July 2008 Hall of Fame
Community Supported Publishing (South End Press CSP)
Community Supported Publishing (CSP) draws on the success of the Community Support Agriculture (CSA) model to help secure the sustainability and independence of South End Press and preserve its ability to publish books that build and support democratic movements advancing social and economic justice
Q1: What is an easy way explain the importance and structure of the program to people not familiar with Community Supported Agriculture?
Idea Description
Community Supported Publishing (CSP) draws on the success of the Community Support Agriculture (CSA) model in which people help farmers ensure their sustainability (ecologically and financially) by pledging financial support in advance. Similarly, people join the South End Press CSP program to help ensure our ability to produce books in a sustainable manner, free from editorial control, and to reduce our reliance on the market and are rewarded with a share of the harvest (books).
South End Press is the nation's only unapologetically radical, feminist, mission-driven, and majority women of color publishing collective.
http://www.southendpress.org/2006/items/80129
What will you do if you win $10,000 for this idea?
We will launch a campaign to enroll subscribers into the CSP to help ensure the long-term success of South End Press. The campaign will include creating brochures and a website about the program, having collective members and authors host events where they speak to the importance of independent publishing, and outreach to people already enrolled in traditional CSAs. We will also build the infrastructure necessary to maintain the program.
Our goal is to have 1000 members join this Community Supported Publishing Movement by the end of the year.
You like it. You’re confused by it. You want to know more. Ask questions and post comments here.
Post a commentI like your idea; I want to improve your odds of getting funding I will vote for your idea if you will vote for mine. My idea is for a web site that raises money for inventors and entrepreneurs called New Idea website Check out my idea blob submission and visit New Idea Website and see what I can do for you. http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/4060-NEW-IDEA-WEBSITE The need for jobs is one of the biggest problems that a democratic government faces because creating jobs is an unwanted byproduct of business and industry. The reason I say its unwanted is the more jobs a business creates the more its expenses are and the smaller it’s bottom-line. If business and industry have their way they would run their companies with no jobs at all no management or labor. To deal with this dilemma I pr…moreopose a federal venture capital carrot fund that literally pays entrepreneurs to create jobs. The investment bank would be expected invest in seed level startup projects like yours and to lose money at a specified dollar per jobs ratio for example during hard times that figure may be as high as $20,000 per job and good times the figure may be as low as five dollars per job, by controlling this ratio the fed could roughly control unemployment. The bank will be expected to fund novel products and services and stay away from things like restaurants that will simply draw jobs from other restaurants or moving factories from one part of the country to another. If you like this idea vote for it and send the congressional letter from the website. Sincerely Frank Scruggs
We would love to join your network. It sounds like it's exactly what we're looking for. I'm not sure how to contact the poster specifically, however. You can reach me through our post (http://www.ideablob.com/ideas/3408-DREAM-VILLAGE-Kids-Books-with-) or at suneet@socialsymmetry.com
ditto comment aboe by thais -double grrrr. How do you vote? If you were up for a vote in July, did you win? If not, are you in the contest again?
What a great idea to be in competition with! Love CFA's and CSA sounds like it could work.
CSA is a great model for this work. we've all got a stake in keeping good, radical ideas growing in the community. no other way out of this kind of mess and SEP has an unparalleled history of keeping this kind of work going....
im so glad that your organization will not be winning this contest. at least the money is going to a worthy cause, although it is not what i supported
as a 35 year old male AND a radical feminist, i want to suggest something to those males who pretend to wonder if they should be "offended". do some reading (some study) regarding what feminism is please. a world without patriarchy is a better world for men as well. just as ANY relationship is more rewarding in the absence of coercion and hierarchy. my deep bows, deep smiles and solidarity for south end press. (and my vote)
Really great idea -- small presses and small bookstores struggle so much, and asking people to join as members is so easy. People are used to being to support public radio, public television, etc -- why not fork over some money to support publishing for the public good?
You are doing a great service by using your free speech rights to support critical thinking and civic engagement by all of us to push for a socially just, democratic, peaceful, and environmentally sustainable. Keep up the great work for progressive social change--what Martin Luther King called "the long, bitter--but beautiful--struggle for a new world." More power to you all. I hope you win!
Great idea you have my vote very important! I will check out the website also
La lucha sigue! SEP Adelante!
I would like to see South End set up a blog with sponsors and then publish speeches and short essays by the book authors they publish. We also would like to purchase the books in quantity and not just expect the major chains to support sales. It may be more efficient to have the big box stores be the outlets but at the same time, the dedicated reader and fan of these authors may have smaller circle of readers. We aren't seeking to make money on the book sales but to be a center of information that we draw attention to.
I'm sorry, but I fail to understand why this has 200 more votes then everything else. Is it a glitch? Or is it because this company is large enough already to tell all of it's employees and their families to vote? I'm also trying to figure out how this can possibly benefit those who REALLY need it. If I could choose any of the ideas to win, it would be Starting Artists, because it provides a safe environment for NYC kids to develop their artistic talents, while providing state of the art technology for free. This means children who have no money of their own can come their and use silk screens, dark rooms, photoshop, and tracing tables. It supports the community, and since it's already started, there's no chance of the money going to waste. This publishing company is already started as wel…morel, but it appears to be so large that the only thing it needs the money for is basic improvements. Radical feminists? Feminism needs to become such an obvious factor of American life that you don't HAVE 'radical' feminists.
Love the idea. In the same way that small farms have been eaten by corporations, small presses/publishers are too. This is a loss to the whole community of readers (even those who cannot understand why it's important) because small publishers add to the range and diversity of ideas that make it to readers. I'm a teacher who regularly uses texts published by small presses and students repeatedly comment on how grateful they are for ideas and questions they encounter that differ dramatically from the "run-of-the-mill" textbooks. Bravo!
Thank you South End Press for all that you do. This country needs more unapologetic radical feminism, specifically because it does Not have a narrow scope; quite the opposite. I want to help amazing organizations like SEP to reach as many people as possible. Check it out: when you put all the margins together, you outweigh the middle. Keep it up, SEP!
Do the people who have been reacting negatively to SEP know what the word "feminism" means? Here's the first definition that popped up from dictionary.com: "the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men." This is something that everyone can get behind, not just a small group of people, as the negative comments try to portray.
Love SEP and the work that you do. And I hope this model can help be a roadmap for the struggling alternative publishing industry.
I don't know if SEP is "feminist" but I do know that I have read books on labor, police and sustainable development that they have made available. If that is feminist I'm for it. Their collective is a great model.
hmm, three comments in a row that can't believe SEP is "in the lead." and three comments in a row on the advice page that all pick out the phrase "unapologetic radical feminist." think someone got himself three usernames so he could make his whining look substantial?
Keep publishing the truth! Your impact is far greater than some of the commenters here could ever know. Larger orgs have the marketing machines in place to get plenty of funds, but smaller groups like SEP need all of the help they can get to continue with their mission.
What a terrific idea. I am proud to support the initiative! I wonder if there is a way to link up with women's organizations in the global South who have radicalized banking in order to fund their work--that is radicalize microcredit models (which can be deeply problematic for women)--you can learn how they have done it and build more funding by using their methods. Ignore the negative and reactionary comments on the site--what small minds and hearts. Viva South End Press. Thank the Universe that you do exist...
Democratic movements? Economic justice? How patently Un-American! My vote goes to another bloated NGO that devours 90% of it's funding in administration costs. Hooray for South End Press and the beautiful & enlightening tomes they publish on a shoestring. Dag nammit, theys pushin' literacy on us too!
I was too late to vote for you apparently, but I did subscribe.
we need an organization like SEP if only to speak to some of the commenters here who clearly do not understand what is going on. jeez! continue on with the GREAT work, SEP, and by the spreading and speaking of ideas, hopefully more people will start to get why it is so important to keep the press going!
Holy crud! How in the world in this idea in lead?! How many people can this possible appeal too? Oh... I get it now. I would much rather support unapologetic radical feminist group than support worthless charities like habitat for humanity and the red cross. My mistake.
how are you guys in the lead? it's hard to believe that people would actually vote for you, unless you are doing it yourselves
i wonder how you are the leader in the current race. i dont think many fair-minded people would vote to award $10,000 to a group like the one you have described yourself as. no vote here.
i mean no offense whatsoever, but this idea seems to benefit a very small portion of society. is there any way that you could broaden the scope of what you do to benefit more people?
there is nothing more important then having community supported publishing so ideas (like those on ideablob!) are put in print that they big corporate publishing companies might not accept. it's vital! thanks southend for your great work.
i registered. i'm logged in...i can't vote...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Great application of the CSA model.