2 Titles from the new PistolPress
The new indie press PistolPress out of Canada, who earlier this year debuted with their beautiful litmag full of weird lit work, has now announced their first two titles as a press, BUTCHER’S BLOCK by Deanna Fong and WE WILL BE FISH by Jp King.
Both are print books of poetry with covers so nice that they alone make me want to buy the books. And from the quality of the PistolPress issue, I would feel safe doing so even know very little about the authors, as the quality they have exhibited already is quite high.
It’s nice to see new presses of this quality with an obvious eye for art and design, as too often it seems presses are just willing to slop a name and a picture on a book without thinking about the necessity of making a reader cross that bridge on faith.
Publishing: it’s a faith game, it really is, and luckily there are still things to have faith in.
Publishing Genius Wants Your Pictures
Adam Robinson is redesigning the Publishing Genius website and wants pictures, especially MSPaint pictures, from everyone. He wants to take these pictures and rotate them through the website at the top of the page. Once he has enough pictures lined up, he’ll launch the new site.
You can be famous for a week.
Go here for information.
Raise Cash for Dzanc Books by Writing Words
Dan Wickett, god of small presses, has announced a Write-a-Thon! on the Emerging Writers Network – basically, you get a sponsor to pay a certain amount of money depending on how much your write and then that money goes to Dzanc Books. He has better details over at the site.
I once did a Jump-Rope-a-Thon! and raised some money that way. I also went Trick or Treating with a UNICEF box.
Oh, also, a prize: the writer who raises the most money gets the ‘full run of’ Dzanc’s titles.
3 New FC2
There are three new titles just out from FC2 for summer: LA MEDUSA by Vanessa Place, LEDFEATHER by Stephen Graham Jones, and THE BRUISE by Magdalena Zurawski, all of which look incredible and make me want to order order order.
I really like when FC2 updates their new books as they always supply lots of info to troll around in. Each title has excerpts from the book, info on the the author, press, and so on. It seems pretty easy to get an idea of what the books are like and whether you will want them, and I usually do. You can also always dig around in their excellent archives for same sorts of info on all the great books they’ve done over the years.
They are also still accepting subs for this year’s Ronald Sukenik Innovative Fiction prize throughout the end of the month.
The Art of…
I guess I could preface this recommendation with a short essay on whether or not a person can learn to be a writer. I guess I could.
I won’t, though. Not now. Not in the mood.
I don’t, though, have a lot of interest in books on how to write. Not usually. Not many. Gardner’s book, sure. Some of Kundera’s essays. Some of Nabokov’s lectures. Borges’. Barthelme’s. Calvino’s.
And one more: Charles Baxter. Both Burning Down the House and The Art of Subtext have been invaluable to me. Not in that his books offer blueprints, or prescriptive advice. Baxter just thinks about his writing, and the writing of others, in really interesting ways. And reading an essay that he has written about one aspect of, say, Chekhov’s writing, invariably does the triple duty of not simply making you see an element in Chekhov’s writing in a new way, or getting you to find similar tactics in the writing of others, but his work rearranges the way you read, rearranges your brain, and you start finding new and interesting things that have nothing to do with Baxter’s essays whenever you read.
That’s what I’ve noticed, anyway.
He’s editing a series called The Art of…for Graywolf Press. His book is pretty damn good.
Starcherone Books Open Subs
For the next 10 days (until Oct 15), Starcherone Books has opened their gates for open submission of queries regarding book length works. With fantastic releases in the past year from Johannes Goransson, Joshua Cohen, Zachary Mason, and more, this is a great opportunity for those who are looking to send out their innovative fiction manuscripts.
In addition to the open subs, they’ve also announced their yearly book competition, which should answer the question in many mouths, that being: What’s up with Ben Marcus? as he’s been announced the final judge for the competition. Booyah.
Here’s specific words:
Effective immediately, Starcherone Books will be accepting manuscripts under the following guidelines:
1. Writers may query until October 15, 2008, at starcherone@gmail.com. Please tell us about your book project and about your writing accomplishments to date. DO NOT SEND YOUR MANUSCRIPT; UNLESS WE HAVE ASKED FOR IT, IT WILL BE RETURNED.
2. We will be resuming our manuscript contest this winter, with Ben Marcus as our 2009 Final Judge. See our CONTEST PAGE. Our contest will serve as the preferred method for writers who have not established a track record through prior awards and/or publications to have their manuscripts considered by Starcherone Books. This contest is designed to discover new writing talent, and has been the method by which we have discovered six writers (five winners and a published runner-up) since 2004.
Press Press Press
If you’ve decided to abandon our [fucked] economy of slightly practical needs (plastics, soup, etc.) and concentrate entirely on the purchase of independent poetry, you should visit Press Press Press. This blog is a kind of small press mall, with links to a legion of small poetry presses and continual announcements of new titles. Recent entries include links to Rebecca Loundon’s new book Cadaver Dogs from No Tell Books and Kristi Maxwell’s Elsewhere and Wise from Dancing Girl Press. It’s a great idea and a great add to your RSS feed.
Lame House Press new release
Last week, Lame House Press officially released Kate Greenstreet’s chapbook This is Why I Hurt You. I got my copy last week and it’s a good looking piece. The writing is killer. Lame House mastermind Gina Myers, a fellow Saginaw native who earned her MFA from The New School, consistently publishes interesting and intelligent chapbooks (each copy of which she handcrafts, of course). Lame House is grouped in my mind with other independent presses like Greying Ghost and Publishing Genius, each publishing high quality chapbooks at ridiculously reasonable prices.
Chapbooks have been around forever (apparently Neanderthal Man’s hunched back is due to carrying around so many stone chapbooks ), but the chapbook has become a sort of art object in itself. Yes, the writing is excellent, of course, but the chaps themselves feel like something more than string, paper, and staples, thanks to the ambitious work of the many indie presses like Lame House, Greying Ghost, Publishing Genius, et al. Nice work, everyone.
barry graham has grouped women together and will be selling their work for american dollar bills
barry graham of paperhero press has grouped together
SUZANNE BURNS
ELIZABETH ELLEN
ANDREA KNEELAND
& CHELSEA MARTIN
in a chapbook collective and will be trading american dollars for their writing at a future point.
according to me, “barry graham looks like kerry king from slayer.”
the book will have words in it.
and careful, because sources say “if you put this book in a fireplace, it will burn up and be gone”. word is, most of the writing was done on a computer.
says chelsea martin, “you made up this quote.”
i will probably try to fool barry into giving me a copy for free.
i will say, “barry, baby, i work for the motherfucking internet giant now. i own your ass.”
Featherproof Mini-Books
Featherproof Books has been in fantastic habit of releasing free mini books for quite a while, featuring a line up of fully downloadable and print-friendly short PDF-based chapbook like things from people such as Amelia Gray, Paul Fattaruso, Kevin Sampsell, and tons of excellent others. There have them archived on the site there for free along with their regular print books, including the brand new and very excellent design-masterpiece BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING BORING by Zach Plague, which in itself is a thing to stare at and behold.
As of this week there are two brand new minibooks: THE STORK by John Griswold and MAGIC by Malread Case, which are both queued up in my printer. It’s a great e-lit companion to their print press.. so if you haven’t done so already, drop by and check some out, and when their submission window opens again, send them something.