Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is excited and honored to have as our guest, Martin Shepard Co- Publisher of The Permanent Press that Martin and his wife Judith began in 1978. The Permanent Press committed itself to publishing works of social and literary merit and has, over the years, gained a reputation as one of the finest independent presses in America.

Martin has previously worked as a political activist, physician, psychiatrist, author of a dozen books, and house designer and builder. He plays the alto saxophone daily as a form of yoga, and has written and recorded several songs. In addition, he enjoys playing tennis and listening to jazz24.org while he works. What does he value most? His many close friends, wife, family--and Monty and Eddie, his two German Shepherds

Good day Martin and thanks for participating in our interview

Norm:

I notice you have worn many hats. What brought you and your wife Judith to the world of publishing and can you tell our readers a little more about The Permanent Press? Did you have any experience in publishing prior to you and your wife opening up your own publishing house?

Martin:

My previous experience in publishing were as an author, having written 10 books for major publishers. Nine were non-fiction, and all had to do with psychiatry: a biography of Fritz Perls and Gestalt Therapy (FRITZ); a self help book (Do-It-Yourself Psychotherapy); a book about coping with death (DYING: A GUIDE FOR HELPING AND COPING), an erotic autobiography (A PSYCHIATRIST'S HEAD) and several others. Plus one novel (THE SEDUCERS).

When Judy and I moved to the Hamptons full time in 1975, I designed and worked as a carpenter for this house for our combined family (we each had three kids from previous marriages), and what I learned enabled me to go on designing and building houses (when buying a lot out here was inexpensive), which soon became a major source of income.

At about the same time, the State of New York wanted to take away my physician's license for having written A PSYCHIATRIST'S HEAD (a terrible title that the publisher insisted upon), claiming that if my tales were true I should lose my license for what I wrote about, and if they were false I should lose my license for holding the profession up to ridicule: in short a lose/lose situation.

This really pissed me off and I thought I could use this situation to revive an out of print book. But when none of my publishers wanted to reissue it, we decided to do it ourselves, present my defense in a foreword and capitalize on my so-called "infamy." So that's how we began, starting two imprints: Second Chance Press and The Permanent Press. It was an extension of my own life-long sense of rebelliousness from arbitrary and misguided authority; the same impulse that led me into political activism earlier in life to protest against the Vietnam War, when Lyndon Johnson wanted to call me up in the doctors draft, and my reaction was to get rid of him. So I co-founded Citizen's For Kennedy/Fulbright --the first "Dump Johnson Movement." We had chapters in 15 states, preparing to deny LBJ renomination, and eventually Johnson retired.

Norm:

How do you go about deciding which manuscript to accept for publication? As a follow up, can you tell us what editors typically look for in a book query proposal?

Martin:

When we began, selections came about serendipitously. As said we started with a reissue of A PSYCHIATRIST'S HEAD, renamed THE RELUCTANT EXHIBITIONIST, a communal book of Judy's poems, SEASCAPES, with calligraphy and photography from two local artists. But what really got us started was an article inside the back pages of The New York Times Book Review, written by Thomas Lask. I believe his column was called Final Words. In any event I had sent a letter to the Authors Guild telling them that Judy and I were looking to publish worthy books that were out-of-print for at least 20 years, and somehow Lask picked up on this, mentioning that we lived in Sagaponack (a one building town center consisting of a shared grocery store and post office--no further address needed). Within two weeks we received 600 submissions, from which we selected six titles to start our first list.

These were not in manuscript form, but actual books, and what we chose were simply books we most enjoyed reading, either because we enjoyed the quality of the writing (Heywood Hale Broun's A STUDIED MADNESS and Mitchell Goodman's THE END OF IT), uniqueness of story (Richard Lortz's THE VALDEPENAS), and learned something we hadn't known much about before (Julian Schuman's CHINA: AN UNCENSORED LOOK).

Now, with over 5,000 queries coming in each year, we still look for stories that excite us in these ways. We are not interested in "timely" books since 95% of what we do its fiction and there are no time incentives that make sense to us, as all good novels illuminate some aspect of existence: relationships, the heart, the mind at work. I never take seriously a submission that claims his or her novel can be a "Best Seller," for nobody knows that but God. A poorly written query is also grounds for immediate rejection; if the writer can't write a decent letter, why bother reading the manuscript itself? It's also very important that we become emotionally engaged within the first few pages -- no more than two dozen pages—but the earlier the better. Otherwise it's like browsing in a bookstore and realizing there is nothing you've seen at the start that compels you to read more.

The final criteria for acceptance is that both Judy and I have to love a book in order to publish it and -- thankfully--this happens over 90% of the time.

Norm:

Many writers want to be published, but not everyone is cut out for a writer's life. What are some signs that perhaps someone is not cut out to be a writer and should try to do something else for a living?

Martin:

Few writers make a living at it. Same thing with musicians. Or painters.  Most people do these things as a way of expressing themselves, so there is no reason to stop just because they can't get published. Most everyone I know who is published has another "outside job," unless they are retired. If you are cut out to be a writer then you just keep writing, and reading other writers to see what they can teach you. The more you do this--in painting or writing or music-- the better you will become at it.  When the desire ends, it's time to stop.

Norm:

What is the most difficult thing about being a publisher and as a follow up, what is the most rewarding?

Martin:

The most difficult thing is selling enough books so that you can pay your printing bills. The most rewarding thing is finding a manuscript you feel is exceptional and introducing it into the wider world. Another reward is meeting a lot of wonderful people and developing friendships that you treasure.

Norm:

In the last few years have you seen any changes in the way publishers publish and/or distribute books? Are there any emerging trends developing?

Martin:

Publishers publish. Period! They take on books and try to sell them.  That's what it's always been about. What is different is that the books the conglomerate publishers (six conglomerates, with over 80 imprints between them control 85% of the market) get shittier and shittier -- assuming you are interested in quality fiction. Their choices of what to publish are made by marketing people, not well-read editors, and they are going for the largest possible audience. Like "major" motion pictures, which feature name-brand actors and have lots of sex and violence and car chases and the like--this is what the big guys choose to do. Okay, I suppose, but they no longer give new and mid-list writers the attention they deserve, and if a first or second time author doesn't sell a minimum of 10,000 copies, that's it: on to the small independent presses with you. This is good for us, but bad for new writers and for the public who are being fed the same formulas over and over again. The joke is that despite all this, the conglomerates are still losing money while pursuing their dreams of what might make "Best Sellers" instead of choosing "Best Books."

Distribution and sales through Amazon and Kindle and other electronic formats also level the playing field, enabling small presses to hold their own and actually improve on sales vis a vis the "biggies." So has the internet, where book bloggers are not under the control of the Simon & Schuster, Random House, Hachette, Penguin, Harper Collins, and Macmillan imprints, who dominated newspaper reviews by virtue of their advertising budgets. These independent minded bloggers, combined with the decline in newspaper reviews in general, are very favorable developments for us and many other smaller houses.

Norm:

What do you believe makes a great novel or a work of non-fiction?

Martin:

Only history can say. Hemingway, Faulkner, Gore Vidal, Emerson, Mark Twain, Nabokov, Sartre, Mailer, Elmore Leonard (and playwrights like Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Pirandello, Oscar Wilde) are clearly among the great writers I grew up reading and loving and they have set a standard for me in choosing manuscripts. But they all had elements that made for great storytelling.

Norm:

In fiction as well as in non-fiction, writers very often take liberties with their material to tell a good story or make a point. But how much is too much?

Martin:

As long as it isn't distracting there are no limits I would necessarily set for fiction. Nothing wrong with embellishment if it helps strengthen a novel. But as far as non-fiction is concerned, stick to the facts.

Norm:

Do you feel that writers, regardless of genre owe something to readers, if not, why not, if so, why and what would that be?

Martin:

I don't believe the writer owes anything to the reader, but a good and careful reader owes more to the writer.

Norm:

What's your advice to achieve success as a writer?

Martin:

Keep writing, keep trying, join a group of writers who can critique your work if you are not able to do this effectively yourself, and pray to whatever gods you feel might intervene on your behalf.

Norm:

How important is it for aspiring writers to go to conferences? How do you know that a conference is worth your time and money?

Martin:

Can't really say. I never did this when I was writing, but of course I learned some of the craft when I was in college as an English minor. There are good conferences and others not as good. But whatever conference you go to take what you can from it.

Norm:

What do you think of the Internet as it relates to the publishing world?

Martin:

As implied earlier, I think it's the best thing that's happened to spread the word about new and promising writers.

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to share with our readers that we have not touched?

Martin:

I've probably talked enough already, and I thank you for the questions and chance to participate.

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors

To learn more about Martin and The Permanent Press Click Here