Thanks to Lisa Jervis at Bitch Magazine, who turned me onto South End Press this week with her post about their recent troubles staying in business. Like many independent media outlets, South End Press is struggling with delayed and missing payments from larger organizations like Borders (R.I.P. Punk Planet), and is asking their community members for help.
I headed on over to South End's website to see what Lisa was so riled up about, and that's when I discovered their Community Supported Publishing program, the first of its kind that I know of. Based off the Community Supported Agriculture programs that have raised awareness and support for sustainable local farming, the Community Supported Publishing program aims to do the same for books. For a monthly donation, members receive all new titles as well as select back list and bestsellers.
And what a catalog is is! Forthcoming titles like Breeding A Nation by Pamela Bridgewater, current new releases like Scott Kellogg and Stacy Pettigrew's Toolbox for Sustainable City Living, and back catalog releases like the classic Ain't I A Woman by bell hooks and Signed, Sealed and Delivered: The True Life Stories of Women In Pop by Sue Steward and Sheryl Garratt all caught my attention.
South End Press is currently in the running for a $10,000 prize from Ideablob, so take a minute and show your love with a vote, and help keep independent media alive!
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