Talking with Abby Schott, Editor

Tell us how and why your press got started. Did you have a mission in mind when you began producing books?

A group of people who were tired of best sellers, frustrated in attempts to find books without gratuitious violence, sex and glamorized drug use, decided to bring to the public books they like to read, high-quality books that have good stories that are well written...books that don't insult your intelligence. That's how the company's slogan came into being "Books for Intelligent People who read for Fun."

Today, publishing companies are getting larger through mergers and takeovers. As the lust for profit builds, the conglomerates become more impersonal and the books become less creative. Literary merit is often forgotten. Bigness for its own sake may not always be desirable. Of course, smallness is not always synonymous with quality, but you do have a better shot at it.

In what format are your books published?

Print only.

Do you do print-on-demand books?

We have considered print on demand, but have not done it yet. Guessing how many to print is an art: we will try to go to 2nd and 3rd printings rather than have a lot of books sitting around.

How are your books distributed? Do you get help from Ingrams or B and T, or are you on your own?

All the major distributors handle all our books: Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Brodart, Sunbelt and others. We are willing to sell direct but it is becoming a rarity. Most stores and libraries seem to prefer the distributor.

Tell us how you advertise. Where do the dollars go, primarily?

John Wannemaker, the Philadelphia Dry Goods merchant said at the beginning of the 20th century-"Half the money I spent on advertising helps sell my goods, the other half is a waste of money. The trouble is, I don't know which is which."

We have no magic formula for advertising. We do direct mail, some classical music radio stations and print media on a selective basis and not often-major newspapers for our newspaper book THE PAPER DYNASTY, a fictional account of the Chandler family and the LOS ANGELES Times; The New Yorker, American Scholar, New Republic-L.A. Times BOOK REVIEW, our gardening books in Garden magazines, our mystery books we sometimes advertise in mystery publications and after a review appears we generally run a small ad as our way of saying thank you, more than in a hope of selling books.

We take pains with our catalog and use that heavily as an advertising tool. We've also circulated free booklet of excerpts of some of our titles.

Who are some of the authors you've contracted with? What releases do you have out or soon out?

Theodore Roosevelt Gardner II, S.L. Stebel, David Champion, Alistair Boyle, Margaret Nicol. Our series mystery books, Bomber Hanson and Gil Yates, come out about once a year. Gardner's HE'S BACK was our big book for the millennium. Jesus Christ returns to earth. The Bomber Hanson Mystery that is out this year is entitled TOO RICH AND TOO THIN.

What is the price range for your releases? For our fiction and mystery titles, from $15 to $27, hardback. Our picture and Garden books range from $17 to $65.

How can readers purchase your books?

One can order from their favorite bookstore, the Internet (Barnes & Noble has IN STOCK all our books on the Internet), Amazon com, readers can purchase directly from the publisher by calling (800) 777-7623, or emailing aaknoll@aol.com. Our titles are also heavily represented in Libraries.

Do you have a website with more information?

Yes, www.knollpublishers.com

Talking with Theodore Roosevelt Gardner II, Author

What led you to a small press? Were you previously published by a mainstream house?

My first book THE PAPER DYNASTY was bought by a large house. Their contract provided for several onerous eventualities, like if anyone sued them and/or me over the book their lawyers would unilaterally decide how much money to settle on the plaintiff and I would have to pay all of it. Since there were living people on whom my fictional account was based, I was perhaps oversensitive about lawsuits. That coupled with a clause that said in effect they could print 20 copies, shelve them and control the book for 20 years did not seem too friendly. The editor said I was nitpicking the contract, so I reluctantly passed on the deal, not so easy, considering it was my 35th submission and my first published deal. That experience, I'd say not only led me to a small press, it drove me there.

What's it like writing for a small press?

In my experience it is blessedly congenial. There seems no overt bottom-line pressures, nobody is going to lose their job if they make less money than yesterday. I know and admire everyone in the place, they are all enormously helpful in my efforts, there is no backstabbing and infighting as I hear goes on in larger organizations. They seem genuinely more interested in quality than in potboilers.

Cons: Because the ad budget is limited, some trade publications seem to throw gratuitous negative reviews at you when others extravagantly praise the same book. Perhaps it is paranoia, but when you get unsolicited high praise from the country's leading journalists, then get savaged in a trade publication on which small presses are so dependent, it makes you wonder. There are of course so many humane ways to write a negative review, the meat ax approach should become obsolete.

Do you receive advances and royalties?

Royalties only.

Tell us about your experiences promoting a small-press release.

You don't get on Oprah, but I've been on dozens of radio shows and small TV stations. I give speeches to clubs, have signings, and have been fairly represented in newspapers. The key is, of course, the effort must be the author's. A small press has its hands full staying afloat.

The other great thing is with a small-press, you can get creative. My suspense novel, FLIP SIDE, gave two viewpoints of the same murder case. Read the prosecution's version, then flip the book over for the defenses version. I doubt a large house would have taken the risk on such a unique way of presenting a book. I was able to use that unique angle when promoting the book.

Thank you, Abby and Theodore! Readers, you can visit Knoll Publishers and find out more about their releases at www.knollpublishers.com. February 23, 2001