In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, New York City indie publishers are improvising and dealing with various problems ranging from flooding and power outages to having staffers stranded at their homes, or outside of the city. Here’s another list of publishers that we will continue to update as we get more information:
The New Press office on Greene Street in SoHo is without power and closed. Executive editor Diane Wachtell said New Press staff are “improvising” and working from home.
Seven Stories Press, which is based in Evacuation Zone A on Watts Street in Tribeca, barely missed being flooded, said publisher Dan Simon, who also lives nearby. “Water rose up to the space,” he said, but did not flood into the offices. The Seven Stories Press office is dry, but there is no power and the office is closed.
Graphic novel publisher NBM, along with its sister company Papercutz, is located on Exchange Place in lower Manhattan, near the financial district. The building is without power and the office is closed. Publisher Terry Nantier said he had to use his iPhone to illuminate the stairs and “walk up seven flights in a dark building to retrieve our computers so I can work from home.” NBM/Papercutz titles are distributed by Macmillan and IPG.
The Other Press, which has an office on Park Avenue, is without power and the office is closed, according to Other Press publisher Judith Gurewich, who sent an email from Cambridge, Mass.
CLMP executive director Jeffrey Lependorf said the offices of the Council on Literary Magazines and Presses, located on Christopher Street in the Village, are closed due to the storm, flooding and the lack of power. Reached in upstate New York, Lependorf said he was “stranded” there due to the problems at CLMP offices and at his apartment which is nearby. Lependorf has put out a call on the CLMP Listserv to check on members affected by the storm.
Brooklyn independent house Akashic Books shares a building on the Gowanus Canal with three publishers: Archigelago Books, Ugly Duckling Presse and the literary magazine, One Story. Although the canal flooded, Akashic publisher Johnny Temple said the offices of all the publishers are open, and were unaffected by the flooding.
Independent publisher Four Way Books is based in Tribeca in downtown Manhattan and publisher Martha Rhodes said her office is without power and her staff is working from home. She also said that she’s cancelled the launch event for her fall list, which was scheduled to debut with an author event at the NYU Bookstore next week.
Ed Chavez, marketing director at Japanese contemporary literature and manga house Vertical Inc., said the company’s office at 30th Street and Park Avenue is closed, has no power, and that the Vertical staff is working from home.
As reported earlier, the PowerHouse Arena bookstore space in Brooklyn was flooded, but PowerHouse Books associate publisher Craig Cohen said the publishing side was unaffected and staff is working to help clean up the bookstore space.
