UNEDITED

Pocket Publication: the Economy of Publishing

The book is usually understood as an object, portable and self-contained, and the same mobility and isolation are extended to the author, thus we happen to forget the structures and institutions that support one and the other – at the end, their economy.

These conversations will discuss the economy of publishing, an expression that bears more than one meaning: firstly, the material conditions that support the conception, editing and distribution of publications, but also a minimalism, an economy of means; an ensemble of themes, persons and subjects to which we return cumulatively, building a collection, a capital that is both human and geographical – the objects circulate as people (and opportunities) circulate; a logic of survival between the competition and co-operation, an ecology.

We will look at the entire spectrum of causality/causalities that allows the maintenance/abiding/”success” of a publishing project. In an economy based on principles of trust, complicity and shared affinities, the maintenance (at least the existence) of a publishing project is reliant on all the aspects, be it on a small, independent or personal scale.

Invited Editors: [Mário Moura (FBAUP) and Sofia Gonçalves (FBAUL)]