May 27, 2012

Publishing... Flipped!


Publishing... Flipped!

It is conventional wisdom  that old-fashioned ink and pulp publishing is either in its death throes ("about to slide into the sea," the linked author opined) or very, very sick. Yet this diagnosis results from seeing publishing at odds with new technology, with the internet, with the digital present.

What if, like the Khan Academy (which is "flipping" the educational model), we figured out how to "flip" the publishing model in a way that preserves what is good, adopts what is new and useful, and filters out what is harmful and useless?

I think we have found that way, and I invite you to join with us - our Tribe of Russophiles and bibliophiles - to prove it can be done.

First, some background. According to the old (and still clinging to the gangplank) publishing model, knowing editors, agents and publishers decided what was right and good for the public to read. They would work for months and years creating their products before unleashing them upon the world as the Great Thing we have all been waiting for (but which until five minutes ago we did not even know existed).

Of course, because it's pretty hard to predict in advance what people might like, this system results in lots more misses than hits. It is highly inefficient and leads to tons of unsold books being remaindered or destroyed. 

There has to be a better way that doesn't waste so many trees, so much time. What if the decades-old model were flipped?

What if, when we publishers (or authors) had a great idea, we fleshed it out, then - thanks to the new efficiencies of communication - pitched the idea to our Tribe a la the Lean Startup, asking for feedback and improvements? If one's Tribe likes the idea and you convince them, you go ahead and produce the book. If not, you start over and try something else (or take it to a different Tribe). 

There are all sorts of implications to this manner of publishing (not least of which taking on the ridiculous way books are retailed in this country), but I won't go into that right now. The main thing is that despite iPods and Tivos and Kindles, I feel people still yearn for books, for the tactile sensation of turning pages, for the smell of a new book, for the joy of cracking a binding for the first time, turning down pages, making notes in margins, falling asleep with a splayed novel on their chest. I know I do.

Books are to be cherished. And publishing can save itself if it can flip.

It's what we are doing, starting right now... 

We have an ambitious, exciting new publishing project. It's a trilogy of historical espionage novels that we think could be hugely, wildly popular. Problem is, the books are in Russian. And translating and creating a quality product of this scale is a major investment. So we're turning to you, our Tribe of Russophiles and bibliophiles, to partner with us on this.

If, based on your experience with us, you feel we create quality products, things that you find interesting and that you want to have in your home library, you can join with us on this publishing project at the front end instead of the rear.

You'll get a book (or more) out of it, and you'll get the satisfaction of being involved in a new type of publishing. Flipped.

The project is called The Silk Road Trilogy. And you can read about it here (http://kck.st/silkroadtrilogy).

Join us, won't you?

Paul Richardson
Flipped Publisher



UPDATES

On July 15, 2012, our Kickstarter project closed and we hit the goal! Thank you to all those who have believed in and crowd-funded this project. 

Translation is underway and will be completed in the spring. The first book  - The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas - will be released in the fall of 2013 (good translations take time :). 

April 15, 2013: The translation is now complete, we have a wonderful new cover and an excellent map for the book, and the final process of line editing, proofing and revising is well underway! Release date is set for September 1, 2013. Project partners will see their books this summer.

 
 
 
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Some of our Books

Survival Russian
February 01, 2009

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
October 01, 2013

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
May 01, 2013

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

93 Untranslatable Russian Words
December 01, 2008

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.

Little Golden Calf
February 01, 2010

Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

Fearful Majesty
July 01, 2014

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.

Marooned in Moscow
May 01, 2011

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.

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