“荒野图书”出版社总经理
刚刚学会认字，文字就深深吸引了我。十岁那年，我写了第一首诗，从此以后就没有停止过写作。最初想到要创办一家出版社，是为了出版自己写的书。我在开办儿童写作工作坊和制作木偶的时候，第一次接触到了立体书技术。它改变了我的人生，从此我可以把自己的多种爱好结合起来。
我意识到，让图像动起来更能体现出文字的含义。于是，我借用朋友劳拉·奥里亚托（Laura Oriato）设计的人物形象，尝试动手制作3D立体书。“荒野图书”出版社最初的两部作品《村庄》（Caserío）（2014年）和《花冠》（Cabeza de flor）（2015年）就是这样诞生的。我们印了50册，一页页手工装订。这两本书大获成功，于是我们决定扩大印制规模。
成立十年之后，我们的出版社依然存在，位于布宜诺斯艾利斯西北大约300公里的罗萨里奥，出版过56种图书。我出版的小说和文学作品主要针对儿童读者。我喜欢图文并茂的书，一直都为成人书籍没有插图感到遗憾，因为读者借助图像可以延展阅读层面。
我也喜欢能够以不同寻常的方式打开的书籍，它们可以提供互动体验，可以转动旋钮，让图画动起来，甚至还可以上下颠倒着阅读……。我把这些创意尽情发挥在《神奇的事》（Una Cosa maravillosa）系列丛书中。剪纸书《刺激工厂》（Fábrica de escalofríos）印数超过20000册，读者用这本书可以写出上千万首诗。
© lupamilupa
想象图书的各种样子
另一个例子是《那是什么？它在哪儿？》（¿Qué es? ¿Dónde está?）系列，这是一套小开本折纸书，书中藏着“一百种有待寻找和发现的东西”。还有一类书，我称之为“文学工艺品”，严格说来这些并不是书，但依然可以引领读者踏上文学之旅，例如《兔子华尼托的故事》（Los cuentos de Juanito Conejo）就包含一套故事卡片和几种小游戏。
“我很幸运，只需要出版我喜爱的作品”
我很幸运，只需要出版我喜爱的作品，换言之，就是那些能触动我心灵的文字。我在阅读文字时会想象这本书的样子。在我看来，这是出版商的首要职责，也就是想象一本书该有的样子。我会花上几个小时研究插图，查阅视觉艺术家的作品，直到找到能给这本书赋予特定风格的人选。
对于我十分欣赏的艺术家，我会时刻留意，处处留心，等待与其视觉宇宙相配的文本出现。出版事业还意味着与新一代人建立起沟通的桥梁，公正地对待有价值的文字和有才华的作者，例如在我们这里出过书的丹尼尔·莫亚诺（Daniel Moyano）、南希·巴塞洛（Nancy Bacelo）和路易莎·福托兰斯基（Luisa Futoransky）。
© lupamilupa
纸张短缺
梦想固然美好，可现实教会人要脚踏实地。在阿根廷要维持一项年度出版计划往往是件很困难的事。经济危机和通货膨胀导致原材料价格不断上涨，印刷成本也随之上升。阿根廷不能为本国工业生产足够的纸张，又无力进口，致使这项重要资源供应短缺。高需求将压力转移到印刷成本上。这种情况下，我们不得不在编辑和美学方面做出一些让步。
“在阿根廷要维持一项年度出版计划往往是件很困难的事”
成本上涨也体现在了我们的图书价格上，图书的定价非常高。这种压力考验着我们这些出版商的良知。出版只为精英阶层服务吗？这不是违背了书籍解放人类思想的使命吗？我认为阿根廷，或许整个全球南方国家的出版商都面临着一项难题——在开发新书项目的同时彻底改革印制和发行办法。
以小博大
有鉴于此，我们试着改变与印刷商的关系，例如与打印店建立业务合作关系，减轻印制成本的影响。我们还建立了自己的绘图工作室，可以完成大量组装和装订工作。我们的书印数很少，通常是500册，我们也因此有了更大的灵活性，可以重印最畅销的图书。
另一种办法是以大幅折扣向我们的忠实读者“预售”出版物。我们在那些严格挑选图书入库的中小型独立书店设立了自己的销售网点，在学校、当地图书馆和写作研讨会上开展活动，还在作者与读者之间搭建沟通桥梁。
当然，我们还参加了全国各地的书展，与国内外书商建立了具体合作项目。为收回初始投资，我们在发布每一本新书时都会举办一场活动。
有人说，危机会逼着人们花小钱办大事，甚至试着白手起家去成就一番事业，所以每次危机都是一次机会。无论要克服什么障碍，我都不愿生活在一个不写书、不读书、不分享书籍带来的激情的世界里。
Carolina Musa, a passion for publishing
Why let Argentina’s paper shortage and galloping inflation stop you publishing books? The independent publisher, Libros Silvestres [Wild Books] has been defying the odds since it was founded ten years ago. The secret? The unfailing determination and healthy dose of creativity of its managing director, Carolina Musa.
Carolina Musa
Managing Director of Libros Silvestres
As soon as I could read, words fascinated me. I wrote my first poem at the age of ten and haven't stopped writing since. The idea of setting up a publishing company first came to me as a way to publish my own books. I was running writing workshops for children and making wooden puppets, when I discovered the pop-up book technique. It changed my life, allowing me to combine several of my passions.
I realized that animation made words appear. So, I tried my hand at making three-dimensional books using shapes designed by my friend Laura Oriato. That's how the first two Libros Silvestres titles came about – Caserío [The Hamlet] in 2014, and Cabeza de flor [Corolla], in 2015. We printed 50 copies, assembling them by hand, page by page. They were so successful that we decided to expand our production.
Ten years after it was founded, our publishing house still exists, in Rosario, some 300 kilometres north-west of Buenos Aires, with a catalogue of 56 titles. I publish fiction and literature, mainly for children. I like illustrated books and I've always been sorry that books for adults don't have pictures because images introduce other levels of reading.
I also have a taste for book-objects that open in unusual ways, offer interactive journeys, play with volumes and animations, and can be read upside down... I’m having fun developing these ideas in the Una Cosa maravillosa [A Marvellous Thing] collection. More than 20,000 copies have been printed of the cut-out book Fábrica de escalofríos [The Thrill Factory], which can be used to create ten million poems.
Imagining possible books
Another example is the ¿Qué es? ¿Dónde está? [Who is it? Where is it?] series, which offers Cien cosas para buscar y encontrar [One hundred things to look for and find] in a small format with origami folds. There's also another category of books that I call “literary artefacts”, which aren't books in the strict sense of the term, but which nonetheless take you on a literary adventure, such as Los cuentos de Juanito Conejo [The Tales of Jeannot Lapin], a pack of story cards and other game formats.
“I'm lucky to be able to publish only what I'm passionate about”
I'm lucky to be able to publish only what I'm passionate about, in other words, texts that touch my heart. When I read a text, I have to imagine the book. For me, that's the primary function of a publisher – to imagine what the book could be. I spend hours looking at illustrations, reviewing the work of visual artists, until I find the one who can take the book in a certain direction.
I also sometimes greatly admire an artist and then wait – actively, attentively and watchfully – for the text that matches his or her visual universe. Publishing also means doing justice to worthwhile texts and talented authors, like Daniel Moyano, Nancy Bacelo and Luisa Futoransky, who are in our catalogue, by building bridges with new generations.
Paper shortage
So much for the dream. The reality is more down-to-earth. Maintaining an annual publication schedule in Argentina is a constant challenge. The economic crisis and inflation are causing the price of raw materials, and therefore printing costs, to rise continuously. Argentina does not produce enough paper for the local industry and cannot afford to import it, resulting in a shortage of this key resource. And the high demand puts pressure on printing costs. In this context, it becomes hard not to give in to certain editorial and aesthetic choices.
“Maintaining an annual publication schedule in Argentina is a constant challenge”
This rise in costs is also reflected in the price of our books, which is very high. This presents us, as publishers, with a real test of conscience. Are we just publishing for an elite? Isn't that contrary to the emancipatory vocation of books? From my point of view, the great challenge for publishers in Argentina, and perhaps in the South in general, is to be able to develop projects while reinventing forms of production and distribution.
Doing a lot with a little
With this in mind, we have sought to redefine our links with printers, for example by forging partnerships with print shops to cushion production costs. We also have our own graphics studio where we do much of the assembly and binding work. As we only have small print runs – usually 500 copies – this gives us greater flexibility and allows us to reprint the best-selling titles.
Another strategy is to “pre-sell” our publications – at a substantial discount – to loyal readers. We also have our own sales outlets within a network of small and medium-sized independent bookshops, which select their stocks carefully. We also offer activities in schools, local libraries and writing workshops, to forge links between authors and readers.
And, of course, we take part in book fairs all over the country, and we set up specific projects with national and foreign institutions. To recoup our initial investment, we have to organise an event when each book is released.
They say that every crisis is an opportunity, because it forces you to do a lot with little or almost nothing. In any case, whatever the obstacles to be overcome, I can't see myself living in a world where I don't make books, read books and share the passion they inspire.
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