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On the write track
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BY: NINA POLIEN LIGHT Freelance Writer
Small Ohio publishers are leaving a big imprint
Ohio publishing houses may not have the name recognition of McGraw-Hill or Oxford University Press, but they’re leaving an impressive imprint nonetheless.
Here’s a look at several regional publishers that are either Jewish-owned or print work by Jewish writers.
Gray & Company, Publishers
Cleveland’s Gray & Company, Publishers, has been printing regional-interest books since 1992 n including works by Jewish authors Les Roberts, Carlo Wolff, Vicki Vigil and Laura Taxel.
“Because we focus just on Northeast Ohio, we tend to have a very targeted market and distribution,” says David Gray, company president. “It allows us to be efficient in running the business to make money for such a small market.”
Gray, 44, declines to disclose sales figures, but offers a basis for comparison. About 80,000 books are published in the U.S. each year, he notes. “The typical book sells between 5,000 and 15,000 copies. On average, in Northeast Ohio, we can sell 5,000 to 15,000 copies. We try to sell 5,000 to 10,000 copies of a book to be worth our while.”
Remaining regional is advantageous, Gray says. “We can have a small staff and still make a big impact in our market because we know our market well. We all live here. We know the retailers who sell our books. I know most of the publications where I might find writers. And if I don’t read a certain publication, then someone in our company does.”
Vicki Vigil, author of Cleveland Cemeteries and two other books published by Gray, appreciates working with a publisher who understands her subject matter
“We are all part of the same Northeast Ohio community,” says the 62-year-old Highland Heights resident. “I don’t have to explain the lay of the land or how easy or difficult it was to get face time with someone because the office staff, and particularly the publisher, is usually aware of the local scene as much, if not more, than I am.”
Cleveland Heights writer Laura Taxel has worked with national publishers but prefers the accessibility of a local company.
“Big publishers are a labyrinth of bureaucracy,” notes the author of Cleveland Ethnic Eats. Gray & Company “works closely with its writers to produce a good book and promote it well.”
Sigel Press
Medina’s Sigel Press was founded in March 2006 in England by Medina County native Thomas Sigel together with a partner. Last spring, Sigel established his company locally, which specializes in peer-reviewed academic books as well as some alternative fiction.
“With computers and technology, you can operate a successful company from anywhere,” says Sigel, 43, who has worked for major publishers such as Prentice Hall Financial Times. “My business is home-based and that cuts down on office expenses. The cost of living here compared with London or New York is much lower, so my overhead is lower. Ohio is a fantastic crossroads because there are so many tremendous academic institutions concentrated here.”
In its short history, Sigel Press has published six books and one audio book. The business also offers custom publishing and consulting services.
“The challenge of being a small, independent publisher is I don’t have a huge sales and marketing force behind me,” Sigel explains. “To get a book on the shelves at a Borders or Barnes & Noble for two weeks costs about $90,000. I’m not in a position to do that.”
But he is positioned to offer inexpensive books. “Big publishers just churn stuff through,” he says. “Quality control has gone out the window. Then they have revisions of academic books every three years and the revisions are fairly minor, and they justify coming out with these new editions and jacking up the prices.”
By comparison, his company offers an academic accounting book for $44. Major publishers would sell it for $75, he maintains.
The Wooster Book Company
David Wiesenberg, 57, who owns The Wooster Book Company with his wife Carol, began publishing 11 or 12 years ago after a customer in his bookstore approached him.
“He asked the right guy the right question, because I had come out of the printing business and I understood pagination, binding and ISBN numbers,” recalls Wiesenberg. He subsequently produced and sold his customer’s book about taking Rubbermaid public.
Eventually, Carol decided to leave her teaching position at The College of Wooster to become more involved in the bookstore. To increase the company’s viability, the couple chose to print regional books.
“We decided we would put more effort into publishing and keep those (two) entities fairly seamless,” David Wiesenberg says. “We also wanted to give our (18) employees more engagement and fulfillment in the book world if they wanted it.”
For example, an employee who unpacks and sells books in the morning might proofread a manuscript or work on a marketing plan in the afternoon.
The company has published 200 projects, some of which, Wiesenberg admits, are “real duds.” Most focus on Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. Subject matter ranges from state birds and covered bridges to a book about Ohio’s bicentennial, which sold more than 30,000 copies.
The company also boasts the copyright license to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield.
A typical press run is about 2,000.
To supplement the business, the couple offers custom publishing services and maintains relationships with several universities.
Rager Media
Akron’s Rager Media, founded in 2006, is a nationally distributed publisher of novels, short stories and poetry.
According to editor-in-chief Christopher D. White, the company represents Jewish authors such as David Evanier and Jonathan Baumbach. “We’ve also inked a deal with Hollywood talent manager Jim Weissenbach for his client Matt Mulhern, writer/director (of the film) ‘Duane Hopwood,’” White notes.
Several of the company’s writers are local, but most reside elsewhere.
“While we hope to sell books in Ohio, I’m more excited at the notion of our books selling outside of Ohio and bringing revenue and desirable, glamorous publishing jobs to our region,” White says.
White is willing to help others “start significant small presses in Northeast Ohio.” In return, he’d secure a promise that the newly created business would remain in the region. “My thinking here is that this could help our region become that much more of a destination for the arts. We already have our authors coming to Akron to visit and do readings and signings. We’ll have a lot more of that with a coalition of indie presses.”
Dover’s Pale Horse Press
Begun in 1973 as a poetry publisher, Dover’s Pale Horse Press has grown to include a few commercial books and a new imprint, Cave Horse Press. Among the alternative press’s Jewish authors is Dr. Audrey Lavin, a former Fulbright Scholar from Canton who wrote the novels Eloquent Blood and Eloquent Corpse.
Working with a modest budget, publisher Joe McLaughlin typically finds writers on his own. “Several of our books represent the first publications for their authors. Most of these are people I’ve known for years who richly deserve to be published in book form.”
Ohio publishing houses may not have the name recognition of McGraw-Hill or Oxford University Press, but they’re leaving an impressive imprint nonetheless.
Here’s a look at several regional publishers that are either Jewish-owned or print work by Jewish writers.
Gray & Company, Publishers
Cleveland’s Gray & Company, Publishers, has been printing regional-interest books since 1992 n including works by Jewish authors Les Roberts, Carlo Wolff, Vicki Vigil and Laura Taxel.
“Because we focus just on Northeast Ohio, we tend to have a very targeted market and distribution,” says David Gray, company president. “It allows us to be efficient in running the business to make money for such a small market.”
Gray, 44, declines to disclose sales figures, but offers a basis for comparison. About 80,000 books are published in the U.S. each year, he notes. “The typical book sells between 5,000 and 15,000 copies. On average, in Northeast Ohio, we can sell 5,000 to 15,000 copies. We try to sell 5,000 to 10,000 copies of a book to be worth our while.”
Remaining regional is advantageous, Gray says. “We can have a small staff and still make a big impact in our market because we know our market well. We all live here. We know the retailers who sell our books. I know most of the publications where I might find writers. And if I don’t read a certain publication, then someone in our company does.”
Vicki Vigil, author of Cleveland Cemeteries and two other books published by Gray, appreciates working with a publisher who understands her subject matter
“We are all part of the same Northeast Ohio community,” says the 62-year-old Highland Heights resident. “I don’t have to explain the lay of the land or how easy or difficult it was to get face time with someone because the office staff, and particularly the publisher, is usually aware of the local scene as much, if not more, than I am.”
Cleveland Heights writer Laura Taxel has worked with national publishers but prefers the accessibility of a local company.
“Big publishers are a labyrinth of bureaucracy,” notes the author of Cleveland Ethnic Eats. Gray & Company “works closely with its writers to produce a good book and promote it well.”
Sigel Press
Medina’s Sigel Press was founded in March 2006 in England by Medina County native Thomas Sigel together with a partner. Last spring, Sigel established his company locally, which specializes in peer-reviewed academic books as well as some alternative fiction.
“With computers and technology, you can operate a successful company from anywhere,” says Sigel, 43, who has worked for major publishers such as Prentice Hall Financial Times. “My business is home-based and that cuts down on office expenses. The cost of living here compared with London or New York is much lower, so my overhead is lower. Ohio is a fantastic crossroads because there are so many tremendous academic institutions concentrated here.”
In its short history, Sigel Press has published six books and one audio book. The business also offers custom publishing and consulting services.
“The challenge of being a small, independent publisher is I don’t have a huge sales and marketing force behind me,” Sigel explains. “To get a book on the shelves at a Borders or Barnes & Noble for two weeks costs about $90,000. I’m not in a position to do that.”
But he is positioned to offer inexpensive books. “Big publishers just churn stuff through,” he says. “Quality control has gone out the window. Then they have revisions of academic books every three years and the revisions are fairly minor, and they justify coming out with these new editions and jacking up the prices.”
By comparison, his company offers an academic accounting book for $44. Major publishers would sell it for $75, he maintains.
The Wooster Book Company
David Wiesenberg, 57, who owns The Wooster Book Company with his wife Carol, began publishing 11 or 12 years ago after a customer in his bookstore approached him.
“He asked the right guy the right question, because I had come out of the printing business and I understood pagination, binding and ISBN numbers,” recalls Wiesenberg. He subsequently produced and sold his customer’s book about taking Rubbermaid public.
Eventually, Carol decided to leave her teaching position at The College of Wooster to become more involved in the bookstore. To increase the company’s viability, the couple chose to print regional books.
“We decided we would put more effort into publishing and keep those (two) entities fairly seamless,” David Wiesenberg says. “We also wanted to give our (18) employees more engagement and fulfillment in the book world if they wanted it.”
For example, an employee who unpacks and sells books in the morning might proofread a manuscript or work on a marketing plan in the afternoon.
The company has published 200 projects, some of which, Wiesenberg admits, are “real duds.” Most focus on Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. Subject matter ranges from state birds and covered bridges to a book about Ohio’s bicentennial, which sold more than 30,000 copies.
The company also boasts the copyright license to the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield.
A typical press run is about 2,000.
To supplement the business, the couple offers custom publishing services and maintains relationships with several universities.
Rager Media
Akron’s Rager Media, founded in 2006, is a nationally distributed publisher of novels, short stories and poetry.
According to editor-in-chief Christopher D. White, the company represents Jewish authors such as David Evanier and Jonathan Baumbach. “We’ve also inked a deal with Hollywood talent manager Jim Weissenbach for his client Matt Mulhern, writer/director (of the film) ‘Duane Hopwood,’” White notes.
Several of the company’s writers are local, but most reside elsewhere.
“While we hope to sell books in Ohio, I’m more excited at the notion of our books selling outside of Ohio and bringing revenue and desirable, glamorous publishing jobs to our region,” White says.
White is willing to help others “start significant small presses in Northeast Ohio.” In return, he’d secure a promise that the newly created business would remain in the region. “My thinking here is that this could help our region become that much more of a destination for the arts. We already have our authors coming to Akron to visit and do readings and signings. We’ll have a lot more of that with a coalition of indie presses.”
Dover’s Pale Horse Press
Begun in 1973 as a poetry publisher, Dover’s Pale Horse Press has grown to include a few commercial books and a new imprint, Cave Horse Press. Among the alternative press’s Jewish authors is Dr. Audrey Lavin, a former Fulbright Scholar from Canton who wrote the novels Eloquent Blood and Eloquent Corpse.
Working with a modest budget, publisher Joe McLaughlin typically finds writers on his own. “Several of our books represent the first publications for their authors. Most of these are people I’ve known for years who richly deserve to be published in book form.”
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