Ask not what your publisher can do for you, but what you...

"Publishers have come to be portrayed as a 'legacy' - something bequeathed to us from the past... Publishers have so much value to add - how much value does Amazon really add?"

This is from today's Futurebook blog on the Bookseller

And comes in the same week that Salt have announced they're adding a "find your local bookshop" link to each book they sell, as a small protest against Amazon. Nice touch.

Of course we think publishers fulfil a hugely valuable role for both author and reader. Below is some of the service we offer writers whose work we publish (after we've worked with the writer and/or translator on the manuscript).

Full bibliographic details of each book go to Nielsen, who feed the details to Amazon.co.uk, Waterstones and UK wholesales, reaching bookshops worldwide.
Full details of your book and cover, plus any ancillary information (sound files, links to YouTube etc), go up on our website.
We send Advance Information sheets to our marketing and repping agency, Inpress Books, who pass this information to their regional reps, and include each title in their catalogue of forthcoming publications, which reaches every bookseller in the UK, and targeted bookshops in Europe and beyond.
All eligible manuscripts are submitted to the Poetry Book Society for consideration in their quarterly 'Choice / Recommendation'.
We send eligible manuscripts / published books to all prizes and awards.
Review copies are automatically sent to the major reviews and we'll send extra to specifically named contacts.
If the author is willing, we'll set up an interview for our blog.
Each book is featured on Facebook and Twitter, shared with our many friends and followers, and on our e-newsletters to even more.
From time to time we receive requests to reproduce poems for song texts, educational / workshop use, exam papers, in anthologies etc. We always inform the author of these requests and, wherever reasonable, give permission and, if appropriate, ask for a fee which we pass on.
We circulate details of each new title to literary festivals in the UK and abroad.
Working with each author, we arrange a launch of their book.
We arrange readings wherever we can, and for these readings provide printed materials as well as circulating details online.
Wherever possible we try to be present at events at which Arc authors are reading. Not only so that we can record the readings to post on the Arc website, but because we want to have the opportunity of getting to know our authors and their work better.

Phew