What it takes …

… Two Ravens Press: Publishing, four and a half years on. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

I’m writing this article not to whine – that would be dull, and there are plenty of others doing that – but perhaps to educate. And to caution. And because my friend and fellow-publisher Lynn Michell of Linen Press recently wrote a Guardian Book Blog that dealt with just one of the problems that small publishers have: the costs of dealing with big businesses like Amazon. By the time I’d read to the bottom of the comments pages I was fuming. No-one – including those who appeared to have some experience of working for bigger publishers – and certainly not the so-called marketing experts – had any notion at all of what companies like us are publishing for, let alone how difficult it is in this industry – no matter how competent and innovative you are – to even cover your costs.