PW Announces Self-Published Books Supplement; "Non-Traditional" Works Remain Sticking Point for Libraries
By Josh HadroAug 23, 2010
Publishers Weekly (PW) announced today the creation of a quarterly supplement listing self-published materials called PW Select, which will also include reviews. Listings in the issue will cost $149, though review choice will remain at the discretion of the PW editorial staff.
From PW president George Slowik:
"We briefly considered charging for reviews, but in the end preferred to maintain our right to review what we deemed worthy. The processing fee that guarantees a listing and the chance to be reviewed accomplishes what we want: to inform the trade of what is happening in self-publishing and to present a PW selection of what has the most merit."
Kirkus forerunner
The idea of paid reviews is controversial, though not new. Kirkus, which maintains a paid-review publication called Kirkus Discoveries for "self-published and independent authors," is careful to maintain a distinction between paid and unpaid:
"The Kirkus Discoveries program gives independently published authors a chance to obtain an unbiased, professional review of their work, written in the same format as a traditional Kirkus review... Kirkus Reviews and Kirkus Discoveries are separate book-review services. Kirkus Reviews does not charge for reviews."
Issues for libraries
Self-published books can be a sticky issue for libraries, even more so as the number of self-published titles skyrockets in comparison to output from "traditional" publishing houses. Meanwhile, self-publishing platforms have grown in sophistication and distribution reach, while self-published books are regularly listed by online retailers like Amazon.
Often, libraries are required to justify purchases with independent evaluations of the materials acquired for collections. For example, the Salem Public Library in Virginia states in its collection development policy that "[i]n most cases, the library will not purchase self-published materials that are not reviewed in established review journals," mirroring the language of many other libraries' policies.
Library Journal (PW sister publication until April 2010) considers self-published books for review according to the same criteria as for other published works.
