publishing

Justice, Love, Death & Literature An Interview with Sandy Taylor, Publisher, Curbstone Press. Interviewed by Jessica Powers. Sandy Taylor is co-director of Curbstone Press, which recently celebrated 30 years of publishing. Curbstone Press was started because Sandy and Judy Doyle “wanted to present literature that promoted human rights and civil liberties and promoted cultural understanding.”

NP: The question is which came first, the love of human rights or books?

Taylor: Who remembers for sure? I’m not sure I ever separated the two. The hunger for justice is every bit a part of our experience as love or death. We’ve always believed literature has an effect on people’s lives.

Along with discussing his philosophy of publishing and life, Sandy gives would-be literary publishers many tips from his long career–advice on finding a distributor, getting into bookstores, the academic market, getting reviews, conferences to attend, and the importance of promotion. “…all kinds of factors involved in keeping the ‘culture of the book’ alive.”