Lessons I’ve Learned Starting a Micropress
I started a micropress, Tiny Hardcore Press, and it has been an awesome but very challenging adventure. The best part is getting to work with writers I respect to publish awesome books that practically fit in the palm of your hand. There is no worst part but every single day I learn something new. Most of these lessons have risen from my own ignorance. Who just decides to start a press? A press is a small business. I should have done more research. I had put out two books already via PANK, but that’s not really research. My first mistake was diving into the deep end when I should have been in the kiddie pool with my floaties. I offer these observations in no particular order.
1. No matter how much money you think it’s going to cost, running a press will cost more, like, at least twice as much more and then a little more on top of that. Sure, you can run a press on the cheap, but it is pretty hard to avoid spending a lot of money.
orange crows, where are they?
Snow/ice/snow, it is so funny, like a parfait without a hair in it, but not ha-ha funny like a parfait with a hair. I’m not at AWP. Damn. So I’m thinning mints now, but later I’m going to watch Woody Allen movies on VCR. Also I have a doze to bull, but that’s personal. Anderson Cooper, son of Gloria Vanderbilt, has been attacked! Again!! Everyone needs a hobby, OK. The flickering of the VCR, or even hens. The last one on Earth who likes to track? Who here likes to track?
(This post a serious evidence of an earlier A. Robinson post [I researched, but couldn't find] that says HTML people basically post anything)
But hey: What are you doing while not at AWP?
Adam Robison & Other Poems
Adam Robinson’s debut tome of poems, Adam Robison and Other Poems, is not only my favorite title of the year, but is also a book I have been waiting to hold in my hands with great anticipation for quite some time, as a friend, yes, but more so in language glee. Adam can truly speak it in a way I have never heard anyone else speak. This is going to be one to drink milk in bed with, I assure you. Or beer, if you do that sort of thing.
The above photo is not the actual cover, which I assure you will be a thing to hornily behold.
You can preorder the book here from Narrow House.
You can read a poem from the book that I published at Lamination Colony, I’m going to have SEX with these people.
And as a final bonus teaser, here’s Adam reading a poem that may or may not be in the book, but that at least could hold its own head to head against a plant and my fist, unblinking:
‘Steve Reich Hears a Pentecostal Preacher’ by Adam Robinson, from ‘Adam Robison’
It’s not quite available for the masses yet, but to get you hype for the forthcoming release of Adam Robinson‘s debut book of poems, pleasantly titled ‘Adam Robison and Other Poems’ (and forthcoming in the next few months from Narrow House Press) we’ve got two special treats lined up.
The first is said book’s publisher’s new blog: Narrow House press blog, which is a pleasant introduction to the group and their releases, which span from records to full length poetry books.
Secondly, culled from what might be quite a length of dirty video recordings captured this weekend at the post-510 Reading Series bar assault (in which your current blogger and said ‘Adam Robison’ aka ‘Magic Acorn’ were asked to ‘stop wrestling in the bar or leave’), is Adam Robinson’s fine drunken performance of his poem ‘Steve Reich Hears a Pentecostal Preacher.’
Please enjoy (and thanks to Michael Kimball for the sweet capture).
You should have seen him breakdancing a few minutes later. It was a poem in itself. Though the guys at the pizza shop were less thrilled with Adam and some other weird dude screaming about dick and pouring water on each other in a beer haze. Poem video life.
Also, for your consumption, the brilliant introduction to ‘Adam Robison,’ published here at Otoliths, which contains the paragraph:
So what’s the story, Anne Carson? I mean, what’s my story? I’m riding my bike home with a video camera strapped to the handlebars, through the glittering downtown into the crumbling neighborhoods of Baltimore’s east side.
I, for one, am quite excited.
New at Publishing Genius
The wonderful cover of Shane Jones’ novel Light Boxes is now posted over at Publishing Genius. Also, Adam Robinson has redesigned the site and it looks very nice. Scoot on over to have a look. Or go to the blog to see what Adam has to say about the cover. Pre-ordering information here.
Shane Jones blogged more about the book here. Most importantly, he blogged that the book has been sent off to the printer.
Shane Jones looks like a nice man.
Secret Santa Ideas from Adam Robinson
If you can’t please Adam, you can’t please this V of me. See here now:
HTML GIANT is Secret Santa. What this means is you email htmlgiant@gmail.com and tell them you want to participate and they email you a person’s name and then you send them some indie lit present, like a subscription or a book. There are more details, too. Check it out: Secret Santa.
For the occasion PGP is offering Rupert Wondolowski’s book, THE ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES AS A HEATED MOLE SUIT, at a reduced price of $9, shipping included. Email adam@publishinggenius.com if you want to order internationally.
Other great Secret Santa ideas are:
a Keyhole subscription
Mud Luscious Press books
Verb Sap by M. Magnus from Narrow House Press
What are other awesome things I’ve bought in the last couple weeks
A long arm stapler I think is a good present for anyone who cares about indie lit
Abraham Lincoln book ends
Talk has begun re: No Colony 2, maybe you could buy your person a publication in pink
I finally read Altmann’s Tongue, that’d make a good gift
Preorder the book Ryan Call will be publishing someday I imagine; THIS IS THE ONE I WANT
Just get them Rupert Wondolowski’s book he’s been at this game for years and years
Print Industry Shakeup
A while ago, I read this post by Reb Livingston of No Tell Books and thought, ‘yeah, fuck Amazon’ and ‘man, Reb is awesome.’
Then I ordered a lot of things from Amazon the next day; I binged like crazy, sent things to a friend through Amazon, those things were lost in the mail, etc. Now I am outraged again. It is probably not the kind of anger that Reb had, but it is anger, and that’s what matters.
So I am happy to see that Adam Robinson, the man behind Publishing Genius, has posted this prospectus for an article he’d like to write. He wants reading suggestions. He wants to break scholarly ground. He wants to write an annotated bibliography for fuck’s sake. Help him out.
