Found in Translation

The New York Times recently profiled Open Letter Books, a small press affiliated with the University of Rochester that has found itself a nice niche in translation.

Open Letter Books has published only sixteen titles so far, but some have made it onto the 2009 Best Of lists, and Amazon recently awarded the publisher a $20,000 grant for a new anthology by East European writers.

Like any small press, Open Letter focuses on quality, not marketability, when it comes to what it publishes. As University of Rochester professor Joanna Scott (faculty members help comprise the publisher’s selection committee) told the Times, “What we are looking for is excellent work, from any language, eclectic modern fiction that is overlooked. Commerce does not enter the discussions; I wouldn’t know a commercial book if I saw one.”

What I find most interesting about this publisher is its subscription service. For $100 a year, or $60 for six months, readers receive a copy of each book Open Letter publishes during that time period, with free U.S. shipping. This comes out to about $10 per book. (Archipelago Books, a nonprofit press also specializing in translation, also offers a subscription service.)

After the last distressing couple of years — as this article notes, “the publishing industry is in a tailspin” — it’s nice to hear about the continuing good work of small presses. And here’s hoping 2010 is a much better one for publishing.