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28-559: The seminar was founded in 1983 by David Kaufelt and his wife Lynn Kaufelt, as a program operated by the Council for Florida Libraries. The inaugural event, known as the Key West Literary Tour and Seminar, consisted of readings, panel discussions, literary walking tours, and cocktail parties. This basic format remains unchanged. The current executive director is poet, writer and publisher Arlo Haskell . In its early years,

56-407: A vanity press or self-publishing service, a small press rarely publishes books written by the owner or publisher. Instead, these are small businesses, often with only a few employees, who select books written by other authors. There is now also a distinction made between small presses and micro-presses. A micro-press can be defined as a publisher that produces chapbooks and other small books on

84-589: A larger business, an independent press is allowed to choose which books to publish, and the business will survive or fail as a result of how well those books sell. Many small presses rely on specialization in genre fiction , poetry , or limited-edition books or magazines , but there are also thousands that focus on niche non-fiction markets. Other terms for small press, sometimes distinguished from each other and sometimes used interchangeably, are small publishers, independent publishers, or indie presses. Independent publishers (as defined above) made up about half of

112-454: A small likely market. Many presses are also associated with crowdfunding efforts that help connect authors with readers. Small presses tend to fill the niches that larger publishers neglect. They can focus on regional titles, narrow specializations and niche genres. They can also make up for commercial clout by creating a reputation for academic knowledge, vigorously pursuing prestigious literature prizes and spending more effort nurturing

140-438: A small number of copies to the author's friends. Small presses should not be confused with printers . Small presses are traditional publishers, which means that they engage in a book selection process, along with editing, marketing and distribution. Small presses also enter into a contract with the author, often paying royalties for being allowed to sell the book. Publishers own the copies they have printed, but usually do not own

168-617: A spine-bound book. In doing this, small press publishers are eligible for grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council . Small presses should not be confused with self-publishing presses (sometimes called " vanity presses "). Self-publishing or subsidy presses usually require payment by authors, or a minimum purchase of copies. By comparison, small presses make their profits by selling books to consumers, rather than selling services to authors or selling

196-416: A very small scale (e.g. 50 copies of one book per year). It can also be defined in terms of revenue. Micro-presses are often run as a hobby or part-time job because of their low profits. They may not produce enough profit to support their owners. In Canada , these are considered small press publishers, but the standard small press book run is accepted at 300 copies of a chapbook and 500 or more copies of

224-476: Is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms " indie publisher " and " independent press " and others are sometimes used interchangeably. However, when a distinction is drawn, there are about 100,000 small presses and about one million independent presses. Independent press is generally defined as publishers that are not part of large conglomerates or multinational corporations . Even when owned by

252-993: The Stella Prize , the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction and the Miles Franklin Literary Award . There was a strong upward trend in the number of titles published by small press and shortlisted for the Miles Franklin and the PM's Fiction Awards in the two years preceding 2017. The Small Press Network (SPN), located at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne , represents small and independent publishers in Australia, which promotes independent publishing and supports diversity within

280-414: The city charter for a popular vote.  Key West's voters approved the amendments by wide margins on November 3, 2020, resulting in limits on the size of cruise ships that may call and the number of persons that may disembark each day. Haskell was the committee's primary spokesman during the political campaign, in which the cruise industry secretly financed a dark money  group that lobbied against

308-495: The market share of the book publishing industry in the United States in 2007. The majority of small presses are independent or indie publishers, meaning that they are separate from the handful of major publishing house conglomerates, such as Random House or Hachette . Since the profit margins for small presses can be narrow, many are driven by other motives, including the desire to help disseminate literature with only

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336-697: The Phillip and Dana Zimmerman Gold Medal for Florida Nonfiction from the Florida Book Awards and a President's Medal from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association. Haskell is also the author of the poetry collection, Joker (Sand Paper Press, 2009). Haskell is the publisher of Sand Paper Press, a small press he founded in 2003, where he has frequently collaborated with poet and translator Stuart Krimko . Publications include The Last Books of Héctor Viel Temperley (2011), which

364-482: The USA. The unprecedented proliferation of small and independent publishers at the time was a result of the so-called ' Mimeo Revolution ' and the proliferation of DIY and affordable reproduction technologies. A recent burgeoning of small presses has been caused by the introduction of digital printing , especially print on demand technology. Combined with Internet based marketing, digital typesetting, design tools with

392-404: The careers of new authors. At its most minimal, small press production consists of chapbooks . This role can now be taken on by desktop publishing and web sites . This still leaves a continuum of small press publishing: from specialist periodicals, short runs or print-to-order of low-demand books, to fine art books and limited editions of collectors' items printed to high standards. Unlike

420-585: The copyright to the book itself. In contrast, printers merely print a book, and sometimes offer limited distribution if they are a POD printing press. Printers have a very low selectivity. They will accept nearly anyone who can pay the cost of printing. They rarely offer editing or marketing. Printers do not own the copies that are printed, and they do not pay royalties. Book packagers combine aspects of small presses and printers, but they are technically neither small presses nor printers. Small presses became distinguishable from jobbing printers at some time towards

448-521: The end of the nineteenth century. The roots lie with the Arts and Crafts movement , particularly the Kelmscott Press . The use of small letterpress machines by amateur printers increased proportionately to the mechanization of commercial printing. Later, the advance of practical lithography made small press publication much easier. The 1960s and 1970s are considered the small press's golden age in

476-517: The executive director. In 1988, Monica Haskell became executive director. She was succeeded by Miles Frieden in 1995. Many well-known authors have served on the seminar's board of directors, including Judy Blume , Harry Mathews , James Gleick , William Wright , Richard Wilbur , and John Malcolm Brinnin . An honorary board of directors has included popular singer Jimmy Buffett , former First Lady Barbara Bush , and writers Annie Dillard , Robert Stone , Alison Lurie , and Joy Williams . The seminar

504-522: The market was seen as a tough one in 1999, despite about 80 per cent of the Australian Publishers Association being small book publishers (defined as those with less than AU$ 2m), nearly all Australian-owned. In recent years, though, the small publishers have especially made gains as big publishers have backed away from publishing literary works. Small press publications have won some of the greatest literary prizes, including

532-553: The measures using fearmongering and disinformation tactics.  He was also an expert witness in the committee's legal defense of the referendums in Federal and State court.   Since their passage, the charter amendments have been cited as an inspiration by others seeking to regulate cruise ships in places including Bar Harbor, Maine, the Cayman Islands, and Juneau, Alaska. Small press A small press

560-452: The organization began in 2008, when he led the digitization of its extensive audio archive. Since his promotion to executive director in 2015, Haskell has increased the organization's scholarship program, launched a literary walking tour of Key West, and created writing programs for local high school students. In 2019, he led the organization in its $ 1.2 million purchase of the former home of poet Elizabeth Bishop . On June 4, 2019, Haskell

588-488: The rise of eBooks , the new printing technologies have lowered the economic barriers to entry, allowing many new niches to be served, and many new publishers to enter the industry. A notable boom of small press publishing has been observed since the 2008 economic crisis. Small presses have played a significant part historically in recognising new voices and publishing notable works of literary fiction in Australia , but

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616-428: The seminar focused on the literary history of Key West , a small subtropical town which has been home to Ernest Hemingway , Elizabeth Bishop , Wallace Stevens , Robert Frost , and Tennessee Williams , among others. Subsequent Seminars have been devoted to broader genres or literary themes. In 1987, the seminar incorporated as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt corporation, run by a board of directors, with Lynn Kaufelt named as

644-457: The seminar offers audio recordings of past events, biographies of past and forthcoming speakers, and information about Key West's literary history. The seminar went on hiatus in 2021. Key West Literary Seminar themes by year: 24°33′33″N 81°47′36″W  /  24.5591°N 81.7934°W  / 24.5591; -81.7934 Arlo Haskell Arlo Haskell is an American author, publisher, and literary organizer. Arlo Haskell

672-638: The social history for its depth of research and style, arguing that it had filled gaps in regional Florida history and in American Jewish history. In a review for the Journal of the Southern Jewish Historical Society , Raymond Arsenault remarked that it "introduces a fascinating cast of characters, revealing a unique saga of Jewish community life that no previous historian has chronicled." The Jews of Key West won

700-734: Was born and raised in Key West , Florida, where his mother, Monica Haskell, was director of the Key West Literary Seminar during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Haskell attended Bard College in the late 1990s, where he studied poetry and was a student of John Ashbery . After college, he worked for David Wolkowsky , ferrying guests to Wolkowsky's private island and doing other odd jobs. In 2017, Haskell authored and published his first work of nonfiction, The Jews of Key West: Smugglers, Cigar Makers, and Revolutionaries (1823–1969) (Sand Paper Press). Critics generally praised

728-756: Was formerly held at the Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center at Florida Keys Community College on Stock Island. Since 1993, events have been held on Duval Street at the San Carlos Institute , a historic building whose construction was partly funded by the Republic of Cuba during the 1920s. The seminar begins each year with the John Hersey Memorial Address and features a series of receptions at notable Key West locations. Through their website,

756-711: Was named by city proclamation the Poet Laureate of Key West by the Mayor, Vice Mayor and Board of Commissioners of Key West. In 2020, Haskell co-founded the Key West Committee for Safer, Cleaner Ships, a nonprofit group that fought successfully to establish the first-ever regulations for cruise ships  in Key West.  As the group's treasurer, he helped organize a citizens' initiative  that placed three referendums  with proposed amendments to

784-468: Was translated from Spanish by Krimko and named a BOMB Editor's Choice. Another Sand Paper title, Harry Mathews 's The New Tourism (2010), was co-edited by Haskell and selected as a "Book of the Year" by The Times Literary Supplement . Haskell is executive director of Key West Literary Seminar , the nonprofit organization whose annual writers' conference has been held since 1983. His career with

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