These noble careers diverged as the cost of owning newer, high speed printing equipment became too expensive an investment for most publishers. Those publishers who continued to print, and there are a number in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts, preserve the hands-on creation of fine works of art and literature. Adastra Press, Kat Ran Press, Pennyroyal Press, Swamp Press, and Warwick Press a
ll work locally, carrying on a 500-year-old tradition, creatively combining letterpress, offset, and high-resolution digital imaging. Levellers Press, formed by the worker-owners of Collective Copies in 2009, comes from a completely different direction to a publishing world in flux. We have witnessed a revolution in imaging technology from the first analog color copiers, to Xerox Docutechs in the 1990s, to today's 2400 dpi Xerox Docucolors printing on sheets as large as 13 x 19 inches. Unwieldy graphic files and slow computer processing have given way to lean Adobe Acrobat documents, high speed scanners and speedier RIPs (rasterized image processing). Our core business allows us to own this new technology, including the bindery equipment that completes a high quality print-on-demand publication. We find ourselves imbedded in the rich political and cultural environment of Western Massachusetts where many worthy manuscripts go unpublished. As Levellers Press we hope to provide a ready vehicle for authors whether we publish their work or help in a self-publishing effort. and welcome all inquiries.
