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34-454: ABC No Rio is a collectively-run nonprofit arts organization on New York City 's Lower East Side . Founded in 1980 in a squat at 156 Rivington Street , following the eviction of the 1979–80 Real Estate Show , the center featured an art gallery space, a zine library, a darkroom , a silkscreening studio, and public computer lab . In addition, it played host to a number of radical projects including weekly hardcore punk matinees and

68-407: A vanity press or self-publishing service, a small press rarely publishes books written by the owner or publisher. Instead, these are small businesses, often with only a few employees, who select books written by other authors. There is now also a distinction made between small presses and micro-presses. A micro-press can be defined as a publisher that produces chapbooks and other small books on

102-515: A community mission. These organizations operate like a business but have different tax identification and are supported additionally by grants. A museum is an example of a nonprofit, whereas an artists' collective may be an example of a not-for-profit. Small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms " indie publisher " and " independent press " and others are sometimes used interchangeably. However, when

136-399: A critique of the city's land use policies—policies that in essence kept buildings empty until the area again attracted investment from developers—and a demonstration of what can be achieved through solidarity. The show was to explicitly "illuminate no legal issues" and called for "no rights"; instead, it was "preemptive and insurrectionary ." The show opened to the public on January 1, 1980; it

170-844: A distinction is drawn, there are about 100,000 small presses and about one million independent presses. Independent press is generally defined as publishers that are not part of large conglomerates or multinational corporations . Even when owned by a larger business, an independent press is allowed to choose which books to publish, and the business will survive or fail as a result of how well those books sell. Many small presses rely on specialization in genre fiction , poetry , or limited-edition books or magazines , but there are also thousands that focus on niche non-fiction markets. Other terms for small press, sometimes distinguished from each other and sometimes used interchangeably, are small publishers, independent publishers, or indie presses. Independent publishers (as defined above) made up about half of

204-418: A gallery." In 1997, the city agreed to sell the building to ABC No Rio for $ 1 provided the organization could raise the money to renovate the building and bring it up to code , and that the squatters living in the upper floors of the building vacate to free the space for public use. After three years, the squatters, numbering around 10 and including a young family, left their apartments, which were converted to

238-646: A large collection of zines formerly hosted by the now-defunct Lower East Side radical bookstore and infoshop Blackout! Books. The collection spans over two decades, and features many zines with a radical political perspective, or a focus on punk and other DIY art forms. In 2014, an exhibition at the Center for Book Arts called Zines + the World of ABC No Rio drew on the collection. Not-for-profit arts organization Although museums and performing arts societies have existed for centuries, they have proliferated since

272-454: A small likely market. Many presses are also associated with crowdfunding efforts that help connect authors with readers. Small presses tend to fill the niches that larger publishers neglect. They can focus on regional titles, narrow specializations and niche genres. They can also make up for commercial clout by creating a reputation for academic knowledge, vigorously pursuing prestigious literature prizes and spending more effort nurturing

306-438: A small number of copies to the author's friends. Small presses should not be confused with printers . Small presses are traditional publishers, which means that they engage in a book selection process, along with editing, marketing and distribution. Small presses also enter into a contract with the author, often paying royalties for being allowed to sell the book. Publishers own the copies they have printed, but usually do not own

340-601: A spine-bound book. In doing this, small press publishers are eligible for grants from the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council . Small presses should not be confused with self-publishing presses (sometimes called " vanity presses "). Self-publishing or subsidy presses usually require payment by authors, or a minimum purchase of copies. By comparison, small presses make their profits by selling books to consumers, rather than selling services to authors or selling

374-416: A very small scale (e.g. 50 copies of one book per year). It can also be defined in terms of revenue. Micro-presses are often run as a hobby or part-time job because of their low profits. They may not produce enough profit to support their owners. In Canada , these are considered small press publishers, but the standard small press book run is accepted at 300 copies of a chapbook and 500 or more copies of

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408-401: A zine library, a Food Not Bombs kitchen, a silk screening studio, a computer lab, and other artist spaces. Over the years the city changed the scope and price of renovation several times, until 2004 when it was agreed that renovation could be broken into three phases and that the property would be sold when the collective had the funds for phase one in place. On June 29, 2006, the city completed

442-406: Is January 2026. Beginning in the late 1960s, Manhattan's Lower East Side was facing massive disinvestment by absentee landlords —by the late 1970s up to 80% of the area's housing stock was abandoned and in rem (seized by the city's government for non-payment of taxes). By the late 1970s and 1980s, a growing squatter movement and a small but visible “downtown” arts scene developed from within

476-490: Is also one of the few places in New York City to host regular punk/hardcore shows that are all-ages . Organized by saxophonist Blaise Siwula, the weekly Sunday evening show called COMA (citizens ontological music agenda) was ABC No Rio's series of experimental and improvisational music: electric, acoustic, free jazz and free form with many artists including bassist and WREK's Destroy All Music's Tony Gordon. ABC No Rio holds

510-810: Is often to provide alternative spaces for exhibition for emerging artists and contemporary artists outside the commercial gallery system. Canadian ARCs usually pay a fee and de-emphasize the selling of work, although this will vary from gallery to gallery. A recommended schedule of payment is provided by the Canadian Artists' Representation (CARFAC), an artists' advocacy group. In the United States, not-for-profit organizations are defined separately from nonprofit organizations . Not-for-profits are groups that do not have salaried positions and are often collectives or social groups. Whereas nonprofits are organizations run by salaried employees and often volunteer boards with

544-577: The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space . Perhaps ABC No Rio's best-known project is the Punk/Hardcore Collective. Since December 1989 and while the Rivington Street building was open, ABC No Rio has hosted weekly punk and hardcore matinees on Saturday afternoons. They go back to the initiative of Mike Bromberg, former singer of New York Hardcore band SFA, who suggested running hardcore shows to

578-941: The Stella Prize , the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction and the Miles Franklin Literary Award . There was a strong upward trend in the number of titles published by small press and shortlisted for the Miles Franklin and the PM's Fiction Awards in the two years preceding 2017. The Small Press Network (SPN), located at the Wheeler Centre in Melbourne , represents small and independent publishers in Australia, which promotes independent publishing and supports diversity within

612-432: The market share of the book publishing industry in the United States in 2007. The majority of small presses are independent or indie publishers, meaning that they are separate from the handful of major publishing house conglomerates, such as Random House or Hachette . Since the profit margins for small presses can be narrow, many are driven by other motives, including the desire to help disseminate literature with only

646-514: The Arts (PVLA) is one such organization. Through its volunteer attorneys PVLA provides non-criminal legal assistance to artists and arts and cultural organizations on arts related issues. In Canada , a series of artist-run organizations often known as "parallel galleries" or artist-run centres (ARCs) have developed in cities across the country since the 1960s to encourage the exhibition of contemporary works by Canadian and international artists. The purpose

680-527: The Clemente Soto Vélez community center and the punk gigs moved to Brooklyn. Since 1980, ABC No Rio has hosted many projects. It runs as a collective of collectives. The individual projects enjoy a great deal of autonomy in their day-to-day affairs. Building-wide matters are addressed at building collective meetings. While the building itself was being rebuilt, the collectives moved to other locations and ABC No Rio collaborated with other groups such as

714-479: The USA. The unprecedented proliferation of small and independent publishers at the time was a result of the so-called ' Mimeo Revolution ' and the proliferation of DIY and affordable reproduction technologies. A recent burgeoning of small presses has been caused by the introduction of digital printing , especially print on demand technology. Combined with Internet based marketing, digital typesetting, design tools with

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748-626: The building collective and organized the first shows. For most of the 1980s, the NYC punk/hardcore scene had been focused around the Sunday matinees at CBGB 's. In November 1989, CBGB's stopped hosting them. The new shows at ABC No Rio were carefully set up to be devoid of the violence, homophobia , sexism , and machismo that had taken over CBGB's matinees, and to this day follows a policy of booking only independent (i.e., non-major label) bands that do not in any way promote sexism, racism and homophobia. ABC No Rio

782-469: The building. It had read "Abogado Con Notario," meaning "lawyer and notary public " in Spanish. But all that remained were the letters "Ab C No rio." ABC No Rio was conceived of as an "art-making center," a community-oriented alternative to what its founders perceived as an overly hierarchical art world and gallery scene. It was to be "a place where you could do things that wouldn’t even cross your mind to do in

816-503: The burgeoning gentrification of the largely Puerto Rican community in the Lower East Side . ABC No Rio itself grew out of the 1979 The Real Estate Show , organized by the artists' group Colab (Collaborative Projects), in which a large group of artists seeking to foster connections between these communities occupied an abandoned building at 123 Delancey Street and turned it into a gallery to show solidarity with working people in

850-404: The careers of new authors. At its most minimal, small press production consists of chapbooks . This role can now be taken on by desktop publishing and web sites . This still leaves a continuum of small press publishing: from specialist periodicals, short runs or print-to-order of low-demand books, to fine art books and limited editions of collectors' items printed to high standards. Unlike

884-477: The city Food Not Bombs collective. In July 2016, ABC No Rio vacated the Rivington Street building in advance of demolition and construction of a new facility on the same site for its programs, projects and operations, including the silkscreen studio, zine library, art exhibitions and music shows. On July 16 2024, ABC No Rio broke ground on their new building-a four-story art center located at their original Rivington Street location. The projected completion date

918-585: The copyright to the book itself. In contrast, printers merely print a book, and sometimes offer limited distribution if they are a POD printing press. Printers have a very low selectivity. They will accept nearly anyone who can pay the cost of printing. They rarely offer editing or marketing. Printers do not own the copies that are printed, and they do not pay royalties. Book packagers combine aspects of small presses and printers, but they are technically neither small presses nor printers. Small presses became distinguishable from jobbing printers at some time towards

952-640: The end of World War II. In particular, government sponsored organisations such as the Arts Council of Great Britain , the Canada Council , the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts , have been created to fund award grants to help promote the development of art and culture. Not-for-profit legal service organizations provide services to artists and arts and cultural organizations. Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for

986-510: The end of the nineteenth century. The roots lie with the Arts and Crafts movement , particularly the Kelmscott Press . The use of small letterpress machines by amateur printers increased proportionately to the mechanization of commercial printing. Later, the advance of practical lithography made small press publication much easier. The 1960s and 1970s are considered the small press's golden age in

1020-509: The market was seen as a tough one in 1999, despite about 80 per cent of the Australian Publishers Association being small book publishers (defined as those with less than AU$ 2m), nearly all Australian-owned. In recent years, though, the small publishers have especially made gains as big publishers have backed away from publishing literary works. Small press publications have won some of the greatest literary prizes, including

1054-613: The proposed sale, selling 156 Rivington St. to ABC No Rio for $ 1, still including the provision that the organization must raise the rest of the money to renovate the building. In 2006, having acquired the property the ABC No Rio collective began planning to build a new multi-use arts center with photo darkroom, screenprinting facility, small press library, computer center, expanded space for art, music, performance, educational and community activities, and meeting and office space for ABC No Rio and other organizations. ABC No Rio's new building

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1088-483: The rise of eBooks , the new printing technologies have lowered the economic barriers to entry, allowing many new niches to be served, and many new publishers to enter the industry. A notable boom of small press publishing has been observed since the 2008 economic crisis. Small presses have played a significant part historically in recognising new voices and publishing notable works of literary fiction in Australia , but

1122-479: Was designed by architect Paul Castrucci . It will meet the rigorous passive house standard for energy efficiency. It will be significantly more efficient than the state energy code requires, making it a low-energy house . Castrucci commented in 2016 that it would become “one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the city.” In summer 2016, the final shows at the building took place and the collectives found other venues for their activities. The zine library moved to

1156-483: Was promptly shut down before the morning of January 2 by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) . In the following negotiations with HPD, the organizers of The Real Estate show were granted the use of the building at 156 Rivington Street. That space became ABC No Rio. The name derives from the remaining letters of a mostly burnt-out neon sign that was in the front window of

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