Page8 RAIN PU An OP operates somewhat like a~ Open University (alternately called Free U). An OP does for the unknown or exotic writer what an Open U does for an uncredentialed instructor. Here's how it might work. Anyone may participate in an OP by sending material ready for photocopying. She encloses a small fee (if she can afford to) which pays for holding her article and for inclusion of her abstract in the OP's catalog. This catalog contains summaries of all the works in the OP's files. It is advertised and sold as widely as possible. The OP only prints the catalog; it doesn't print the manuscripts themselves. The manuscripts are photocopied only as needed to fill, orders. This way funds aren't risked making and stocking thousands of copies of items which may not sell well. Optionally, those writers who wish to may print their works themselves and supply finished copies to the OP. Each author sets her own selling price. The OP pays her ·everything over its mini~ . mums. [Alternatively, a more-if-you-can, less-if-you-can't sliding fee scale could be set up to.insure that this information is really by Pat Underh~ll Traditional publishing forms are well suited to the mass market. But magazines and book houses cannot afford to print what interests only a few. Consequently many findings and ideas never get far beyond the brains of their writers. I've learned this as a reader, during long hours spent scanning periodical directories and book lists for unorthodox sources. And I've learned this as a writer, by quickly running out of likely publishers. • Where is the communication bottleneck? No longer are smaJI. runs ruled.out by typesetting and press set-up costs, since the.newer photocopying machines can produce even a single copy of a book for less than the price of the hard-bound printed version. I think the bottleneck is in distribution: Here's a scheme for breaking the bottleneck. I call it "Open Publi~hing".(OP). available to everyone.] . The OP probably doesn't edit or judge submissions. Like some Free U course offerings, some of the stuff will interest nobody. But nobody has to buy. • Does anything like an OP already exist? The only outfits at all similar, that I know of, are Amateur Press Associations (APA) and subsidy book publishers (vanity,presses). APAs include so,ne poetry ·magazines and science tiction magazines. An APA will pu\:>lish almost anything which member-subscribers send in. However, unlike an.OP, an APA sells only the whole package; a subscriber must pay for much which she doesn't' want in order to get what she wants. With poetry the APA way seems best. (How does one abstract a poem?) But for non-fiction it's wasteful. • THI AlRRNATIVI PRISS MOVIMINl Alternative or small press~s have always been instrumental to people's struggles. They offer qui'ck, low-cost media access to • • groups which otherwise would.be unable to publish. Most alternative presses are run by ind\viduals or collectives committed to mak- .ing media a puhlic and political resource. Many presses limit themselves to' booklets and pamphlets, since they are low-·co~t, easy to distribute, easy to assimilate, and in general more accessible to people. The anti-nuke movement comes to mind as one which has passed on a great deal of information to the general public through its proliferation of leaflets and pamphlets. Alternative presses have taken several steps to democratize publishing. Come! Unity Press has been operating for eight years down on E. 17th Street in New York City. Come! Unity teaches political groups how to use their presses and only charges for m?terials. All groups are required to distribute their work on a more-if-you-can, less-if-you-can't basis. Often a donation is suggested and people ~ho·can pay more are encouraged t.o do so i_n order to make up for those who cannot afford the donation. •Copyrights can be used to monopoli~e information. Alternative presses often state that any group may reprint information without permission, though credit is appreciated. Many also state that no part of their publications may be used for profit. Distribution and cataloguing, traditionally a stumbling block to alternative presses, have become more organized in recent years. Alternatives in Print (AIP) is an excellent guide to ·social change publications. "AIP was produced as SRRT (Socra:1 Responsibilities ' Round Table-of the American Library Association) publication to fill the gap created by big publishing's inattention to the alternative press. They not only neglected to publish these materials, but basic Environmental Action Reprint Service '(EARS) · 2239 East Colfax Denver, CO 80206 EARS has been re.printing articles and pamphlets on nuclear energy, solar architecture, solar legislation, greenhouses, methane, wind power and conservation since 1973. They distribute major alternative technology books as well as posters, plans, blueprints and T-shirts. Write for their list of publications. ~ommunity Press Features #2 P,ark Square Boston, MA 02116 617/482-66951 Community Press Features is a regular series of graphics from and for alternative •and community periodicals relating to tenants rights, workplace organizing, peace work, anti-nuke activities, women, gay, minority, Third World~ an~ a host of other concerns. A handy resource for low- _budget publications!
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