the changing media landscape

The media landscape everywhere continues the radical transformation made inevitable by the unprecedented technological advances of recent decades. What began with the disintermediation of capital markets in the 1980s and 1990s was expanded to the wider marketplace with the opening bell of the dot-com boom. The Netscape IPO in 1995 marked the beginning of the disintermediation of media. The original web browser marked the advent of a third distribution mode for the written word. (Its historical predecessors were the invention of the Greek alphabet ca. 800 b.c. and the founding of the Gutenberg Press ca. 1450.) Just twenty-five years later, the internet has evolved into the web-based social media of Facebook and the smartphone-based social media of Instagram, Twitter, etc.

the essentials: reader and author

Glaux Press is committed to providing both authors and readers with a compelling value proposition. We help authors reap the rewards of their creative labor, with greater participation in the economic upside. We guide readers to books of first-rate quality, which we define by three criteria: the immediate, visceral pleasure of a thrilling read; the insight that rewires one’s perspective on essential life matters; and the need to tell friends, peers, and colleagues about the book. 

Glaux Press strives to deliver ‘best in class’ titles which represent a landmark statement on the topic at hand and fill a gap in the existing titles.

the essentials: publishing capabilities

Glaux Press prides itself on its maximum efficiency in achieving the superior result, with soup-to-nuts capabilities which rival major publishing houses: editorial and production, art direction and design, sales and marketing, publicity and digital. Our operational emphasis is on first-rate editorial and production quality with the rationalized cost structure of a small press. Glaux maximizes reader outreach with experienced marketing and publicity professionals.

Glaux Press uses non-traditional production methods to capitalize on cost efficiencies of advances in technology and to concentrate on the essential non-mechanical competencies: the editorial process of shepherding quality works from first draft to publication and publicity.

the essentials: distribution

Glaux Press focuses on two primary distribution channels: online retail; and local bookshops in major US cities, and global cosmopoleis.

Online retail is clearly established as the primary mode of book-selling, with the leading online book-seller alone accounting for half of all print book sales, and an estimated two-thirds to four-fiths of all e-book sales. The shift to online sales allows for streamlined logistics processing, with integrated inventory management and rationalized book-return levels.

And yet, local bookshops provide the advantages of a relationship-based distribution channel. More than just a retail outlet, local shops provide venues for book signings and author readings, and benefit from the presence in first-tier cities of media and universities. Moreover, the physical encounter with books and the browsing experience is much sought out by customers; in the digital age, many readers are eager for a real-life experience to supplant the distractions and temptations of the online world.