Small press
From Wikinfo
A small press is an independent, sometimes highly successfull, publishing house, printing press, or book distributor and small business. Before the middle of the 20th century, nearly all publishing was done through such small houses, as the large conglomerate, multi-national publishing houses are historically a recent phenomenon in business. Due to the rise of large house publishing and exclusivity, some books from small houses have been derided as self-publishing, or worse, as non-books.
Toward the turn of the 21st century, and with the support of large online booksellers, more and more small presses have begun to appear again, offering books, book audio, and other expression absolutely unavailable from the large conglomerates. The big houses focus almost exclusively on mainstream, best-seller categories, so the small presses can freely offer a much wider range of literary works.
Prejudices in publishing are slowly changing, however, and as has already happened in film and music production, small presses are increasingly considered, not as mere "self-publishing" or "kitchen table publishing", but as unique outlets for works created with far more individual care and creativity than is realistically possible through large house publishing.
