Publishing Drama in the Information Age

Abstract

All professions have their social obligations, and when the question of “connections” arises at such gatherings, as it invariably does, my response usually receives a curious, momentarily confused look. At a gathering of publishers, the fact that Blizzard Publishing specializes in theatre and drama provokes a quizzical, often unspoken, “Why? People don’t read plays, do they?” And at gatherings of theatre people, the fact that I represent a publisher provokes a similar response, “Why? What does that have to do with theatre?”- and the conversation usually lags. Publishing drama is a cross-disciplinary activity, or even a meta-disciplinary activity (a discipline about another discipline), and I should not be surprised to find myself on the outskirts of these two worlds, not wholly belonging to either. The exception, of course, is with academics; they know exactly what to do with me.