Two Edmonds authors have announced the formation of a publishing cooperative for fellow writers.

“The economy, diminished shelf space, and other money-squeezing factors affect the ability of authors to get their work published,” said Emily Hill, author of “Jenkins: Confederate Blockade Runner” and owner of A.V. Harrison Publishing, which assists authors in self-publishing their works. “The situation worsens as Borders and IndieBound bookstores close, one after another.  These dynamics make finding an agent and publisher more difficult for emerging authors because agents and publishers are risk-adverse to spending the money to promote fresh talent.”

Hill has joined forces with another Edmonds resident and author, David Gross, who also is a member of the Steering Committee for Writers on the Sound, Edmonds’ annual October writers conference.  

All Puget Sound-area writers and artists interested in the IndiePub movement are invited to participate in the cooperative, Hill said. 

According to a message from Gross, publishing cooperative  members would agree to edit each other’s completed manuscripts prior to publication, and all of the group would read each manuscript and offer general comments to the author. In addition, one member would be responsible for a line-by-line edit, and everyone would share the editing responsibilities equally. 

” The concept is based upon the premise that an experienced writer is a capable editor except for her or his own work,” Gross said, noting that “non-edited, self-published manuscripts have a greater propensity for being substandard and commercially unsuccessful.”

If the group agrees that the edited manuscript meets the quality standards of the Small Publisher’s Association of North America, the title would be accepted for promotion by Hill’s company, A.V. Harrison Publishing. “Publication would be at the sole option of the author and the author would receive deeply discounted coaching assistance from Emily on publishing the title,” Gross said.

Anyone  interested in learning more should contact Hill at avh_publishing@hotmail.com or Dave Gross at gross1@illinois.edu.