Books are a major part of our lives, even if you aren’t a big book reader they still carry such an influence in life. Take J.K. Rowling the author of the Harry Potter series, we have all seen the impact of her novels. Now you do have to take in consideration those who are more visually stimulated, liking the expression of creativity a little more than a few witty lines, and I’m one of those people. This is where the publishing house that is powerHouse Books comes in, they put together books of amazing stature, beyond just art books they have something for everybody, no matter what your passion is for, they have you covered. They don’t deal with a specific type of book format or style, according to founder Daniel Power, they just make sure that its interesting to them. The catalogue of books powerHouse has put together could turn you into a creatively induced hermit living off of water and ho ho’s (swiss cake rolls).
Name, age, location
Daniel Power, 45, Brooklyn
Now for a little intro on yourself, give us the small summary of the bio we all know you have been writing for the past few years tucked away in your desk.
Daniel Power founded powerHouse Books in 1995; he got his start in retailing at Stuart Brent Books in the mid 1980’s before moving into book publishing with George Braziller, Aperture, The Journal of Art, Artforum, and Parkett. All in sales and marketing before co-founding D.A.P. in 1990. His publishing philosophy is informed by Stuart Brent’s famous book selling dictum, “You’re not selling toilet paper, son.”
Besides the obvious connection with your last name was their any other reasoning behind naming your publishing company powerHouse?
Besides being an in-family reference to the Iowa homestead, it’s a subconscious tag or bell readers come across when reading about something unrelated having superlative or exceptional talent, prowess and ability.
Why did you start powerHouse Books?
I was bored with my job.
Why books instead of a magazine or a newspaper?
I was not from the world of magazines or newspapers. I knew books. Knew how to position them in the trade market, how to promote them, how to get buyers and the press excited about something they were unaware of or did not fully understand. Like PT Barnum, but with the real goods.
Can you remember your very first book you published under the powerhouse books imprint, and how that process went?
Jack Pierson’s All of a sudden (co-venture), and Red Light: Inside the sex Industry with Sylvia Plachy and James Ridgeway. Both were steep learning curves, but I’m a good study, and studied hard masters working with: Jack and designer Tony Morgan on the first book, Sylvia and designer Yolanda Cuomo on the second. I taught myself the editing and type design and promo parts. Selling I had down.
For those who don’t know including me, from start finish how does a book make it from concept to the shelf?
Someone pitches a project that with any luck is near completion, or if we don’t then, perhaps someone we know and whose judgment we trust does, and we see what sort of marketing and trade potential there is, and see if the pieces fit, we or they sequence the images, help us find text writers, we proof the text, the designer translates sequence into a digital mechanical, we send out the image files for separation (translating a black and white image into a gray picture file and a black picture file for duotone printing, or CYMK for four color printing) according to size of image placement in mechanical, approve color corrections, send the mech, and then printer makes ozalids (now digital blueprints), we sign ff, the book is ready to print. Printer then composes layout into forms, one per side per sheet, which after printing on both sides, gets folded and cut, and when all signatures (two sided forms) are done they are bound into a casting (for hardcover’s), then they get boxed and palletized for export. We contact our freight forwarder who traffics to US, and delivers to our warehouse. While all this has been going on, our sales reps have been seeing retailers and wholesalers nationwide with descriptions of the project, and some sample visuals. They place advanced orders based on content interest, marketing and promotion plans we have in place for the book, and when the book hits the warehouse and we release it, the advanced orders get shipped, and voila.
How would you describe the powerHouse genre if you could define the norm ph book, if any?
I don’t know if we have a particular genre, other than what interests us. We are doing a luxury novel next year; a memoir of a gentleman star fucking critic of some renown; go-go boys by hottest genre twister to date; sundry urban NYC historical photographic projects and non-profit initiatives with some top name charities.
What do you look for in a book, do you go find possible books by looking for individuals, or do they always just come to you?
We don’t have time to do anything else but answer the phone. It’s not braggadocio, but rather an indication of the plethora of febrile and intensely creative minds out there doing fantastic and innovative stuff with the illustrated book format.
What have been some of your favorite titles you’ve put out so far?
Pearl; East Side Stories; Jeremiah; Phil Stern.
Do you have any current projects in the works now you can give a little light on?
A survey of the world’s most notable socialites in their homes; inheriting beauty by Roger Moenks, due next year. This fall, a book with Glamour on Mariane Pearl’s Global Diaries columns with new and additional photographs accompanying, on the women around the world who are changing it against the odds and on their own. A subject in our first best seller, Woman Before 10 AM, then a cig-smoking blue-streak swearing tomboy, is writing the forward. She plays Mariane in a recently released movie.
If you could only make one more book ever, what would that dream book be?
The book of Louis. He’s five now. Small audience, but worth it.
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