The marketplace is the third layer of alienation. Its interest in only what sells has accelerated to the point where conglomerates have purchased literary presses and now don’t feel responsible to bring to the literate public something that is not in the mold of the tried and true: “financial success, rather than literary excellence is the goal.” Roger Straus of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux speaking of publishing in 1946, puts it this way, “they weren’t running their business for large profits. They were interested in good literature. Now, the goal is to get larger. The easiest way to increase the look of your balance sheet is to buy another company.” (Hirschberg, 30)
Gina Centrello of Random House, where each division is expected to show a 12 percent return on sales, suggests “Instead of feverishly arguing the relative talents of various writers or her love (or hate) of a particular book, she is most anxious about, and fascinated by, what will sell.” (Hirschberg, 31) Except for a very limited list of token poets who through its advertising sponsorship may break even financially for the subsidiary, the conglomerates are silent. Today, we have “people” or “working class” poets publishing in small presses or at vanity presses whose books do not sell or even find space on bookstore shelves, just as we have truly “alternative” musicians or classical musicians who will never be heard by the masses and independent movie directors whose films don’t make it to the theaters near you. We can say this for all the arts and their tradition in the US. Remember, Whitman published his own poetry.
Gina Centrello of Random House, where each division is expected to show a 12 percent return on sales, suggests “Instead of feverishly arguing the relative talents of various writers or her love (or hate) of a particular book, she is most anxious about, and fascinated by, what will sell.” (Hirschberg, 31) Except for a very limited list of token poets who through its advertising sponsorship may break even financially for the subsidiary, the conglomerates are silent. Today, we have “people” or “working class” poets publishing in small presses or at vanity presses whose books do not sell or even find space on bookstore shelves, just as we have truly “alternative” musicians or classical musicians who will never be heard by the masses and independent movie directors whose films don’t make it to the theaters near you. We can say this for all the arts and their tradition in the US. Remember, Whitman published his own poetry.
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