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In 2004, Riverhead Books celebrates 10 years of successful publishing. Penguin Online spoke with publisher Cindy Spiegel about Riverhead's vision over the past decade, a few writers they wish they might have had on their list, and the way ahead.
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Q: If Riverhead were a person, what would he/she be like?
A: Unpredictable. Curious. Experimental. Interested in design as well as language. Never tired of learning or trying new things. Young at heart.
Q: And what would you say distinguishes Riverhead from other imprints?
A: I think we've tried to keep a very clear sense of who we are in the world. One of them is trying to do new books that haven't been done before rather than just publishing the next brand name writer. We're always trying to put out the first new writer of his/her kind and then grow that writer and go with them in whatever directions they may take. I think that runs through both the fiction and the non-fiction. For example, The Beach was the first backpacking novel; Nick Hornby was the first of the new British invasion. We're trying to find defining voices.
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Q: What was the biggest challenge in starting out?
A: We were beginning when a lot of other publishing houses were closing their doors!
Q: Are there any projects that you're particularly proud of?
A: I personally am most proud of The Color of Water because James McBride came to me with a manuscript that had been turned down by most houses in New York. It was just a transcript of an interview with his mother and I helped turn it into a book. It stayed on The New York Times bestseller list in paperback for over two years, and it sold over 1.5 million copies!
Q: Which authors from history do you wish Riverhead could have published?
A: Virginia Woolf was a visionary writer of her time who would have fit very well, along with Sarah Waters, who writes Dickensian lesbian novels from England. I would like Hemingway, who broke ground in American fiction, and Faulkner—writers who weren't afraid to be original. The problem with the question is that most writers who last are those kinds of writers. They're the writer who were doing something new and bold. I think that's part of why their writing is still so appealing, because they were visionaries who are still relevant today. We like to hope that's what we're doing. I think that's a lofty claim to make. I wouldn't make that claim now. I think only time will tell. Our goal is to publish the kind of voice that's hard to find but will be time-resistant.
Q: Ten years ago, the literary climate was still relatively untouched by technology, mass marketing, and the rise of the chain store. What are the key issues Riverhead is grappling with today?
A: We're launching a website and we're trying to figure out how to use that in a way that will reflect the originality of our books. We want it to look different. We want it to feel different. We want it to have the same spirit, the same vitality, as the books themselves do and be a place where there can be some kind of real dialogue among readers or among authors. Our 10th anniversary seems like a good occasion for this sort of challenge.
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