Ghost publishing
Encyclopedia
Ghost Publishing is an anonymous publishing movement. The basic philosophy of the movement is in part derivative of the new criticism
of the early part of the twentieth century. The new criticism held that a work should be treated as though it were contemporary and anonymous whether it was a text by Tacitus
or Hemingway
. The Ghost Publishers take the belief one step further and hold that works of literature are most powerful when they are anonymous
. Most texts that have come out of this movement are photocopied booklets that are distributed through one of three typical methods: the drop-off, blind mail, and piggy-backing. The most common is the drop-off whereby the writer simply prints his texts and drops them someplace where they are likely to be found, such as a park or a city bus. Blind mail is held by some to be a better method since the likelihood of being delivered is higher than in the drop-off, but some feel that most blind mail deliveries are discarded as though they were junk mail. Some also feel that blind mailing to unknown recipients runs the risk of appearing menacing to some recipients. Piggy-backing is the most controversial delivery method since there is some question as to its legality at least in some jurisdictions. Piggy-backing involves placing anonymous texts inside product packaging without the knowledge or approval of the manufacturer. Some popular items to piggy-back are cases of soft drinks, shoe boxes, and the inside pockets of sport coats.
There are antecedents to the Ghost Publishing including the American minicomic
movement of the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet underground publishing phenomena Samizdat
, and the hand to hand distribution of many Beat
manuscripts of the 1940s and 1950s many of which were circulated in typescript for more than ten years before eventually being published. The collections of various amateur press associations of the United States may serve in some respects as a model for the physical primitivism of the typical ghost published text. The central mainstream literary idol of the movement not surprisingly is Jorge Luis Borges
whose Ficciones
serve as a model for many of these anonymous writers.
The movement is sometimes referred to by the term Guerilla Publishing which has been co-opted by more overground efforts to publicize small press and independent publications but the anonymous writers’ movement should not be confused with these efforts at viral marketing.
New Criticism
New Criticism was a movement in literary theory that dominated American literary criticism in the middle decades of the 20th century. It emphasized close reading, particularly of poetry, to discover how a work of literature functioned as a self-contained, self-referential aesthetic...
of the early part of the twentieth century. The new criticism held that a work should be treated as though it were contemporary and anonymous whether it was a text by Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
or Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
. The Ghost Publishers take the belief one step further and hold that works of literature are most powerful when they are anonymous
Anonymity
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
. Most texts that have come out of this movement are photocopied booklets that are distributed through one of three typical methods: the drop-off, blind mail, and piggy-backing. The most common is the drop-off whereby the writer simply prints his texts and drops them someplace where they are likely to be found, such as a park or a city bus. Blind mail is held by some to be a better method since the likelihood of being delivered is higher than in the drop-off, but some feel that most blind mail deliveries are discarded as though they were junk mail. Some also feel that blind mailing to unknown recipients runs the risk of appearing menacing to some recipients. Piggy-backing is the most controversial delivery method since there is some question as to its legality at least in some jurisdictions. Piggy-backing involves placing anonymous texts inside product packaging without the knowledge or approval of the manufacturer. Some popular items to piggy-back are cases of soft drinks, shoe boxes, and the inside pockets of sport coats.
There are antecedents to the Ghost Publishing including the American minicomic
Minicomic
A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term "small press comic" is equivalent with minicomic reserved for those publications measuring A6 or less...
movement of the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet underground publishing phenomena Samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
, and the hand to hand distribution of many Beat
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
manuscripts of the 1940s and 1950s many of which were circulated in typescript for more than ten years before eventually being published. The collections of various amateur press associations of the United States may serve in some respects as a model for the physical primitivism of the typical ghost published text. The central mainstream literary idol of the movement not surprisingly is Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
whose Ficciones
Ficciones
Ficciones is the most popular anthology of short stories by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges, often considered the best introduction to his work. Ficciones should not be confused with Labyrinths, although they have much in common. Labyrinths is a separate translation of Borges' material,...
serve as a model for many of these anonymous writers.
The movement is sometimes referred to by the term Guerilla Publishing which has been co-opted by more overground efforts to publicize small press and independent publications but the anonymous writers’ movement should not be confused with these efforts at viral marketing.