Soft Skull 2.5
It’s a transitional time here at Soft Skull, but an interesting time, and a good time to post an update, we think!
We expect Richard to continue to do great things in the world of independent publishing, and we wish him the best. It’s been an incredible opportunity, at least for me, to work closely with a true publishing visionary, a person with boundless intelligence, quickness, creativity, knowledge about publishing, and ambition for Soft Skull—not to mention great warmth, kindness, and grace. Meanwhile, there are a number of folks who are continuing on in their involvement with Soft Skull, and we’d like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves.
I’m Soft Skull’s assistant editor, and I’ve been lucky enough to work for Richard for the past three years, both pre- and post-acquisition by Counterpoint. I came on board in time to be involved with the publication of some of my favorite Soft Skull books—Jamestown by Matt Sharpe, American Genius, A Comedy by Lynne Tillman, Lydia Millet’s How the Dead Dream, Tim Wise’s new book and the reissue of his earlier classic, White Like Me, the new edition of Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore’s That’s Revolting, the American release of Martin Millar’s oeuvre ... and many other wonderful books. I’m very happy to be able to confirm that Soft Skull will continue to operate from our New York office and that I will remain with the company, working on developmental editing and acquisitions.
We’ve also got a wonderful staff in Berkeley, headed by our publisher, Charlie Winton. While Counterpoint and Soft Skull books will remain distinct, there is much crossover in terms of personnel, and Soft Skull would be paralyzed without the efforts of the Berkeley staff. In particular, I’d like to introduce Adam Krefman and Charlotte Williams. Adam, who worked previously at McSweeney’s, works on Soft Skull’s production. He will most likely be the most frequent contributor to this blog. Charlotte is also a crucial member of Counterpoint/Soft Skull’s staff. She is also the person who handles all direct orders from the Soft Skull website. She will be a frequent contributor to this blog as well.
And I’m also happy to be able to say that I will not be alone in the New York office for too long. We are hoping to have a new senior editor in place sooner rather than later—someone with his or her own bold vision of independent publishing, someone experienced, someone who loves the current and past list of Soft Skull books and authors and who is ready to take that list in a new direction. There’s no question that we will not be the same without Richard, but with this change, there is also an opportunity to continue evolving as a company, and to build upon the great legacy of books Richard has left for us.
So on that note, here's our kickass Spring and Fall 09 catalogs. Check em out.
Thanks for reading, and Adam and Charlotte and I are looking forward to updating you as Soft Skull 3.0 begins to take shape.
Anne Horowitz
anne@softskull.com