Cynthia Frank, publisher of Cypress House, shares some of the hard-won insights from more than 30 years as an independent publisher

Listening to this wide-ranging interview you get a sense of what issues come up and what life is like as an independent publisher in a small town on the northern coast of California. Cynthia Frank has been publishing for as many years as there has been an IBPA and before that PMA, and has seen technology go from a phone and fax to high-speed internet and the digital revolution. Lots of things have changed, but much is still the same, like Cynthia’s belief that the publisher must emphasize editorial content and quality of expression more than anything else.

And she’s also outspoken on subjects like, is it worth going to BEA? Can you publish successfully without Amazon? Why has there been a resurgence in indie bookstores (hint: Amazon’s success may ironically have had something to do with it!)? Do special sales pay off?

Mentioned in the podcast are:

Cypress House is at https://www.cypresshouse.com/.

Participants

Cynthia Frank is publisher of Cypress House, QED Press, and Lost Coast Press in Fort Bragg, northern California. In addition to being a royalty house that has won national and international awards and grants, Cypress House is a full-service book production and promotion company. It provides manuscript evaluation, editorial services, typesetting, cover design, forms filing, marketing and promotion, subsidiary rights assistance, e-book account setup and liaison, and comprehensive consultation services. It specializes in helping new publishers launch their own companies and in helping authors find the right publisher.

Peter Goodman (host) is publisher of Stone Bridge Press in Berkeley, California. He began his publishing career in Tokyo, Japan, in 1976. A longtime member of IBPA, he has served on the IBPA board and as IBPA board chair.