Cune
A Journal of Grassroots Publishing

Literary Cleansing

Literary cleansing is when a publishing house gets rid of thoughtful writers and perceptive editors, typically in an "efficiency" move. The books of these writers break even or make a small profit—paying overhead costs and a little more. They provide a diversity of ideas, a storehouse of raw intellectual material, from which we can create our future. These books, however, lack the precise ingredients to make them bestsellers. Literary cleansing is the cultural crime of the century.

--September, 1995

Can those of us who love literature afford to lose a single ally? Nearly all of the people who work for large trade presses or chain bookstores could earn higher salaries in other businesses. They have chosen to work in publishing and the book trade because of their commitment to ideas, to writing, and to writers. They feel that their work is important to the culture. And it is. Cune calls on all who love literature to make common cause: to develop audiences, to nurture new writers, to find a way to sell 20,000 copies or more of every thoughtful book.