NONFICTION - Oct. 11, 1987

THE INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORY OF LITTLE MAGAZINES AND SMALL PRESSES, 23RD EDITION, 1987-1988, edited by Len Fulton (Dustbooks/Pushcart Press/W. W. Norton: $21.95, paper; 800 pp.).

As big publishing merges its way toward a Seven Sisters division of the blockbuster market, small publishing is proliferating its way into hundreds of smaller markets. And what is true of book publishing is also true of magazine publishing: Up there, a cartel; down here, a carnival. As guide to the carnival, this catalogue by the dean of small press publishers is without serious competition.

Fulton wastes no time on an introduction. It’s just: Listings p. 1; Subject Index p. 616; Regional Index p. 728. Though hardly a book to browse for pure pleasure, the directory’s boasted “4,400 markets for writers!” have a certain intermittent charm. My favorite entry: Yet Another Small Magazine, Andrew Mountain Press, Candace C. Hall, P.O. Box 14253, Hartford, Conn. 06114: “We Welcome newer poets who have not published extensively before, and are willing to take a chance if a poet shows promise.”