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<div>Going to tell everyone from grad school that I sold my book but accidentally sold it to Martin Shkreli like Wu-Tang Clan and he says no one can read it.</div>

Why don't small presses re-issue books in the public domain? Many great books languish without the quality designs these presses excel at, they're already written & edited, they have an audience, & they would be an asset to a catalogue. Am I missing something obvious?

<div>Phyllis Wheatley! Jesse Redmon Fauset! Eliza Haywood! Not to mention lesser-known Conan Doyle, Defoe, Poe, DuBois, and so on. Surely, a modern design would invite new readership & committed fans of the press?</div>

A lot already do, but they are fringe. Given that the public domain is so vast, the work is done by people with specialized knowledge who know what to pick out. Its niche nature might be why many misses it.
Detritus Books issues lesser-known anarchist texts, others edit zines, etc

<div>Also, if there is no copyrights to pay, juggernauts can just mass produce popular titles at a lower cost than small presses. Whatever value the latter may have over the wholesale products, the general customer will ultimately go for the cheapest one.</div>

<div>I think of small presses and public domain books as generally being niches under the behemoths' radars, but I guess someone would notice if, like, Melmoth the Wanderer started selling beaucoup copies.</div>

<div>Is "Crying like a church on Monday" a real saying or did the guy from New Radicals just make it up? I've been meaning to ask this for 20 years, but just been busy.</div>

aaronbruener

Selected work (3 publications)

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