Friday, March 01, 2013

Welcome to Small Press Month at Reading the Past

Individualistic.  Specialized.  Risk-taking.  Independent.  These are some words that come to mind when speaking about small presses.

Last year around this time, I started seeing bookseller reports and bloggers' posts about Small Press Month, which was traditionally held during March.  I decided then that I wanted to participate the next time March rolled around.  Unfortunately, the national celebration of this event seems to have fallen by the wayside for 2013 perhaps funding was lost? but I decided to forge ahead with my plans regardless!

Starting today, and over the next 30 days, Reading the Past will be looking exclusively at historical novels from small presses.  Definitions for this term can vary, but I'll be using it to include those publishers outside of the Big Six that are independently run and not part of large conglomerates.  Many of them specialize in certain types of works (literary fiction, regional settings, particular genres, and so forth).  There's even a growing number of small presses that publish only historical novels, something I find very exciting.

Because they may have more modest sales expectations than the industry big boys, they can afford to take chances on topics and styles that lie outside the mainstream or which may not have huge audiences.  However, while small presses may not feel as much pressure to follow trends, they can find themselves creating or shaping them.  Some examples of small press titles that became breakout hits for their authors: Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill), Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants (ditto), Michel Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White (Canongate), Peter Behrens' The Law of Dreams (House of Anansi), and John Shors' Beneath a Marble Sky (McPherson & Co).

Historical novels have thrived in the world of small and independent presses, and I've always enjoyed seeing the diversity they offer readers.  In fact, they're a necessary part of the industry, especially now, a time when many excellent mid-list authors are being dropped by their Big Name publishers for not meeting high sales goalsor for other more nebulous or arbitrary reasons.

I have a great selection of guest posts, reviews, and previews of small press titles lined up over the course of the next month, and I hope you'll enjoy reading along and seeing what's in store.

16 comments:

  1. I think I remember hearing about this last year vaguely. Can't wait to see your posts.

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    1. It's too bad the national celebration isn't back this year, but the official website has turned to spam! I've been doing a lot of reading during February to get ready for this month... some are older review copies, but most will be my own books.

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  2. Anonymous2:03 PM

    "There's even a growing number of small presses that publish only historical novels, something I find very exciting."

    Well, we HF nerds get excited over things like this . . . '-)

    This could be a very interesting month here (cough 17th/18th century cough).

    Sarah Other Librarian

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    1. Of course we do! :)

      I'll look around my shelves for small press novels set in a certain century or two. Got any recommendations?!

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    2. Anonymous4:17 PM

      How about ROYALIST REBEL by Anita Seymour (who also writes as Anita Davison)? Pub. in Jan by Claymore Press.

      SOL

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    3. A good choice! Coincidentally, after getting a gift card for Christmas, I've had it on preorder from Amazon. Who told me that they couldn't obtain it until late April (sigh) and it would be shipped then. If they could get it at all. I'm not sure why the lengthy delay.

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    4. Anonymous6:39 PM

      Hmm, they are out of stock at Foyles too. Perhaps they didn't have a big enough print run (lots of social media?). Is Knox Robinson a "small press" - how about THE FIRST BLAST OF THE TRUMPET by Marie MacPherson, first of a trilogy starting in 1511 Scotland (the Scottish Reformation)?

      SOL

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    5. The ironic thing is I'd ordered Royalist Rebel in the hopes of reviewing it in March! Oh well. I've seen it reviewed on other blogs since, so yep, they may have underestimated demand.

      You have good instincts at picking titles for me. I bought the MacPherson in London last fall (it is a brick of a book, printed on VERY heavy paper) and put it in line as a possibility. I hope I can get it read this month - if not, maybe later on. I also found two 17th-century small press titles on my shelves that may work! Booklist just sent me two for review with a 3/14 deadline, though, so those are my more immediate plans. I had better get cracking :)

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    6. Anonymous11:44 AM

      Now THAT'S where I heard about the MacPherson book - I should check your archives before recommending titles . . .

      SOL

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    7. Funny - I'd forgotten I'd posted about it before. It's still a good idea!

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    1. Hope you like it! It's also Women's History Month, of course, and I expect there'll be a fair amount of overlap.

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  4. Thanks for doing this, Sarah. I've long felt small presses added to the mix of voices; not just in terms of being risky or experimental, but simply because it's not good to have a handful of publishers, distribution companies, and bookstores choosing what the world reads. I thought we were moving dangerously in that direction about a dozen years ago, when I was a bookseller. Now (as a librarian) I think there are still problems, but e-books and print-on-demand have given rise to a new generation of small presses.

    The problem is now that there are so many, it's hard to separate the chaff from the wheat! So, looking forward to your helping me with that this month...

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to comment, Jack. I agree with you on what small presses have to offer readers. Many of the novels I see from these publishers aren't ones I've ever seen stocked in large chain bookstores.

      Hope you enjoy following along - and if you have small presses you'd recommend I take a look at, based on your library/bookstore experiences, please let me know!

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  5. Will do! Right now I have "Miss Fuller" by April Bernard on my list. Looks like it's from a pretty established literary press that hasn't done much historical fiction, though.

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    1. Steerforth publishes about one historical novel each season. I haven't read Miss Fuller, though it sounds like a good pick.

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