here and abroad, will realize how dangerous it is to live in a culture with a limited choice of ideas and alternatives, and how essential it is to maintain a wide-ranging debate. In short, to remember how important books have always been in our lives."
January 7, 2016
At once, both an insider's personal history of publishing in America post-WWII, and a clear-eyed indictment of it.
If you've ever wonder what happened to the wide-ranging, thoughtful, and socially irascible books, those provocative and culture-making imprints like Pantheon and Grove Press, those wild-eyed, counter-culture, and truly dangerous authors and ideas...here's your answer.
Spoiler alert: the risk-averse giant, greedhead media conglomerates and their cabal of bottom-line bean-counters are what happened. The book is a kind of battlefield autopsy, a blow-by-blow account of how powerful global corporations have choked the life from publishing...indeed from American culture itself, not just by ignoring challenging books of all stripes, but by actively censoring them under the auspices of a so-called market-driven fairy tale. heart-breaking and haunting, if not a subtle call-to-arms for all the small and independent press writers, artists, and publishers out there. Because ideas and art -- not commerce, not the filthy lucre -- should inform culture. Sigh.
If you've ever wonder what happened to the wide-ranging, thoughtful, and socially irascible books, those provocative and culture-making imprints like Pantheon and Grove Press, those wild-eyed, counter-culture, and truly dangerous authors and ideas...here's your answer.
Spoiler alert: the risk-averse giant, greedhead media conglomerates and their cabal of bottom-line bean-counters are what happened. The book is a kind of battlefield autopsy, a blow-by-blow account of how powerful global corporations have choked the life from publishing...indeed from American culture itself, not just by ignoring challenging books of all stripes, but by actively censoring them under the auspices of a so-called market-driven fairy tale. heart-breaking and haunting, if not a subtle call-to-arms for all the small and independent press writers, artists, and publishers out there. Because ideas and art -- not commerce, not the filthy lucre -- should inform culture. Sigh.
Want to read
November 11, 2015I bought a remaindered copy of this title in 2008 but never read it before later losing the copy in a move.
The two gentleman on either side of the counter when I purchased my copy made much in the way of comment upon my transaction.
Relevant link.
The two gentleman on either side of the counter when I purchased my copy made much in the way of comment upon my transaction.
Relevant link.
November 11, 2024
To sum this book up, money, profit, seeking, and the market have corrupted and destroyed almost every aspect of life. The influence of money is captured here in the book publishing business, but is by no means limited to publishing.
The way it works is every single aspect of the business is looked at from a perspective of profit generation. The interesting thing is that this extends to areas like academics where the profit motive is looked at in terms of the department and how much revenue they are gaining from classes and departments.
By so doing many things that would have previously been produced or published are now left to the wayside. Some of the best books of all time took quite a while to catch on and in the quarterly revenue reports they’re simply is no room for waiting several years to turn a profit.
When you add all of this up, you end up, limiting the amount of ideas that are produced to only what is popular and this leads to a tendency of low brow fair.
The entire distribution system conspires to prevent new ideas and any title of substance from being published and we are all the loser as a result.
The way it works is every single aspect of the business is looked at from a perspective of profit generation. The interesting thing is that this extends to areas like academics where the profit motive is looked at in terms of the department and how much revenue they are gaining from classes and departments.
By so doing many things that would have previously been produced or published are now left to the wayside. Some of the best books of all time took quite a while to catch on and in the quarterly revenue reports they’re simply is no room for waiting several years to turn a profit.
When you add all of this up, you end up, limiting the amount of ideas that are produced to only what is popular and this leads to a tendency of low brow fair.
The entire distribution system conspires to prevent new ideas and any title of substance from being published and we are all the loser as a result.
July 31, 2017
A very interesting and deeply personal account of the changes to publishing culture in the past few decades. I've rated it three stars as it is not quite the overview of the industry it has been positioned as, instead giving a detailed look at how conglomerate culture has affected Schiffrin's career. The chapter on market censorship was very interesting and I'd have loved to hear more about the impact this will have on readers and wider culture, as opposed to the effect on editors. Worth reading.
December 31, 2020
Wish it had the personal anecdotes and dollar advance amounts of the contemporaneous Daniel Menaker publishing memoir but still crucial. Even though it misses the Internet and Amazon’s eclipse it still has a lot to say about “market censorship” and the sickness and promise of Books.
October 10, 2022
Part memoir, part industry analysis. This book provides great insights into the market forces in the publishing industry in the early 2000s that are still in place today. Recommended for anyone curious about how the publishing industry works.
February 20, 2018
I read this for class but it was still a pretty good book that had me kind of wanting to start my own publishing company.
January 26, 2019
It has some really interesting quotes and insights into the publishing world
November 23, 2024
A touching memoir, although a bit boring with it's lists of authors and titles. Its filled too with lots of underside details I appreciate.
June 18, 2025
A powerful book I didn't realize I had to read! A great insight on what and how books come onto the market place. Freedom of the press is not as free as one assumes.
January 26, 2021
Eu apenas cheguei até o trabalho de Schiffrin por conta do mágico encontro com uma livraria de bairro, a @livrariaacervo aqui em Pinheiros, São Paulo. Foi o seu dono, Josué, que conversando comigo sobre os rumos do mercado, identificou que esse pode ser um livro de interesse. Acertou.
'O Negócio dos Livros' é um livro forte, pois é o relato de alguém que devotou a vida ao mercado editorial. Filho de um importante editor, André Schiffrin nasceu dentro do mercado e viu, de camarote, o surgimento de fenômenos literários como Marguerite Duras e do quadrinho Maus, mas também viu todas as mudanças malignas trazidas pelos conglomerados financeiros que tomaram o seu mercado. Por isso, nesse livro é possível ver paixão, mas também o ódio.
Para Schiffrin, a beleza do negócio editorial estava na busca incessante por idéias novas. As pequenas tiragens não eram problema. O equilíbrio de lançamentos de riscos diferentes manteria a balança estável. O que importava, ao fim, era a qualidade do trabalho, a excelência, não as cifras. O seu trabalho de anos na Pantheon não só elevou valores intelectuais, mas tiveram um forte impacto nas campanhas pelos direitos civis, contra a guerra do Vietnã e outras questões de interesse para a sociedade. Por essa razão, Schiffrin via o trabalho dos editores como de guardiões da liberdade, algo de muita importância. Não nego que senti uma vontade incrível de estar em uma posição como a dele para ver obras e coleções surgirem pelo fruto de meu próprio trabalho.
Isso faz com que fique fácil entender a revolta de Schiffrin quando as fusões começaram a surgir dentro do mercado. Monopólios foram criados. Os grupos começaram a contratar gestores externos, que focados em lucrar a qualquer medida, acabaram destruindo valores, financeiros e morais, além de todo um legado de excelência de selos como a Pantheon e de muitos outros.
Ao fim, as reflexões ficam.
Um olhar de apoio às pequenas editoras e a liberdade criativa dos nossos editores nesses tempos sombrios.
'O Negócio dos Livros' é um livro forte, pois é o relato de alguém que devotou a vida ao mercado editorial. Filho de um importante editor, André Schiffrin nasceu dentro do mercado e viu, de camarote, o surgimento de fenômenos literários como Marguerite Duras e do quadrinho Maus, mas também viu todas as mudanças malignas trazidas pelos conglomerados financeiros que tomaram o seu mercado. Por isso, nesse livro é possível ver paixão, mas também o ódio.
Para Schiffrin, a beleza do negócio editorial estava na busca incessante por idéias novas. As pequenas tiragens não eram problema. O equilíbrio de lançamentos de riscos diferentes manteria a balança estável. O que importava, ao fim, era a qualidade do trabalho, a excelência, não as cifras. O seu trabalho de anos na Pantheon não só elevou valores intelectuais, mas tiveram um forte impacto nas campanhas pelos direitos civis, contra a guerra do Vietnã e outras questões de interesse para a sociedade. Por essa razão, Schiffrin via o trabalho dos editores como de guardiões da liberdade, algo de muita importância. Não nego que senti uma vontade incrível de estar em uma posição como a dele para ver obras e coleções surgirem pelo fruto de meu próprio trabalho.
Isso faz com que fique fácil entender a revolta de Schiffrin quando as fusões começaram a surgir dentro do mercado. Monopólios foram criados. Os grupos começaram a contratar gestores externos, que focados em lucrar a qualquer medida, acabaram destruindo valores, financeiros e morais, além de todo um legado de excelência de selos como a Pantheon e de muitos outros.
Ao fim, as reflexões ficam.
Um olhar de apoio às pequenas editoras e a liberdade criativa dos nossos editores nesses tempos sombrios.
February 22, 2008
Since I started my Press I've read a lot of memoirs by publishers about their presses. This is an interesting book because it deals with the nature of capitalism in the book business. Most companies are purchased by larger companies and they become something else. Sometimes they become less interesting or a water-down version of their work in the past. The argument in this book is regarding the future of publishing and how it is chasing the dollar and in results sort of a dumming down or ignoring a big part of our culture.
Which I think is true to a cetain amount, but then again a lot of little presses are around and doing great books. Plus I think blogging has sort of taken over the role of 'new' authors in a sense. And a book is a book and a blog is a blog - so I don't want to confuse the two mediums, but I think a lot of new voices are coming up via blogging. So I am hopeful regarding the nature of literature - and if the bigger companies ignore this small group of artists/writers - fine! Who needs them! Plenty of small presses/websites will flurish and coninue the work of discovering the new and the old alike.
Which I think is true to a cetain amount, but then again a lot of little presses are around and doing great books. Plus I think blogging has sort of taken over the role of 'new' authors in a sense. And a book is a book and a blog is a blog - so I don't want to confuse the two mediums, but I think a lot of new voices are coming up via blogging. So I am hopeful regarding the nature of literature - and if the bigger companies ignore this small group of artists/writers - fine! Who needs them! Plenty of small presses/websites will flurish and coninue the work of discovering the new and the old alike.
July 4, 2012
"Books today have become mere adjuncts to the world of the mass media, offering light entertainment and reassurances that all is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds. The resulting control on the spread of ideas is stricter than anyone would have thought possible in a free society. The need for public debate and open discussion, inherent in the democratic ideal, conflicts with the ever-stricter demand for total profit."
"The idea that our society has been fundamentally affected by the importance of money is widely recognized. Other values that have been looked to as convervailing forces are fast disappearing. Not only our belongings but our jobs and, indeed, our selves have become commodities to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. There have been other times in history when such changes have taken place. But now, linked to globalization and to the industiralization of the media, the effects are all the more staggering."
"The idea that our society has been fundamentally affected by the importance of money is widely recognized. Other values that have been looked to as convervailing forces are fast disappearing. Not only our belongings but our jobs and, indeed, our selves have become commodities to be bought and sold to the highest bidder. There have been other times in history when such changes have taken place. But now, linked to globalization and to the industiralization of the media, the effects are all the more staggering."
November 3, 2011
This book isn't exactly brimming with piz-zazz. As utterly fascinating as the subjects are it reads like a scholarly journal for most of it.
The best parts are where Schiffrin gives personal insights into the lives and personalities of some the great book publishers.
There is no doubt in my mind the Schiffrin is someone I'd like to have over for dinner and listen to more stories of publishing's successes and failures.
But without that pre-dinner drink in his hand it may all still be a bit dry.
It is definately a must read for anyone interested in publishing and books. Schiffrin posses too much personal experience for us to miss out on.
But if you're just starting to dip your toe into "books on publishing" I'd recommend Anne Fadiman or Gabriel Zaid first.
The best parts are where Schiffrin gives personal insights into the lives and personalities of some the great book publishers.
There is no doubt in my mind the Schiffrin is someone I'd like to have over for dinner and listen to more stories of publishing's successes and failures.
But without that pre-dinner drink in his hand it may all still be a bit dry.
It is definately a must read for anyone interested in publishing and books. Schiffrin posses too much personal experience for us to miss out on.
But if you're just starting to dip your toe into "books on publishing" I'd recommend Anne Fadiman or Gabriel Zaid first.
August 8, 2012
I enjoyed this book which is part history of post-WWII publishing, part memoir, and part critique of the publishing business mergers and acquisitions and its effect on literary publishing. As a memoir, Schiffrin is more bitter than sweet although his anecdotes about authors are fun and revealing. The historical notes document the breakthrough titles and authors of classics from Dr Zhivago, Anne Morrow Lindberg's Gift from the Sea, Studs Lonergan by James T. Farrell and oral histories by Studs Turkel. Much of the middle of the book is a blistering attack on the bottom line focus of the corporate acquirer...S.I. Newhouse at Random House in particular. But the trend of large corporate ownership and commercial publishing over literary publishing is a fact of late 20th century publishing.
November 23, 2008
Another really interesting look at the changing history of the book publishing industry from an insider. Schiffrin's book is a bit more pessimistic than Jason Epstein's (in fact, Schiffrin attacks Epstein in The Business of Books for being too optimistic about the future of book publishing). And, clearly, as Schiffrin's experience at Pantheon demonstrates, the changes that have been brought to publishing as a result of corporate takeover leave much to be lamented. Even so, Schiffrin's new endeavors with The New Press leave me hopeful that there is still a place for those who want to read, write, and make good books.
April 5, 2012
I learned of this book perusing the site of the small press Two Dollar Radio, and am glad I learned of it, and eventually read it. Not only does it reflect the publishing industry, but of production and communication in general being driven by an obsession with money and growth. The final chapter has left me reverberating with both despair at how business in general is orchestrated by a handful of corporations, but with excitement at the hope of restarting industry from the ground up, with enough inspired people out there getting fed up, but instead of complaining about it, create not only an independently made commodity, but a community, where ideas are exchanged.
November 17, 2015
A solid 3.5 stars on this one. Memoir of one of the grand old men in traditional publishing, one who watched the giant corporate takeovers and consolidations of the last several decades from a ringside seat. It's a history that ends before the advrbtnifbtge ebook, but is still quite relevant for understanding how book publishing got to the point it's at now. My only criticisms are with the rather self-congratulatory tone and a certain level of intellectual snobbery in his writing. It uncommon for a publishing gent if his generation, but a wee bit tiresome after a few chapters. I would still recommend it to anyone who aspires to work in or be published by a large mainstream publisher.
April 30, 2008
Made me realize how political the book/publishing industry is. Partly an autobiography, partly a survey of the business, and very much a critique of how greedy and anti-intellectual the industry has become.
It's kind of ridiculous how many names he drops and how many people he has met over the years, but I guess it comes with the territory. For example, he signed Matt Groenig in the early 1990s just as The Simpsons was getting huge. He drops all of these names casually as well as the titles of many books that I certainly did not recognize, which was a little annoying.
It's kind of ridiculous how many names he drops and how many people he has met over the years, but I guess it comes with the territory. For example, he signed Matt Groenig in the early 1990s just as The Simpsons was getting huge. He drops all of these names casually as well as the titles of many books that I certainly did not recognize, which was a little annoying.
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