Re: r.biel@ucl.ac.uk

Dear Patrick,

Thanks for your appreciation.  

For a long time Zed has either been ignored or poopooed by so-called radicals 
because we do not have the muscle that other big publishers have.  What is more 
important is that Zed has progressed in a sustainable fashion.  I do not want 
to go 
into the history of Zed since its creation, but it is the only Northern-based 
publisher 
that has managed to get its books in many Southern countries at an accessible 
price.  Besides we have always had a good percentage of Southern authors whom 
the traditonal Northern publishers would not touch with a barge pole.  Examples 
are 
Nawal el Saadawi, Vandana Shiva, Kavaljit Singh, Nzongola-Ntalaja, Bade 
Onimode.  I can go on and on.  There are other Northern 'star' authors who 
would 
go to the traditional publishers.  They do it for the money.  We can understand 
that 
as writing is their livelihood and we do not have big money to dole out.  But 
they 
should not lecture to us!

I am sure and I hope the discussion will go on and that we will deal with other 
aspects of radical publishing.

Onve again thanks for your kind words of support.

Farouk Sohawon

Sales Manager




Forwarded by:           "Michael Pallis" <admin.ZEDBOOKS>
Forwarded to:           FAROUK
Date forwarded:         Mon, 9 Sep 2002 10:13:48 +0100
From:                   "Patrick Bond" <pbond@sn.apc.org>
To:                     "Farouk Sohawon" <FAROUK.Z@zedbooks.demon.co.uk>,
        "Mark Jones" <markjones011@tiscali.co.uk>
Copies to:              <r.biel@ucl.ac.uk>, <marxism@lists.panix.com>, 
<pen-l@galaxy.csuchico.edu>,
        <a-list@lists.econ.utah.edu>, <psn-owner@csf.colorado.edu>,
        <wsn@csf.colorado.edu>, <#EVERYONE@zedbooks.demon.co.uk>
Subject:                Re: r.biel@ucl.ac.uk 
Date sent:              Sat, 7 Sep 2002 13:55:09 +0200
Send reply to:          marxism@lists.panix.com

> After noting on Mark's A-list that I got Robert's excellent book for $15
> equivalent in South Africa a year or so ago, I went over to the Johannesburg
> Workers Library bookshop and found many many other recent Zeds for $6.
> Farouk, great cross-subsidisation (for us who are in the US$1,000/month
> range and below), many thanks!
> 
> Patrick
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Farouk Sohawon" <FAROUK.Z@zedbooks.demon.co.uk>
> To: "Mark Jones" <markjones011@tiscali.co.uk>
> Cc: <r.biel@ucl.ac.uk>; <marxism@lists.panix.com>;
> <pen-l@galaxy.csuchico.edu>; <a-list@lists.econ.utah.edu>;
> <psn-owner@csf.colorado.edu>; <wsn@csf.colorado.edu>;
> <#EVERYONE@zedbooks.demon.co.uk>
> Sent: Friday, September 06, 2002 12:28 PM
> Subject: Re: r.biel@ucl.ac.uk
> 
> 
> > Dear Mark Jones,
> >
> > Thanks to you and Lou giving a good account of Robert Biel's book and its
> > weaknesses.
> >
> > Speaking on Zed's behalf concerning the size and price, 370 pages in Royal
> format is not a slim volume
> > and US$25.00  is not an exorbitant price for a book of this size, and this
> is the
> > highest price Zed would charge in the North.  I can point out to you that
> we have a
> > two-track policy in terms of prices.  In the North we charge a realistic
> price, or what
> > we consider to be realistic, but this goes a long way to subsidise the
> price in the
> > South.  You may or may not know that books published by Zed are available
> in
> > many countries in the South at an accessible price to the local
> population.
> >
> > Again you may not know that Zed is a workers' cooperative and most of us
> working
> > here are politically motivated, but as we do not have any sugar daddies,
> we need to
> > get the political and the economic right.
> >
> > I hope this addresses your concerns.  If you need further elaborations,
> please get in
> > touch.
> >
> > In solidarity.
> >
> > Farouk Sohawon
> 
> 
> ~~~~~~~
> PLEASE clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.

Farouk Sohawon
sohawon@zedbooks.demon.co.uk

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