Inspired by the 2016 presidential election, Jason Pinter, founder and publisher of indie house Polis Books, is returning to his first calling—writing novels. Pinter will publish The Castle, a political thriller, on June 26. In an interesting move, Pinter is self-publishing the title, keeping it entirely separate from the Polis Books list.
“I wrote this book during the insanity of the election campaign,” Pinter told PW, “and I wanted it out right now, not in 18 months, [which is the usual publishing cycle]. I knew I would need to do it myself.”
Pinter and his agent, Scott Miller at Trident Media Group, submitted the book to several publishers, before withdrawing it. Because of the topical subject, Pinter said, “several editors liked the book, but said it needed to be out now. I agreed with them.”
The new book, The Castle, focuses on Remy Stanton, a corporate executive who intervenes in a street crime and saves the lives of two people, one of whom is the daughter of a powerful businessman. This same businessman is about to make history by running for President of the United States. He offers Stanton, now a hero, a job in his political campaign. As the campaign moves forward, Stanton discovers the dark truth behind the candidate and his daughter.
Aside from Pinter's desire to get the novel to market quickly, he also didn't want to see it overshadow any of the titles he's working on as a publisher. "I didn’t want my sales reps to have to deal with my book or for my Polis authors to feel shortchanged, or make them think they would have to line up behind me,” Pinter said.
With this in mind, he set up Armina Press—the name was inspired by his daughter, who is due to be born in June—which will act as the book’s publisher. Pinter plans to use IngramSpark, Ingram’s self-publishing platform, to deliver the book in print. The e-book will be sold and distributed through Amazon KDP Select and other retailers. (The title will also be available, via Ingram, to libraries and bookstores.)
Pinter, who was an established crime author before launching Polis Books, has published five adult novels and one middle grade title. He founded Polis Books in 2013 and has grown the house into a full service publisher that will release 25 books in 2017.
Now that Polis Books is up and running, Pinter told PW the time was right to return to his writing. But that doesn't mean he's abandoning Polis Books. The publisher-author said now he's got the best of both worlds.
“I just love books, they’re my passion and livelihood—both writing them and publishing them. It’s the best job in the world.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Armina Press was named after Pinter's daughter. Also IngramSpark is distributing the print edition of the 'The Castle,' not the e-book.
