One of the country's most venerable publishers is dipping into its backlist to start a classics line. FSG will launch a reissuing and rejacketing effort for some of the house's older, forgotten works, with the occasional acquisition of another house's older, forgotten works thrown in. All the books will include new introductions from contemporary authors such as A.M. Homes.
FSG associate publisher Linda Rosenberg, who will edit the paperback line, said these books are increasingly passed over in a chase-the-bestseller world. "Every five or 10 years brings a completely new readership," she said. Booksellers and reps had been asking for some of these titles, and the press felt that an organized series would get more attention—and allow for more bookseller displays—than a trickle of one-offs.
The house is aiming for 10 to 12 per year, starting with Donald Barthelme's 30-year-old The Dead Fatherand Edmund Wilson's Axel's Castle, which the house acquired. Rosenberg said there will be a common design for the books, but a loose one. "We don't want to take these individualistic books and make it seem like they're all the same."
