Just found out that Soft Skull Press, an independent press that i “interned” with for a few months at the end of last year, is losing Richard Nash, the head of the two person outfit. He gives vague reasons for his departure, but in the end it seems to be boil down to the difficulties of an unstable publishing world… especially for independent publishers. How do independent presses maintain themselves and their independence? For small guys like Soft Skull, it will always be hard to balance staying afloat and publishing the off-beat material that makes them so vital.
Maybe the buy-out by Counterpoint a few years ago, which saved the company from financial ruin, just didn’t allow for that kind of creative independence that Soft Skull was accustomed to. Maybe the safe business arrangement just didn’t allow for the small imprint to flex its post-punk and DIY roots. (One of the small details that I learned while there is that before being bought up, interns and volunteers often designed their own book covers and take on their own projects.)
I’m sure Soft Skull will miss Richard Nash, but I’m also sure that it’s not the end of the man’s work in publishing.
Bean Stews 