New House Offers Frontlist, Reprint Titles on Demand
Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 1/11/1999
Offering what he hopes will be "a new publishing paradigm," a former newspaper editor in upstate New York has joined with Lightning Print, Ingram's on-demand publishing unit, to launch Vivisphere Publishing, an unusual frontlist publishing firm that will offer new and out of print books mostly on demand.Vivisphere publisher and founder Peter Cooper told PW that Vivisphere will keep its titles stored in digital form at the Lightning Print offices in Nashville and will print and ship copies of the books as they are ordered. VP is also part of a consortium of three on-demand publishing entities that will be called the Umbrella Group. The UG includes MacIntosh &Otis Books, a line of out-of-print titles by prominent writers represented by the M&O literary agency; Great Marsh Press, a line of international classics and women's literature directed by distinguished author Barbara Probst Solomon; and the Fiction Collective2/Black Ice Books, a university-based publisher of experimental fiction.
Vivisphere is releasing six titles in January, including novels by Terry Quinn (A Death in Brooklyn) and Vivian Allison (Footprints of the Garden Snake). M&O Books is releasing out-of-print novels by Erskine Caldwell (Estherville), Elizabeth Spencer (The Night Travelers) and Mel Arrighi (Daddy Pig), and Great Marsh Press will reprint Our History in New York by Linsey Abrams and Bubu of Montparnasse by Charles-Louis Philippe. Initially, all titles will be trade paper editions.
Lightning Print's high-speed printing and binding technology allows a publisher to print one copy or 500 copies in minutes. In this context, "releasing" or "reprinting" a title means that a book is not actually manufactured until it is sold, eliminating warehousing costs and allowing the publisher to quickly respond to retail and wholesale orders. Digital storage of a title costs about $17 a year. Nevertheless, small quantities of some VP frontlist titles will be printed and distributed in the traditional manner, and bookstores can also order them as they would any book.
Cooper launched the firm with about $250,000 in capital (there are six shareholders); its offices are in Accord, N.Y. Cooper predicted that, by using Lightning Print technology, "books will never go out of print. A publisher can now take a chance on a book." Beginning in January, the books can be ordered through the Vivisphere Web site (www.vivisphere.com), Amazon.com, B&N.com or through brick-and-mortar bookstores. Fulfillment is through Ingram Distribution.
Initially, VP will not pay advances, but that will change, according to Cooper. VP and authors each receive $2 per book sold (the publisher breaks even after about 300 copies sold), and the authors' rate increases as certain sales figures are reached. Cooper also sees VP as a test marketer. "We think we can also change the nature of publishing contracts," he told PW. VP's contracts are structured so that they can be terminated with 90 days' notice, if a traditional publisher is interested in rights (VP takes 15% of rights sales). For more information call (800) 611-1966.
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