Three independent press startups in New England and the Mid-Atlantic region are skipping traditional book distributors and instead relying on wholesalers Ingram, Baker & Taylor and their own Web sites to successfully market their lists.
Perhaps the most ambitious of the three is Reverse/Grain Publishing (www.reversegrain.com), founded by Alluré Delamater in November 2003. The Philadelphia press with an African-American slant takes its name, said spokesperson Jay Blakeslee, "from the idea of going against the grain of current contemporary black literary trends." Reverse/Grain, Delamater said, was started out of an urge to highlight the literary and art scene in Philadelphia, but has now expanded its focus.
Its first book, the political thriller Tantrum, published in March with iUniverse, is written by Charles D. Ellison, a public policy analyst and former congressional speech writer in Washington, D.C. It has sold 5,000 copies to date. "We are using Tantrum as a pilot to experiment with POD technology and distribution conduits such as iUniverse," said Blakeslee.
According to Blakeslee, R/G will focus on fiction, science fiction and poetry, primarily by African-American authors, and will expand into manga within the next two years. This fall, R/G will publish four books: Heretic Rising; Sell Out; a book of poetry; and a hardcover edition of Tantrum. R/G plans to grow slowly and will release three books in 2005, including a new novel by Ellison.
Jazoli Publishing, Lansdowne, Pa., also focuses on African-American fiction, but geared to young, urban readers. The name, notes owner and pseudonymous author J. Gail, comes from an amalgam of her name and that of the woman who helped her found the company in November 2002. Last year, Gail bought out her partner and refocused the publishing program under the tagline "This is real life. It ain't no fairytale." Gail's debut novel, Thugs Are for Fun (May), is Jazoli's first title. Sales have taken off, thanks to an online marketing campaign—Gail posted portions of the novel on the Jazoli Web site (www.jazolipublishing.com). She also hired a friend to handle publicity and has done a number of radio interviews about why women are attracted to thugs. The first printing of 1,000 copies sold out in June, and Jazoli went back to press for another 2,000. Gail calls her decision to publish her own book first "a test. So when I do turn to other authors, I can market them well." She plans to publish three books a year.
For Dan Ho, starting Rescue Press offered a way to piggyback on Rescue magazine, the bimonthly publication he launched in November 2003, which now has a circulation of 50,000 in the U.S. and Canada. Both publishing ventures are projects of his year-old Portland, Maine—based company, HoWorld Productions LLC, which he describes as an antidote to Martha Stewart.
"Life over style" is the company motto. "Rescue magazine's niche is clear," Ho told PW. "Our reader danced to Madonna in high school. She's very different from Real Simple's readership. We carry forward an urban sensibility. We say ain't; we have tattoos. Our brand is old-school common sense." Rescue Press aims for that same readership and runs ads heavily in the magazine and on its own Web site (www.rescuepress.com).
Rescue Press advanced half of the 5,000-copy first printing of its inaugural book, Rescue from House Gorgeous: Salvation from House, Food and Garden Perfection (July), which Ho penned himself. Ho is hiring writers for at least two sequels: one on weddings and the other on parenting. "Next year, we'll definitely go forward with those two titles," he told PW. He's considering publishing children's titles and projects at least 12 nonfiction books over the next few years.
