Just got the new American Letters & Commentary which has some really wonderful stuff in its special feature on ephemera (including some beautiful color reproductions of Joe Brainard’s work). Nancy Kuhl’s introduction to her poetry imprint, Phylum Press, describes a prime example of a publisher who understands sharing, the gift economy, and how it can be used to create an engaged reading community. I especially appreciate the fact that when she sends out the work she publishes she writes the recipient’s name and address in pencil so that reader can erase it and replace it with the address of another potential reader.

Cover of Tulips:A Collaboration (2004), words by Charles North, images by Trevor Winkfield

I’m not suggesting that all small presses must follow Phylum’s completely gift-based system, but it is an interesting model for how non-market distribution can work, and I hope will be one of the voices encouraging a trend in this direction.