Talk:Seven Stories Press

Introduction

"Seven Stories Press publishes works of the imagination and political titles by voices of conscience." ---- "works" to "conscience" are copied directly from website. Either add quotations and cite website or shift to more neutral tone.

Perhaps 'Seven Stories Press publishes "works of the imagination and political titles by voices of conscience."'

Another spot is:

"Seven Stories also champions literature, with innovative debut novels, National Book Award–winning poetry collections, and translations in prose and poetry from French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Italian, Greek, Polish, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, and Arabic." ---- "champions" and "innovative" are very biased, I'd suggest something along the lines of: "Seven Stories also publishes a wide range of literature, National Book Award–winning poetry collections, and translations in prose and poetry from French, Spanish, German, Swedish, Italian, Greek, Polish, Korean, Vietnamese, Russian, and Arabic." to move towards impartiality --Snafu66 (talk) 15:29, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

I've made the two changes noted above. As written, I don't think the primary source reference is "unduly self serving" but keep in mind that others may disagree. The second change should ideally be cited, however, it does not appear to be contentious (i.e. require immediate removal). -Location (talk) 16:28, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

see here or here for reference on the variety of authors, I'm sure there's a secondary source somewhere that lists these publications but there's nothing self serving about a list of what we've published, either. Mehmuffin (talk) 17:13, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

http://www.nationalbook.org/nbawinners_category.html#.WScPZRPysW0 2001: Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry by Alan Dugan = the National Book Award winning poetry --Snafu66 (talk) 17:21, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

References

Edit request 2

Much of the free speech section is directly copied from the Seven Stories website's \'about\' page. As an employee, I cannot remedy this, but would recommend a rewording akin to "Seven Stories publicly insists that publishers have a special responsibility in defending free speech and human rights, and has frequently published politically contentious books that may have been too controversial to secure publication elsewhere." I am unfortunately not sure if there is any publicly available secondary source which would corroborate the specific examples used here. Mehmuffin (talk) 15:46, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

https://theintercept.com/2014/09/25/managing-nightmare-cia-media-destruction-gary-webb/

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1998-12-27/si-newhouse-hes-shy-rude-awkward-and-brilliant

http://www.counterpunch.org/2009/12/11/banned-and-forbidden-in-saudi-arabia/

http://www.prisonradio.org/store/products/all-things-censored-book

4 external sources which, for their respective book, verify the claim of dramatic/problematic publishing etc. Not sure how to connect it all. --Snafu66 (talk) 16:04, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

I don't think the above four sources are sufficient to state that other publishers have refused to take on certain books because they are "too controversial". For example, it's possible that some publishers are less critical about fact-checking and the biased presentation of certain topics. @Rgr09: I'm Gary Webb-ed out right now. Do you have any thoughts on this? -Location (talk) 16:37, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

This Esquire article in reference to Gary Webb supports these statements of consistent refusal by publishers. It also has references to Seven Stories itself. http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a23704/pariah-gary-webb-0998/ I'll look for others to add here as well. --20:31, 25 May 2017 (UTC)

Currently the Seven Stories Press page says: "Seven Stories has stepped in to publish important books that were being refused the right to publish for political reasons, including Dark Alliance by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Gary Webb ..." Neither the Esquire article nor the Intercept article support this. The Intercept article, in fact, does not mention the Dark Alliance book at all. The Esquire article says Webb "decided to write a book about "Dark Alliance," but this time no one wanted it. His agent was turned down by twenty-five publishers before finding a small press, Seven Stories, that operates as a kind of New York court of last resort." Nothing in regard to political reasons for not wanting to publish it. Nick Schou's biography of Webb, Kill the Messenger says, "In the year that had passed since "Dark Alliance" had appeared, however, the major publishing houses were no longer interested. Webb could scarcely find an editor willing to read his book proposal. After more than twenty rejections, he signed a deal with Seven Stories Press, an independent publisher that specializes in progressive books, including its annual "Project Censored" compendium of investigative stories overlooked by the mainstream media." Perhaps something like this would be closer to an NPOV statement of Seven Stories publishing interests. Rgr09 (talk) 00:39, 26 May 2017 (UTC)

Marking as declined. The initial request did not contain sources, despite the fact that sources were provided by another editor. This does not mean that I'm against its inclusion, just that the sources provided during this discussion were reliable enough for it. I'm only basing my decision on the opening statement. Whatever happens with the request from here is entirely up to the regular editors of the article, as well as the individuals in the discussion. jd22292 (Jalen D. Folf) (talk) 02:51, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

Triangle Square Neutralization

The new imprint from Seven Stories Press was launched in 2012 and combines social justice and good storytelling to a reading audience of young adults and children. Triangle Square supports the struggle for social justice and restoration of the environment, kid's rights, and freedom of the imagination. Triangle Square titles include The Story of the Blue Planet by Andri Snær Magnason, Trevor by James Lecesne, 'Do You Dream in Color?" by Laurie Rubin, A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff, and A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff. Titles include What Makes A Baby and Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg, A is for Activist and Counting on Community by Innosanto Nagara, and The Third Chimpanzee for Young People by Jared Diamond, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff.

--> To remove a lot of the bias and move towards a much more neutral wording. Also sources wording that was copied nearly directly from the website.

The newest imprint from Seven Stories Press launched in 2012 and is intended to combine social justice and good storytelling for a reading audience of young adults and children. Triangle Square's intention is "to support social justice and restoration of the environment, kid's rights, and freedom of the imagination." Triangle Square titles include The Story of the Blue Planet by Andri Snær Magnason, Trevor by James Lecesne, 'Do You Dream in Color?" by Laurie Rubin, A Young People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff, and A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America by Ronald Takaki, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff. Titles include What Makes A Baby and Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg, A is for Activist and Counting on Community by Innosanto Nagara, and The Third Chimpanzee for Young People by Jared Diamond, adapted by Rebecca Stefoff. --

Snafu66 (talk)

References