The Cultural Economy of Auteurship in Independent Publishing: The Symbolic Success of the Photobook Ponte City

As far as book publicity events go, it was somewhat out of the ordinary. Alongside subscribers to And Other Stories, a UK-based independent publisher specializing in translations of non-English literary fiction into English, an academic network interested in the work of South African writer and editor Ivan Vladislavić had been invited to copy-edit a section of his 1999 novel The Restless Supermarket and submit it to the author himself to be judged. The winner of the ‘Restless Derby’1 would be announced at a book reading at Sussex University as part of a publicity tour promoting the novel’s UK publication in the summer of 2014. As a member of said network, and at that time working on a project that happened to explore Vladislavić’s influence as an editor, I was thrilled at the prospect of him casting his expert eye on my own editorial craft. I dutifully submitted my effort and booked a ticket for the event.