Малые и микроиздательства: особенности и тенденции развития.

Publisher with low annual sales revenue and/or few titles

A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is generally defined as publishers that are not part of large conglomerates or multinational corporations. Many small presses rely on specialization in genre fiction, poetry, or limited edition books or magazines, but there are also thousands that focus on niche non fiction markets.

In the United States, a small press is considered to be a publisher with an annual turnover of under $50 million, or those that publish on average 10 or fewer titles per year. Other terms for small press, sometimes distinguished from each other and sometimes used interchangeably, are small publishers, independent publishers, or indie presses. The majority of small presses are independent or indie publishers, meaning that they are separate from the handful of major publishing house conglomerates, such as Random House or Hachette.

Since the profit margins for small presses can be narrow, many are driven by other motives, including the desire to help disseminate literature with only a small likely market. Many presses are also associated with crowdfunding efforts that help connect authors with readers. Small presses tend to fill the niches that larger publishers neglect. They can focus on regional titles, narrow specializations and niche genres. They can also make up for commercial clout by creating a reputation for academic knowledge, vigorously pursuing prestigious literature prizes and spending more effort nurturing the careers of new authors. At its most minimal, small press production consists of chapbooks. This role can now be taken on by desktop publishing and web sites. This still leaves a continuum of small press publishing: from specialist periodicals, short runs or print to order of low demand books, to fine art books and limited editions of collectors' items printed to high standards.

There is now also a distinction made between small presses and micro presses. A micro press can be defined as a publisher that produces chapbooks and other small books on a very small scale (e. g. 50 copies of one book per year). It can also be defined in terms of revenue. Micro presses are often run as a hobby or part time job because of their low profits. They may not produce enough profit to support their owners. A recent burgeoning of small presses has been caused by the introduction of digital printing, especially print on demand technology. Combined with Internet based marketing, digital typesetting, design tools with the rise of eBooks, the new printing technologies have lowered the economic barriers to entry, allowing many new niches to be served, and many new publishers to enter the industry. A notable boom of small press publishing has been observed since the 2008 economic crisis.