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Business & Tech

Local Publishing Company Faces Changing, Challenging Times

The primary genres published by Fort Lee's Barricade Books include non-fiction titles of true crime, mafia, Judaic books and celebrity biographies, but the landscape of the publishing industry is changing.

The mission of Barricade Books is to provide entertaining and informative books while protecting people’s right to free speech. In fact, the founders of the Fort Lee publishing company, the husband and wife team of Carole and Lyle Stuart, started the business with a shared vision of publishing that reflected their commitment to freedom of expression. 

Barricade Books has been in business since 1989, when the Stuarts opened up shop in Manhattan—though they were living in New Jersey at the time—after Lyle, who passed away in 2006, sold his company, Lyle Stuart, Inc. The new small publishing company shared office space at the time with Barney Rosset, best known as the publisher of Grove Press.

The primary genres on Barricade’s book list include non-fiction, true crime and mafia titles, in addition to Judaic books, including memoirs of Holocaust survivors, and even celebrity biographies.

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“The process starts with the submission by authors of manuscripts and/or proposals, and at that point the company decides whether the piece of work is worthy for publication,” publisher Carole Stuart explained of the initial stages of the process of choosing the works Barricade publishes.

She said, "We are a small publishing company. If books have merit and fit our profile, working with the authors, we edit, design books, and the material is outsourced for printing."

The books are then sent to a distributor, which gets them to booksellers, ranging from Amazon and other online retailers, to traditional bookstores.

Today, Carole and her sales and marketing director, Suzanne Henry, work closely in the two-person office at 185 Bridge Plaza North in Fort Lee.

Barricade Books is, as Carole puts it, a “boutique” publisher.

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“People come to us because we pay attention and work closely with them," she said. "I enjoy what I do; working with an author is like a courtship, marriage, sometimes a divorce. When books do well, authors come back. Even if the books don’t do well, many authors like the commitment we have to our list and come back to us.”

Carole said her husband was a journalist who "became a publisher by accident."

"He knew of a physician, Dr. Arthur Coca, who had developed a technique of how to test someone’s pulse rate to determine whether allergies were present," she said. "Dr. Coca had written 'The Pulse Test' but couldn’t find a publisher. It was Lyle who believed in the book and published it. It was the first book he published.”

Carole said digital technology—things such as Nooks, iPads and Kindles—coupled with a down economy, have had a transforming effect on the publishing industry.

"We are not unlike other businesses," she said. "People are out of work and have little money. Publishers lost 500 opportunities [to sell books] after Borders closed."

She added that Barnes & Noble closing contributed further to the challenges publishers of all sizes now face.

"All publishers, big or small, are looking for their place in this new world," she said.

Barricade, for example, has become more selective in trying to adjust to such changes. Instead of publishing 24 books a year, as they once did, they now do eight or nine new titles and work to promote them.

"We work directly with authors who have a clear idea of their audiences," Carole said. "Considering our size, we need to be sure of what our market is."

She said Barricade has a "pretty good" backlist, or what she called "the foundation of every publishing company," books that sell consistently over years.

But in order to get completely "in focus" with the business world, sacrifices have to be made.

“Business is always a guess," Carole said. "You can publish 10 books and sell only two. The two, however, can make the difference between a good year and a bad one. Success comes from being careful.”

As far as the future of Barricade Books is concerned, Carole described her outlook as "optimistic."

"Books are important, and reading is important," she said. "Books do make a difference. Holding a book is satisfying; I can’t imagine people are going to stop reading. Every new book is like a new product, and it’s our job to find an audience for the particular book.”

She added, "People have to be entertained; they need their spirit lifted," whether it be through television, movies or—of course—books.

"Books inform, educate and entertain," Carole said. "Even during World War II, there was a steady flow of films. Everybody needs something to be uplifted. Books are food for the soul.”

Carole Stuart's advice to authors? Don't get discourged.

"Keep writing, and keep trying, even if [you] get turned down by a lot of publishers or agents," she said.

Barricade Books can be reached at 201-944-7600.

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