I’m a huge fan of any publishing model that is not the one currently in use by most big presses. McSweeney’s is a great example; small, nimble, and unencumbered by the clamoring of some great PR machine, they publish what they want to publish, when they want to publish it.
Hol Art Books operates using a different model. While based in Tuscon, they really operate online, bringing together authors, designers, editors, and publicists together to get a book out of its manuscript stage and into bookstores. Through Hol, you can start your own project, or jump on someone else’s. In the end, though, everyone ears a percentage of the sales: 65% goes to Hol, to cover printing, marketing, and development costs, while the other 35% is split up by the team, in whatever manner they would like.
So far Hol has published 8 books, with more in development. They’ve also embraced eBooks, and over all their publications in that format, for download direct from the website. Who knows if this model is viable long-term; people might not join, or start to fight over the profit margins, or Hol fails to attract interesting projects, and the whole idea might fizzle into nothingness, leaving just another ghost-town of a website. But it is an exciting idea, and it seems like a great way of getting experience without having to join the Sisyphus-like rat race necessary to secure a real job in publishing these days.
