Small Presses
- By: Jessica Faust | Date: Aug 25 2006
What are your opinions of small presses, for example, Poisoned Pen Press? I noticed Libby Hellman’s books are published by Poisoned Pen in hardcover and Berkley in paperback. Is this highly unusual?
Sometimes a house such as Poisoned Pen will buy the hardcover rights from another publisher who has published paperback editions of an author’s work. In other words: Berkley Prime Crime might come out with a paperback original and license the hardcover rights to a publisher such as Poisoned Pen. As you know, there are all different kinds of subrights that make up a contract and provide opportunities for the authors and publishers.
—Jacky
I started out writing for a number of small presses, used that experience to improve my skills and build a reader base and felt much better prepared when Jessica finally got me the NY contract. Small presses tend to be more interactive with the author. That personal attention makes for a terrific training ground.