Cune
A Journal of Grassroots Publishing

Strip Mining

Large corporate publishers adopt issues of substance. Then they mould this material to appeal to the widest possible audience. Shallow, flashy books, they know, are the easiest to promote on TV and radio. So is sex and violence. Thus profound issues are hollowed out. Ideas become merchandise. Publishers profit from this strategy, yet they leave unseen wreckage. For they are systematically trivializing and degrading our culture. They are strip mining national character—simply for profit.

Reality

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.