We’re Not Leaving: A New Publishing Model

A post from the Author Enablers
With more than 25 years of experience, Kathi Kamen Goldmark and Sam Barry have the inside scoop on writing and publishing. Together, they are the authors of Write That Book Already!: The Tough Love You Need to Get Published Now.  Email them your questions (along with your name and hometown) about writing and publishing, and don’t miss their column on BookPage.com.

Publishing is changing by the minute. In some ways this is scary and upsetting, as we worry that good books will not get published and the art of writing and reading will disappear.

But all change is not bad, and in fact, the rise of new technologies and shifting markets sometimes present an opportunity. While the giant publishers fix their sights on blockbuster hits, new, smaller, nimbler publishers are coming into existence to fill the void and publish important books.

One exciting example of this phenomenon is the newly released We’re Not Leaving: 9/11 Responders Tell Their Stories of Courage, Sacrifice, and Renewal, by Benjamin J. Luft, M.D. (Greenpoint Press). We’re Not Leaving is a compilation of powerful first-person narratives told from the vantage point of World Trade Center disaster workers—police officers, firefighters, construction workers, and other volunteers at the site. This worthy book might not have seen light of day or been properly published were it not for the efforts of creative thinkers using new models of publishing. In this case the agent and author worked together to find Greenpoint Press, a dedicated publisher utilizing print-on-demand technology to publish important books that might be overlooked by the big commercial presses.