I saw this today and checked it out; powerHouse Books, “the future beyond art books,” as their site intriguingly says, has published all four of Jamel Shabazz’s books and quite a few black authors including photographer Lauri Lyons (as author). In fact, their overall author list is rather impressive if celebrity-heavy. They also publish lots of black subjects, so of all the publishers out there, I tend to consider them one of the few that is black-oriented. However, while the mash-up, street-culture, fashion/art vibe of their output is rather appealing in its boundary-breaking, accessible style/gloss/substance, the reality is that among the hundreds of contributors listed on their site I counted one black photographer (though, admittedly, I didn’t recognize all of the names).
But back to their submission process: it seemed quite open; anyone can submit a project for consideration and I contemplated doing it, but I was very surprised to see the $150 submission fee. Granted, they are providing you with a review and yes, the time it takes to review your materials costs money, but it certainly stopped me, although I remain intrigued. Has anyone submitted a project to powerHouse and would care to share their experience? It certainly seems worth a try/look.
THE POWERHOUSE SUBMISSIONS PROGRAMME
Dear photographers, artists, writers, graphic designers, editors, and book packagers,
Looking to publish your latest project? Want a well-crafted and personalized assessment of your work? The powerHouse Submissions Programme will get your work reviewed by our editors and is designed to give you positive direction and insight into the book publishing industry. We believe the more informed you are, the better equipped you will be to ensure your project succeeds in what is a very difficult industry.
A word before proceeding. Please note all submissions are made digitally and only completed projects may apply. The recommended way to submit your project is to layout your work in a PDF document. We ask that you keep your submission under 60Mb, it is better to show us a quality sample of 40 images than a pixelated series of 100 images. You may also create a visual presentation on your website.
