My Way_ Speeches and Poems - Charles Bernstein

PRO V I S ION A LIN S TI T U TI 0 N 5 149
to a recent study by Mary Biggs, independent noncommercial presses are
the major source of exposure for all poets, young and old, prize winning
or not. 5
The staple of the independent literary press is the single-author poetry
collection. Douglas Messerli, publisher of Sun & Moon Press, a highend
small press comparable to Black Sparrow, New Directions, and Dalkey
Archive, provided me with representative publication information for a
100-page poetry collection:
Print runs at Sun & Moon go from 1,000 to 2,000, depending, of course,
on likely sales. Messerli notes that print runs of less than 1,000 drive the
unit cost up too high and he encourages other literary presses to print a
minimum of 1,000 copies if at all possible.
Sun & Moon titles are well-produced, perfectbound, and offset with
full color covers. The printing bill for this runs from $2,600 to $4,000 as
you go from 1,000 to 2,000 copies. Messerli estimates the cost of editing
a 100-page poetry book at $300: this covers all the work between the
press receiving a manuscript and sending it to a designer (including any
copyediting and proofreading that may be necessary as well as preparation
of front and back matter and cover copy). Typesetting is already a
rarity for presses like Sun & Moon, with authors expected to provide
computer disks wherever possible. Formatting these disks (converting
them into type following specifications of the book designer) can cost
anywhere from $300 to $1,000, one of those variable labor costs typical
of small press operations. The book designer will charge about $500. The
cover will cost an additional $100 for photographic reproduction or permission
fees or both. Publicity costs must also be accounted for, even if,
as at Sun & Moon, no advertising is involved. Messerli estimates publicity
costs at $1,500, which covers the cost of something like 100 free
copies distributed to reviewers, postage and packing, mailings and catalog
pages, etc. The total cash outlay here, then, for 2,000 copies, is
around $6,800. (For the sake of this discussion, overhead costs-rent,
salaries, office equipment, phone bills, etc.-are not included; such costs
typically are estimated at about 30 percent more than the cost of production.)
If all goes well, Sun & Moon will sell out of its print run in two years.
Let's say Sun & Moon prints 2,000 copies of the book and charges $10 retail;
let's also say all the books were sold. That makes a gross of $20,000.
Subtract from this a 50 percent wholesale discount (that is, most book-
5. Mary Biggs, A Gift That Cannot Be Refused, The Writing and Publishing of Contemporary American
Poetry (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1990), cited in Glazier, Small Press, p. 38.