Jeffrey Ricker's Blog, page 57

Q&A with PD Publishing's President, Linda Daniel

When did you start PD Publishing? (And what do the initials "PD" stand for?)

PD was incorporated in 2004 and we put our first book out in 2005. PD doesn't really stand for anything. We liked the ink splot idea of how messy it used to be to use ink and pen, like all the writers used to do before things became more technical, like typewriters. When asked, we say the PD stands for Purple Dot. Which is what we were thinking when we decided on PD, but legally, the only name we have is P.D. Publishing, Inc. There are no other ways you can find us since PD truly doesn't mean anything worthy of including in our incorporation paperwork.

How many titles do you currently have in print?

We currently have 91 titles in print.

What were your reasons for starting your own publishing company?

The main reason that we started our own publishing company was because authors asked us to do so. Barb and I had been working with another small press and got so very tired of how that publisher was treating authors and treating workers, deciding just to quit. After we were away for a few months, we had authors writing to us saying they wanted to work with us, no matter where we were working. Many gave us the idea to start our own company. After much thought and consideration, we went and talked to an accountant and an attorney to see what it would take on our end. After more thought, we jumped in.

The reason for starting versus the reason for staying are actually not the same. There are many ways authors can get their stories in print—many ways they could self-publish and make more personal monies. But I think there will always be some folks that would rather ONLY write and not have to be involved with the business end of things. Also, there is a quality that publishers can add to a book that many cannot afford on their own.

How big's your staff?

Barb and I, owners of P.D. Publishing, are the only folks that work full time as business owners. We are not salaried. The rest of the workers are contract pay workers. We contract them and give them work orders per job—either editing or cover art. Our contract workers all have jobs and work with PD on the side. So there is a lot of flexibility since their real-life jobs pay the bills or the insurance. Some workers have periods of times in their lives where they cannot accept new projects. So the number working with us at a specific period of time comes and goes. We currently have 10 editors and 8 artists.

Since you started the press, in what ways have you seen the landscape of LGBTG publishing change, and what steps have been necessary to adapt to that?

The first thing coming to mind is the digital technology changes—where authors have so many options to get their work into print. When we started, the doors to small publishers were just opening. The next thing that comes to mind is the death of most of the brick and mortar LGBT bookstores and other independent bookstores.

Are your titles available as e-books? If not, what are the roadblocks you've encountered in that process?

PD will have e-books out shortly. The readers are demanding their availability. But we've really worried about the security of the digital age. Piracy is so rampant. Readers think nothing about copying e-book files and giving them to their friends. What's worse are folks "selling" e-books that they don't have the right to. That's even a worse form of stealing than the sharing amongst friends. There is a minor issue of the variety of file forms being used by all the differing e-book makers.

In what direction do you hope to take the press in the future?

We hope to continue to keep up with the technological changes that the readers request. There are many things that we would do if we had plenty of money and time. Really, time has been more of an issue for Barb and myself. PD is very lucky to be doing so well financially, especially considering what others we know of are going through. Barb and I are full-time post-graduate educators—that pays our bills and our health insurance. We'd be doing so many more things if we had more time. But we love the publishing business. I know that authors have other options, so we feel so thankful that authors are seeking us out to get their work into print.

Continue the discussion on redroom.com

Q&A with Jameson Currier, founder of Indie LGBTQ publisher Chelsea Station Editions

You started Chelsea Station Editions in 2010, and your list currently includes 12 books either already released or coming out this year, is that right?

Yes, but I am already addressing some titles that will come out in 2012, including new works by David Pratt, Jon Marans, and Felice Picano, all of whom I published this year.

How big's your staff?

One. (Me). I edit, copyedit, layout, design, market, publicize, and publish all the books with a one-man staff (me). It gives me a hands-on control, which I feel is very important. I do have help with the Web site from Andrew Beierle, an author (First Person Plural) and good friend who is very talented in Web design. I also have incredible help from the authors who help publicize and market their own work.

What was your reason for starting Chelsea Station?

With the demise of Haworth, Carroll & Graff, Suspect Thoughts, and Alyson and the increasing disappearance of gay books from the market, I felt it was important to establish a press for gay literary works that were not able to find a home at other publishers.

What do you see as the biggest challenge for your press as well as LGBTQ publishers in general?

Finding readers and getting the attention of people who would want to buy and read gay books. For the generation that I came of age with, gay books were how we discovered ourselves—reading gay novels and short stories and memoirs and personal accounts. Now that there is more gay visibility on TV, movies, music and politics, gay literature has to compete with these other mediums.

Are your titles available as e-books?

Most of our books are available in e-books, which I do myself. It has been a learning curve for me to learn how to create the books in all of the formats that now exist.

What were some of the unexpected issues you faced while starting up Chelsea Station? Would you do anything differently?

The costs associated with being a new publisher have always been worrisome, and Chelsea Station has grown very fast. I've never been someone who had a lot of money or made a lot of money, but everyone thinks that because you are a publisher you have money and financing. I only publish books that I adore and feel have merit. I don't publish the books to make a profit, and the press is financed by the salary I make at a very demanding day job. I put as much as I can into making wonderful books, so I have been surprised to encounter independent booksellers I have dealt directly with who won't pay their bills in a responsible manner. And there are also many independent booksellers who won't carry books published by a small press, which I find so strange and problematic—they only want to carry the same books that are sold by the big chain stores.

In what direction do you hope to take the press in the next few years?

I publish books that I adore and want to share with other readers. I'd love the press to grow by our authors recommending future works that they adore and want to share with readers.

Continue the discussion on redroom.com

Indie LGBTQ publishers, a preface

You'll recall that recently I mentioned an article I wrote on LGBTQ publishing for a friend's newsletter and, unfortunately, the story got spiked. In the process, though, I contacted a couple of independent presses to round out the information I'd gleaned from last month's panel at Saints & Sinners on current trends in LGBTQ publishing (and publishing in general). In a book environment that's as changing as the current one, I think there are a lot of opportunities for nimble outfits to carve their own niche, and I was looking forward to getting the word out about them. My own publisher, Bold Strokes Books, is probably one of the most notable in that regard, but you've heard me go on and on about them already (and likely will in the future). Who else is out there?

A lot, actually. So, when the story got spiked, I decided instead to post my email interviews here on the blog (that's what it's for, right?) in a Q&A format. I'll put up the first one, with Jameson Currier of Chelsea Station Editions, in the next day or so, and the second, with Linda Daniel, president of P.D. Publishing, after that.

One thing that I really admire about them both is their can-do attitudes toward putting forward new voices. And they're not the only ones. It's always encouraging to encounter people who are passionate about the written word. Seek them out whenever you can!

Continue the discussion on redroom.com

What's in a letter?

So, a friend of mine wanted me to write an article for her newsletter on writing LGBTQ-themed fiction. We got our wires crossed, though, and instead of writing a how-to article on how to crack, as it were, the market, I gave her something else.

Anyway, as with most things, it got me thinking, as did last month's Lambda Literary Awards where Edward Albee, in accepting the Foundation's Pioneer Award, said, "I'm not a gay writer. I'm a writer who happens to be gay." You can watch the speech here.

What's the difference?

Obviously, with Edward Albee (did I mention he and I were in the same anthology once? I know-who'd have thought?), you have a writer whose work didn't address themes from an LGBTQ perspective. A writer, he said, needs to be able to "transcend self." Indeed, all writers have to do that, otherwise they're memoirists (which is not to knock memoirists).

I think Albee's stance came across as overly simplistic and more than a bit defensive. Maybe it's a generational thing. Maybe it's a symptom of white male privilege. I don't know.  But I think he's wrong. He's also right.

He's wrong if he thinks being gay has had no influence on his writing. (Hello: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Sylvia?) Your work doesn't necessarily need to address being gay specifically, but I think the context of our own existence will influence what we write. I've written about suburban housewives and vampires, though I am neither. I am also writing about a girl and a ten-foot-tall cat. I don't have to tell you that I've never been either of those, do I?

Do you have to be gay/lesbian/bi/trans to write literature with explicitly gay themes? Clearly, the answer is no. Did you ever read The Dreyfus Affair by Peter Lefcourt? Straight. Married. (Also, great book.) There is also a vibrant market of women writing gay-themed fiction (for those to whom this is Greek, and admittedly my Greek is of the phrasebook level here, it's been called "slash" but is more commonly now called "m/m") and they're not strictly writing for the gay reader. An LGBTQ writer should not automatically be required to write about LGBTQ-related themes either.

Nor should a gay writer (or a writer who happens to be gay) who wants to be taken seriously (whatever that means) feel it necessary to avoid writing fiction with specifically LGBTQ themes in it.

I understand I'm treading a line here. We develop our fictions to get at some truth about life. Whether our life specifically or life in general, it is life as we, the writer, observe or experience it. Our lives. Whether the protagonist sleeps with men or women is often not the point.

But it's not like I sit down at the keyboard and switch off the part of me that's gay. It's part of the fabric. Remove it and the entire weave unravels.

So what I guess I'm saying is, don't touch my weave.

What do you think? Do you agree with Albee or disagree?

Continue the discussion on redroom.com

Saints & Sinners Highlighted at Lambda Literary

Over at lambdaliterary.org, Carol Rosenfeld has posted a roundup on the Ninth Annual Saints & Sinners Literary Festival held last month in New Orleans. I wrote about this from a personal perspective last month as well, but this article gives a broader range of the events that take place during the weekend. If this is a genre you write in, believe me, it's a worthwhile and inspiring time, even if it's the sort of place where I imagine Edward Albee might not be caught dead. (I have some thoughts on that as well, which I will likely share if I can get them coherent in my head.)

Continue the discussion on redroom.com

Men of the Mean Streets, Part the First

So, my friend 'Nathan recently wrote a note on Facebook in which he went through each of the stories in Men of the Mean Streets, the anthology coming out from Bold Strokes Books that features work by both of us, along with several mutual friends and great writers. I'm not a fast reader, so I've only finished the first story in the anthology, but it's 'Nathan's, which I had the pleasure of reading before I got the advance copy.

Now, in his review of the book, he skipped his own entry, which is understandable but is an omission that should be corrected. So let me just say that "Keeping the Faith" is a grim tale about a detective hired by a priest to find something that's been stolen from him. Getting it back won't be so straightforward, and I can't tell you more without giving away the key that puts a wonderful twist on a standard noir trope. It left me wanting more, and I hope 'Nathan revisits this character in the future.

I think 'Nathan is a faster reader than I am, because he's gone through the whole book and given his thoughts on each story. I'm hoping to do that here and there, but probably only one story at a time. That may make me a dreadful tease, but given that the book doesn't come out until August, at least I'm prolonging the anticipation.

It's going to be really good. 

Continue the discussion on redroom.com

Always Fry Your Best

Fay Jacobs is a tough act to follow. Believe me, I know.

I wrote about that experience earlier this month, but what I didn't mention was how wonderfully kind and gracious Fay was. (Everyone I met at Saints & Sinners was, in fact. It's a gathering of amazingly nice people, I've found.) Josh Aterovis gave me a nice setup before I went up to read, I passed out some chocolate to lull the crowd into an endorphin-induced sense of satisfaction, and then read. When I was done, Fay said what I read was beautiful.

(See? Chocolate works. I'm bringing it to my annual performance reviews from now on.)

Fay Jacobs is the author of several collections of humor essays, including As I Lay Frying and Fried and True. After the reading was over, I went to the book table and bought her latest collection, For Frying Out Loud.

I'm glad I did, because it's great. The collection consists of the columns that Jacobs wrote for the publication Letters from CAMP Rehoboth, as well as original pieces written just for the book, describing her and her partner Bonnie's adventures in RV'ing.

As a child whose parents owned a succession of recreational vehicles, I found these stories hit all too close (and hilariously) to home.

Jacobs touches on everything from the sublime to the ridiculous to the sublimely ridiculous-politics, dogs, the Rehoboth Beach community, gay culture and history-all with her signature wit and good-natured humor. She can also get fired up too, like when she's taking witless Maryland politicians or religious hatemongers to task over their bigoted viewpoints. Trust me, you do not want to be on the receiving end of one of her zingers.

After hearing her give a reading, I enjoyed these essays all the more because I could imagine them being read in her voice, and listening to her read is a joy.

Even if you haven't had that good fortune though, read this book. It'll make you laugh 'til you fry.

(What? Don't tell me you didn't see that coming.)

Continue the discussion on redroom.com

Pilgrimage

So, I've been in a bit of a funk since we got home from Saints & Sinners Literary Festival this past Monday. On the one hand, the festival is an inspiring gathering of writers and book lovers. On the other hand, by the time we got home after a ten-and-a-half-hour drive, New Orleans seemed a million miles away.

I haven't gotten much writing done this week, which adds to the funk. I've written a couple scenes, a bunch of character sketches for the novel, and worked on an article for a friend's newsletter. It seems like wherever I've been, I've wanted to be someplace else.

But there's a reason for that, too. This morning I'm flying to San Francisco to see Kylie Minogue in concert this evening. It's a whirlwind trip: I fly out this morning, the concert's tonight, and my flight back is at six tomorrow morning. I haven't done anything impulsive like this in a long time, but seeing Kylie is a bucket list item for me. Traveling light, I've just got a carry-on with a book, a notebook, a magazine, and my toothbrush.

How Egyptian.

My friend Tricia calls going to San Francisco to see Kylie "summiting gay Everest." I can't say she's wrong. And I'm sure the view from the top will be stunning.

Band of brothers and sisters

Going to the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans for the past three years has been my favorite way to connect with other writers and remind myself why I love books: I love telling stories, and I love listening to other people tell theirs. In 2008 I gave my first reading there (from Fool for Love: New Gay Fiction) and last year it's where I sat down with my editor and he told me Bold Strokes Books would publish my novel. (To say that was the best day of my life would be slight hyperbole, but it ranks up there.)

This year I got to give a reading from that book, Detours (which is coming out this November-yes, I'm going to be reminding you of that often). I was one of six writers reading at the same session. In addition to me were memoirist Aaron Anson, mystery writer Josh Aterovis, humorist Fay Jacobs, debut novelist Jen Violi, and the fantastic Jess Wells. I went after Fay, and let me just say, you do not want to be the one who has to read after her. She is an absolute riot. (Immediately after our reading, I went and bought her book.)

After she sat down and I was introduced, before I got up Josh said, "Poor Jeff." Fay is a tough act to follow.

Once I was at the mic, I repeated what Josh had said and then pulled out two bags of Hershey's miniatures. Whenever anyone in my writing group, Writers under the Arch, gets something published, they bring chocolate to the next group meeting. I figured it was a tradition worth transporting to New Orleans. I also figured it would put the audience in a generous mood in case I screwed up. It worked, and I didn't screw up too badly. Thank heavens I didn't have to follow Fay and Jess Wells, because Jess was on fire, she was so hilarious. (She has a future in standup if she wants to, I think.)

Even better: my friend David from college and his wife, Marsha, were able to come to the reading. We also went out to dinner with them Sunday night and caught up. The next morning (oh, I also remember what a bad influence David can be-I drank far too much), Mikey said to me, "Why haven't you introduced me to them sooner? They're a hoot!" And they are. David and I lost track of one another after Katrina (or, as Greg calls her, "that bitch Katrina"), and recently got back in touch thanks to the wonders of Facebook. When we go back to New Orleans in October to catch a cruise ship, we'll see them again. And I hope we'll also see Greg and Paul and have a little time that I can see New Orleans from the vantage point of something other than a conference room.

There's so much more to write about this weekend, but now we're home. I have a book to work on, two short stories to do, and an old one to revise. I also have to write up the notes I took from a panel on "Current Trends in the Publishing Industry" for a friend who edits a newsletter, and tomorrow I have to go back to work and remember what the real world is like.

Continue the discussion on redroom.com

Giving away the milk, or investing in the cow?

I believe in getting paid for my work. That said, I'm not getting paid to write these words right now. You may not be paying to read them, either. I'm not even sure how we would go about calculating a fair value for them.

That said, I know they have a worth (however minuscule) that shows up in site traffic, click-throughs, and possibly book purchases.

Not a lot of that income accrues to me, either. But some of it does. Some of you might go to Untreed Reads' store and buy a short story of mine (and there'll be another one joining it soon). Some of you might buy an anthology containing one of my stories, and (if I'm really lucky) you might write a review that someone else sees who's planning another anthology, and they might send me a request to submit.

Some of you might even remember  liking one of those stories this November when my novel gets published by Bold Strokes Books.

The connections are delicate, but they're there.

Still, I'm not getting paid to write these words. But the time it takes me to write them is an investment in future income, which is of course not guaranteed. But without the investment?

I write fiction. I've also written nonfiction—newspaper articles, essays—and I've gotten paid for all of them. I don't get paid to write blog entries, tweet, or try to keep friends and fans entertained on Facebook. Those bits of unpaid writing are promotion and marketing (and occasionally venting spleen).

Am I going to write a story and not get paid for it? No.

Am I going to keep creating content on Red Room and hopefully generating traffic for the site even though a tangible payoff is not in the offing? Absolutely.

The trick is to know when you're getting paid, when you're investing in yourself, and when you're getting ripped off.