Re: [Marxism] Fwd: What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution | Brill

[Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo via Marxism]

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DW wrote:

> I think at the end of the day,
> Marxists, be they part of the Academy or not, 
> should start moving away from
> the printed page. 

This might be generational--younger people might disagree with me--but I find 
it much easier to read things on the printed page than online (especially long 
works). Also, I think there have been studies that show that people read 
printed articles differently from the way they read articles online: They skim 
less and absorb more. I know I do. That said, I value MIA--but I wouldn't read 
a work like *Capital* online (I do go online to find particular passages, 
though). 

--Kevin
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution | Brill

[DW via Marxism]

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Louis wrote:

"I have a big problem with this. The issues being addressed in HM books are
of interest to a global audience. For many people, the cost of a Haymarket
paperback is about as prohibitive as a Brill hardcover especially if you
are living outside of the USA. I got a feel for that sending the book on
Syria to people in Europe. Speaking of that book, Ukant sold it for cost
($15) just like all the other books they publish. Is that the case with
Haymarket? I doubt it."

"This may sound radical but I feel that Marxist books should be published
on the Internet. That addresses the cost question as well as distribution.
Of course, many Marxists feel that they should be paid if they spend a year
working on a book but to tell you the truth they can make more money
working for McDonalds than what they'll get from Verso."

I feel the same, actually, Louis. But this is a different subject. In some
cases it's impossible for a mass quality paperback company (Pathfinder,
Haymarket, on the left, tons others in the commercial arena). I'm saying,
or asking: is there another way. Many Marxists publishing books are doing
so because of a one-off need to "get published" for their own academic
career. In a way, I agree with this. Or, no other company BUT Brill will
publish their monographs. The real question, not asked by your or Scott's
interesting essay is "why quality paper backs"? Quality paperbacks and a
notch or two up from the old "pocket book" editions that many of our
parents used to read for their romance novels, mysteries, etc. They are
still widely published today and much of my favorite genre of literature,
science-fiction, is still published in this manner.

I remember back in the early 70s when Pathfinder explained that were making
a serious attempt to break into this "quality paperback" arena. It's the
form most books sold in university bookstores sell their softcover books.
Glossy softcover, bleached white paper, usually slightly thicker and
sturdier than pocket books, which were only a notch or two above newsprint.

But...back in the day...Pioneer Publishers and International Publishers
published books in pocket book form: cheaper paper, cardstock covers,
etc...and books and pamphlets could be sold quite cheaply because of it. I
think it would be great if Haymarket were to release a "line" of these
kinds of books. I just don't see massive tomes like John Riddell's latest
works on the Comintern every coming out cheaper, at least not in book form,
than they are now or in any version that is of less quality than Haymarket
has published them in.

I suspect this is what Louis is griping about even with Haymarket, where he
states, factually, that even Haymarket's prices are out of reach for people
in developing countries or those in the West who can't put out $25 or $30
for a book.

I had, years ago talked to Daniel Gaido about this. Daniel is an Argentine
Trotskyist who published his "Witnesses to Permanent Revolution: The
Documentary Record" (along with Richard B Day) with Brill. Daniel, along
with being a scholar, is also a volunteer on the Marxists Internet Archive
which is how I "met" and got to know him. I asked him "Daniel! WTF?!?
$138". Now, this is from memory, but I remember him saying "it was
either Brill or no one would publish it". About 18 months later, Haymarket
published it for $38 or so...which I understand allowed for a few bucks
over the actual cost of the printing.

So...what is it that allows Haymarket to publish material like this? The
reason is very simple: Haymarket doesn't do the typesetting (or formatting
since everything is published today off of PDFs). It's already done by
Brill! Brill assembles and *edits* the works and puts them into PDF format.
All Haymarket has to do is run them to the printer and design and print
their own covers and QED. But it still costs. I don't know what or if
Haymarket pays Brill. Be interesting to find out.

I think Louis does have a point about the prices even Haymarket charges. We
all rely on Haymarket. In fact, if it wasn't for them, about any
theoretical and historical discussions on this list would be a lot
more...anemic. Haymarket publishes other books...like the Chomsky, Klein
and books that are not "socialist" to make money, which goes to subsidize,
actually, their HM series. But the differences between $15 and $25 is not
that different to make a *quantitative* difference in how many books are
being sold that are wanted outside the U.S. At least I don't think so. In
the last 2 years, postage rates into and out of the U.S. have gone up close
to 400%. I used to send a hard drive of the MIA (one our fundraising
things) to some 

Re: [Marxism] Fwd: What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution | Brill

[Ralph Johansen via Marxism]

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Well...my understanding is that Brill's target audience are institutions
and not individuals. I have zero problem waiting a year for a book to be
published as was noted, by Haymarket Books. So what? In fact, Haymarket
does publish *all* Brill's works, or has the right to do so, if it's from
the HM series.

Brill also doesn't have a page/word limit unlike almost all other
publishers, leftwing or not. I think "what' went wrong" is that people want
books "right now" and can't seem wait for the cheaper versions with more
human prices once they see Brill publishing it. We are not talking about
the price of bread or subway fare, here. If the HM series didn't exist as
it is, likely a lot fewer of the HM series books would ever seen ink on
paper. So...I simply don't gave a crap about what Brill charges, I care
about accessibility via Haymarket.


David Walters

Well, but David, that may be Brill's target audience, but should it be 
HMs? There's a revolution to be made, , which can't wait, the conference 
proceedings of this vaunted left venue, if they have any merit, might 
just contribute to that process. If they don't, are they esoterica, 
ephemera or of value only as studies of historic events, with little or 
no relevance to present events, crises and the radical left? Is that all 
that HM contributors offer? Not really. David Harvey gets out one book 
after another, in many cases invaluable theoretical contributions 
relating to current problems, but he also makes available, shortly after 
they are delivered, the videos and in come cases transcriptions and 
articles on which he is currently working. With volunteers. That process 
also provides him with a broader, worldwide forum for critique, by 
others than academicians, before reaching the book stage.


And what we get in Haymarket format has already been discussed in more 
rarified reaches, by those with access to the institutions that Brill 
targets, and in many cases I'm sure has been critiqued in ways that 
would be valuable for movement participants and labor to know about and 
to act accordingly - soonest in many cases I can think of. This is a 
question of substantive equality. I think it is important. There is a 
better way, and others do a good job of it. Conference proceedings, if 
they are at all relevant to the agency of change, the working class, 
whom I assume HM is concerned about, could be transcribed or at least 
video-taped quickly for those with that kind of need to know. They don't 
do that, or didn't the last time I checked. And then there's the 
business about Weekly Worker. Pecksniffish I say.


And what of the countless volunteer hours that must be put in on the 
invaluable material at MIA, which you are in part responsible for as I 
recall and which is freely available online?



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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution | Brill

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 5/15/16 7:15 PM, DW via Marxism wrote:

Well...my understanding is that Brill's target audience are institutions
and not individuals. I have zero problem waiting a year for a book to be
published as was noted, by Haymarket Books. So what? In fact, Haymarket
does publish *all* Brill's works, or has the right to do so, if it's from
the HM series.


I have a big problem with this. The issues being addressed in HM books 
are of interest to a global audience. For many people, the cost of a 
Haymarket paperback is about as prohibitive as a Brill hardcover 
especially if you are living outside of the USA. I got a feel for that 
sending the book on Syria to people in Europe. Speaking of that book, 
Ukant sold it for cost ($15) just like all the other books they publish. 
Is that the case with Haymarket? I doubt it.


This may sound radical but I feel that Marxist books should be published 
on the Internet. That addresses the cost question as well as 
distribution. Of course, many Marxists feel that they should be paid if 
they spend a year working on a book but to tell you the truth they can 
make more money working for McDonalds than what they'll get from Verso.

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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution | Brill

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 5/15/16 7:15 PM, DW via Marxism wrote:

Well...my understanding is that Brill's target audience are institutions
and not individuals.


That's exactly right--the same marketing strategy of all academic 
publishers as this piquant Guardian article points out:


http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/sep/04/academics-are-being-hoodwinked-into-writing-books-nobody-can-buy

Academics are being hoodwinked into writing books nobody can buy
An editor called me up to ask me if I’d like to write a book. I smelled 
a rat, but I played along…

by Anonymous academic, September 2015

A few months ago, an editor from an academic publisher got in touch to 
ask if I was interested in writing a book for them.


I’ve ignored these requests in the past. I know of too many colleagues 
who have responded to such invitations, only to see their books 
disappear on to a university library shelf in a distant corner of the world.


If someone tried to buy said book – I mean, like a real human being – 
they would have to pay the equivalent of a return ticket to a sunny 
destination or a month’s child benefit. These books start at around £60, 
but they can cost double that, or even more.


This time, however, I decided to play along.

So I got the editor on the phone and he asked if I had an idea for them. 
“Sure,” I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “Perhaps I could write a 
book about…” – and here I started piling up ugly-sounding buzzwords.


I could hear how he momentarily drifted off, probably to reply to an 
email, and when I was done with my terrible pitch, he simply said: “Great!”


“The best thing now,” he continued, “is if you could jot down a few 
pages, as a proposal, which we could then send out to reviewers.” He 
paused a second, then added: “If you have any friends who could act as 
reviewers and who you think could sign off on the project, then that’d 
be great.”


I was intrigued by the frankness.

“How much would the book be sold for?” I inquired, aware this might not 
be his favourite question. “£80,” he replied in a low voice.


“So there won’t be a cheaper paperback edition?” I asked, pretending to 
sound disappointed.


higher education network

Join the Guardian Higher Education Network
Join to get access to the latest insight, comment, advice and best 
practice for professionals working in and with higher education.

Click here
“No, I’m afraid not,” he said, “we only really sell to libraries. But we 
do have great sales reps that get the books into universities all across 
the world.”


“So how many copies do you usually sell?” I inquired.

“About 300.”

“For all your books?”

“Yes, unless you would assign your book on your own modules.”

I was growing fascinated by the numbers so I asked how many of these 
books they published each year.


“I have to…” he started (inadvertently revealing that this was a target 
that had been set) “…I have to publish around 75 of these.”


Seventy-five books, £80 each, selling on average 300 copies. That’s 
£1.8m. And he’s just one of their commissioning editors. What’s more, 
these publishers are not known for hiring talented illustrators to come 
up with nice covers – and you rarely see their books advertised in 
magazines.


“If you don’t mind my asking,” I said as our conversation drew to a 
close, “how did you find me?”


A moment of awkward silence, and then: “Um, well, I found your name on 
your university website.”


At the time, there was no information about me on the university 
website. No publication list, no information about my research interest, 
not even a photograph.


So I’d been asked to write a book about whatever I wanted, and this 
editor didn’t even know whether I’d written anything before. It didn’t 
matter. It would sell its 300 copies regardless. Not to people with an 
interest in reading the book, but to librarians who would put it on a 
shelf and then, a few years later, probably bury it in a storeroom.


Most academics get these requests. A colleague was recently courted by 
an editor who, after confessing they only published expensive hardbacks 
(at around £200), explained that this was an opportunity for my 
colleague to enhance his academic record. He was told he could give them 
pretty much anything, like an old report, or some old articles.


“I can’t believe anyone would write a book that would be too expensive 
for anyone to buy,” the colleague told me over the phone. “Just to add a 
line to your cv.”


Another colleague, on discovering his published book was getting 
widespread attention but was too expensive to buy, tried to get the 
publishers to rush out a cheaper paperback version. They ignored 

Re: [Marxism] Fwd: What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution | Brill

[DW via Marxism]

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Well...my understanding is that Brill's target audience are institutions
and not individuals. I have zero problem waiting a year for a book to be
published as was noted, by Haymarket Books. So what? In fact, Haymarket
does publish *all* Brill's works, or has the right to do so, if it's from
the HM series.

Brill also doesn't have a page/word limit unlike almost all other
publishers, leftwing or not. I think "what' went wrong" is that people want
books "right now" and can't seem wait for the cheaper versions with more
human prices once they see Brill publishing it. We are not talking about
the price of bread or subway fare, here. If the HM series didn't exist as
it is, likely a lot fewer of the HM series books would ever seen ink on
paper.  So...I simply don't gave a crap about what Brill charges, I care
about accessibility via Haymarket.


David Walters
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution | Brill

[Ralph Johansen via Marxism]

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Louis Proyect wrote

You can find out in an HM book due out in September for only $185.

http://www.brill.com/products/book/what-went-wrong-nicaraguan-revolution



I think that this is sad. Several years ago, Sebastian Budgen replied 
testily to my complaint about these prices, and the fact that 
proceedings of Historical Materialism conferences are not made available 
until they are sorted, sifted and delivered upon us much later in the 
form of these preciously-priced volumes, explaining in justification 
that they later came out as Haymarket books at a much cheaper price 
(I 
have that exchange in a file somewhere). 
He 
didn't offer that this applies only to a limited proportion of the 
conference proceedings and a limited number of the Brill books, and that 
those that made it that far came out so much later on Haymarket as to be 
several years old news. He also attributed the failure to get out 
conference proceedings to limited volunteer staff. He should maybe visit 
other, less exclusive venues who tape and transcribe and find volunteers 
among a dedicated left to do it, including Left Forum, Democracy Now! 
and The Real Network News. 



Budgen also complained that I had cc'd my message to CPGB's Weekly 
Worker ('of all places!'), to which I answer that theirs was the only 
substantive review of the HM conference that I could find. And he said 
something to the effect that I was dividing the left. So who is what?





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[Marxism] Fwd: What Went Wrong? The Nicaraguan Revolution | Brill

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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You can find out in an HM book due out in September for only $185. In 
fact, what went wrong is epitomized in the pricing of this book. In 
terms of exchange value, this book represents a month's wage in 
Nicaragua in the mid-80s of a skilled professional, most of whom had 
fled to Miami when I arrived in 1986. Instead of searching for a purer 
Marxism, it would be better to understand why the solidarity movement 
proved incapable of stopping Reagan.


http://www.brill.com/products/book/what-went-wrong-nicaraguan-revolution
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