First of all, can you tell us something about the beginnings of the 33 1/3 series?
The series was started in 2003 by David Barker at a publisher called Continuum. There he took his love of music and combined it with smart academic publishing to form this quirky little series that now has over 100 volumes.
Can you reveal which are the most successful 33 1/3 books so far, saleswise? And maybe the ones you personally are most fond of, for a reason or another?
The most successful book is Carl Wilson’s “Let’s Talk About Love”. It’s about Celine Dion but it’s also about taste and aesthetic value and what it means to love and hate music. It’s also my favorite book in the series.
Can you tell us something about the criteria you use when it comes to choose the proposals for the new publications of the series?
There really isn’t a magic formula I use for selecting proposals. However, the proposals that stand out to me are ones that have a very clear thesis. The author has clearly struggled with an idea, brought it to the ground, wrestled around with it a bit and then finally spit out a proposal. More than half of the proposals I receive are essentially love letters to the album, which is of course fine, but a 33 1/3 has to have a little heartbreak to succeed.
Which are the major steps in the time lapse between the proposal and the publication?
As far as the process from proposal to publication, it’s about two years. After the open call results are announced each author is offered a contract with Bloomsbury. Then they sort of just go off and write. Every author is different. Some want to let alone and others want to have a conversation along the way. Deadlines are usually between 12-18 months. Then I spend about 6 weeks editing the manuscript and it goes back to the author for a final version about a month later. Then the manuscript gets checked for errors, typeset and printed a few months later.
In times of crisis for the publishing industry, how do you cope with the high costs and the general decrese in sells?
I’m not sure there’s a crisis, at least here in New York publishing. Sure, publishing took a hit with the failure of the major chain bookstores like Barnes N Noble and Borders but independent bookstores are thriving and even as more reading formats become available, someone still needs to edit and publish the work. We’ve found our niche. Our audience is small and loyal and we publish books FOR them so we’re able to survive.
Which kind of role plays in the sells of your series the ebooks market?
Ebooks are fascinating to me. I’ve been studying the sales patterns -my idea of a fun Friday night- for the past few years waiting for a spike, and it finally came last year. We sold more 33 1/3 ebooks than ever before but our print sales didn’t fall. Industry-wide, I think the number of people choosing ebooks over print is about 20%. But with 33 1/3 I’d say it’s closer to 10%. I find myself falling into a similar pattern. 90% of what I read is in print but occasionally I’ll download and ebook to read on the subway.
More in general do you think it will ever take the place of the traditional paperback/hardcover books?
Nope.
Can you tell us something about the book “How To Write About Music”, a sort of spin-off of your series?
How to Write About Music came about because I was brainstorming new ways to bring 33 1/3 into the college classroom. We see so many of the 33 1/3 titles used on college syllabi that I saw it as an opportunity to create a textbook. I didn’t want it to be a boring old textbook about music history so I thought it could become a sort-of crash course in music journalism. The premise of the book is purposefully naive: ANYONE can be a music journalist if you just sit down and write.
Can you tell us something about the your plans for the series in 2016 and the forthcoming publications?
I am so excited for the next crop of books. I snuck a few personal favorites in there: Fugazi, The Modern Lovers, and Siouxsie and the Banshees. Like the last batch with the Super Mario Bros. soundtrack I went a little off genre (rock) with country, a TV show soundtrack and an electronic classical record. Some of the criticism we get makes me laugh. My favorite comment is “This series sucks. There’s not a single album I care about.” Really dude? There’s 125 of them.
