Exploring the Power of Publishing Collectives
It began with an invitation. The editor of an online literary magazine invited me to join a “Poetry Collective.” Surprised, because this particular publication had never published my poetry, I thought why not see what this “collective” was all about.
Collective. The word generally refers to a cooperative enterprise such as a farm where everyone shares the work of planting and harvesting. Another sort of collective would be a band of artisans who join together to market their crafts.
Musicians who want to play music together sometimes decide to form a Music Collective. Depending on the interests and abilities of the group members, they share the responsibilities of writing or selecting pieces to perform as well as the logistics of scheduling and promoting concerts.
A group of visual artists might rent gallery space, each give one day of time to serve as salesperson, and share the overhead costs to avoid paying a standard forty or fifty percent gallery commission.
In college I was a founding member of a storefront food co-op. Volunteering time can be challenging to track and measure. Some jobs are harder than others. To get things going I remember having to commit to working as a cashier/bagging clerk one morning per week. It was hard to take time away from my studies, but I knew if the “founders” didn’t show their commitment by example, no one else was going to consistently volunteer
Always you want participants to ultimately be rewarded by their efforts, because they see the tangible results.
What can be more tangible than a book? That’s the reward in the collective I joined, Old Scratch Press. To reduce costs we proofread each other’s work, maintain a website and collaborate on marketing ideas. We are lucky to be sponsored by Current Word Publishing, a small independent hybrid publisher who provides us with free professional design support, although many of our collective members possess artistic and design experience as well.
I knew no one in the group at the first zoom meeting. I can’t even say I’d previously read any of their work, but they quickly impressed me when I did start doing some research on my colleagues. True to form, after the first meeting or two a few writers who’d been initially interested dropped out. Was it the work commitment or a lack of affinity with the group? It didn’t matter. The rest of us stayed, set up some ground rules and by lottery and “readiness” determined the order of who would be published first.
Some of us are better at proofreading while others have experience in setting up online readings or finding outlets to publish book reviews. We try to play to our strengths.
Put a group of artists together and who knows what they might accomplish if given a platform. Poetry and short form prose are not blockbuster best-selling books, but there is a place in the world for a slim volume of good writing that sells for less than $10. What kind of thoughtful gift can you buy for such a low price? And if you don’t like paper, there is the ebook version.
But not limiting ourselves to book publishing, think of literary journals. Not all are subsidized by academic institutions. Already many literary magazines operate along the same idea of volunteering time, and collectively sharing the work to produce a product their editors and staff believe in.
Money is easily spent but art can last forever.
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Originally published at http://nadjamaril.com on September 24, 2024.
