A Crazy Job: Leading Publishers in Conversation with Juan Cruz Ruiz Published by Ivorypress. Edited and introduction by Elena Ochoa Foster. Text by Juan Cruz Ruiz. With the explosion of digital publishing and online retailing, and the collapse of major bookstore chains and traditional publishing houses, the book industry has changed dramatically over the past decade. However, it is also true that the industry is reinventing itself, with book sales up from 20 years ago in several categories and new “localist” loyalties evident at innovative independent stores. How are we to make sense of the shifts that have occurred over the past decade and half-century, and what might the future bring? To address these questions, Ivorypress presents a selection of interviews with some of the most important figures in this century’s international publishing community, conducted by noted Spanish journalist Juan Cruz, author of the prize-winning literary-scene memoir, Egos revueltos (Scrambled Egos). Cruz interviews the world’s top editors and publishers about their careers, the future of books and the evolving profession of book editor. Interviewees include Riccardo Cavallero of Mondadori, Italy’s biggest book and magazine publisher; Joaquín Díez-Canedo of Fondo de Cultura Económico, one of the most important publishing houses in Mexico and Latin America; Inge Feltrinelli, head of the influential Italian publishing house, Feltrinelli Editore; Antoine Gallimard, director of publications at the renowned Éditions Gallimard; Jorge Herralde, proprietor and director of the revered experimental Spanish publishing house Editorial Anagrama; Sigrid Kraus, publisher of Salamandra; Michael Krüger, chief reader at Germany’s prestigious Hanser Verlag; Peter Mayer, president and publisher of the distinguished American independent, Overlook Press; Beatriz de Moura, founder and publisher of Spanish independent Tusquets Editores; Stephen Page, publisher of the UK independent, Faber and Faber; Rob Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books; and George Weidenfeld, cofounder of Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
|