Task #21: Read a book published by a micropress

[Smriti]

Does The Princess Saves Herself in this One count?

[Elyse]

Smriti wrote: "Does The Princess Saves Herself in this One count?"

I don't think self-publishing counts.

[Smriti]

Elyse wrote: "Smriti wrote: "Does The Princess Saves Herself in this One count?"

I don't think self-publishing counts."

Yup, that's what I was confused about. :-/

[Veronica]

Book Riot had an article about the collection of essays Nasty Women which was published yesterday and is also available as an ebook: http://www.404ink.com/shop/. The publishing company is two women in the UK, so I believe it fulfills the task. My original selection was iffy on the qualifications, but now I'm definitely going to read this, as it's timely and totally up my alley. Plus, it's Margaret Atwood approved! The ebook price came to $6.10 USD.

[Diana]

I want to read I Am a Magical Teenage Princess (which Roxanne Gay recommended in an interview), but how do I confirm the small press is in fact a micropress. It's published by Avicia Press and this (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/co...) seems to imply it's probably a micropress. Any advice?

[Diane]

There is some additional information on the Book Riot website:
http://bookriot.com/2017/01/19/read-h....

After reading this article, I checked out Tiny Hardcore Press and found one the books was at my local library.

[Fleet]

I saw someone ask, but nobody answered,

Would McSweeney's be considered a micropress or is it too big?

[Leslie (updates on SG)]

Grayson wrote: "I saw someone ask, but nobody answered,

Would McSweeney's be considered a micropress or is it too big?"

I think McSweeney's is too big. This undated article (with comments from 7 years ago) says that there are 10 full-time employees: http://99u.com/articles/6211/the-mcsw...

[Fleet]

Leslie Ann wrote: "Grayson wrote: "I saw someone ask, but nobody answered,

Would McSweeney's be considered a micropress or is it too big?"

I think McSweeney's is too big. This undated article (with comments from 7 ..."

Thanks! That sounds about right, but I wasn't sure.

[Bill]

I read a small biographical comic I picked up at a convention a few years ago, "From Art School to Smart School: Queer, Punk, and Middle-aged," by Scott Sosebee. Only 100 published, and doesn't even have a record here.

Here's a question -- for these super-small print run books, should we create GoodReads records? Or should we contact the authors and ask them if they even want that? I feel like this is an interesting new world here.

[Elyse]

Bill wrote: "I read a small biographical comic I picked up at a convention a few years ago, "From Art School to Smart School: Queer, Punk, and Middle-aged," by Scott Sosebee. Only 100 published, and doesn't eve..."

I would create one. I don't see why they wouldn't want it, gets the word out!

[Lexi]

I have spent hours trying to find a book for this one. I feel quite silly, as I just realized one of my all time favorite LGBTQ+ publishers is run by three women and thus counts: Less the Three Press and my favorite author is Megan Derr.

[Kathleen]

Here's a list of UK Small presses- http://llpp.ms11.net/

[Kelly]

Teresa wrote: "I'm probably going with a historic chapbook, The Demon Ship, published in the mid 1800's. It's scanned online at the National Library of Scotland."

Dude, this is an awesome idea.

This challenge is really encouraging some out of the box thinking about what a book can be, and who can be a publisher, and I just love it. Also now I know what chapbooks are and I want there to be an all-chapbook/chaplet bookstore so I can go and see them all.

[Jessica]

I read Our Dreams Might Align. This was a lovely book published by Jellyfish Highway. I found out about it from http://bookriot.com/2017/01/19/read-h...

These short stories have a magical quality and a reverence for nature and animals that I enjoyed.

[Stina]

This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting Milton J. Davis of MVmedia LLC, which is a micropress. I picked up a copy of From Here to Timbuktu and am looking forward to reading it. I imagine it will fit quite a few challenge prompts.

[Chinook]

Anyone know the size of Archipelago Books?

[Rachel]

This is probably a bit of a cheat on the prompt, but I'm reading A Little Something Different, which is published by Swoon Reads. I'm not sure if this is truly a micropress, but it is a crowdsourced publishing company.

Stories are submitted by authors, and are read and given feedback by other users. The stories that gain enough popularity are usually published. It's probably not really a micropress, but to me, it seemed to be in the spirit of one. I just couldn't find anything from an actual micropress that was both accessible and interesting to me.

[Katie]

For this I read Kennedy Music, which is about a music store here in St. Louis (Maplewood technically) that existed for nearly 50 years, and the author is the daughter if the two store owners. It was quite good, despite not being the biggest fan of non-fiction. I just walked into a local bookstore and asked the employee what he recommended, so when I doubt I definitely recommend that strategy!

[Eva]

Licking Flames: Tales of a Half-Assed Hussy

[Karen]

I appreciate the recommendations as when I Googled micropress, the internet didn't seem to know what the hell I was talking about.

[Rachel]

I read A Little Something Different, which was published by the crowdsourced publishing company that I had mentioned earlier.

[Courtney]

This is pretty tough for me to figure out, but I found a speciality book store, The Mysterious Bookshop, that produces a series specifically for their shop. They have limited runs of small mystery books.

https://www.mysteriousbookshop.com/co...

I think I'm going to use one of these this challenge. I chose the book "Book Club".

[Risa]

Courtney wrote: "This is pretty tough for me to figure out, but I found a speciality book store, The Mysterious Bookshop, that produces a series specifically for their shop. They have limited runs of small mystery ..."
Thank you so much for this! I ordered a book from this series by Elizabeth George, whom I've long wanted to read. This was a challenge that had me stymied, so I very much appreciate the recommendation. Plus, the store seems like a cool place that I am putting on my to-visit list!

[Megan]

Like everyone else, I have a few questions about this one. First, just yesterday I found a book of poetry at the Good Will (autographed, no less) published by Brandylane Publishers in 1995. It's hard to judge by their website, honestly--they NOW have seven or so employees, but it looks like only a couple of them have been around since the beginning. They first started publishing out of the balcony of an old movie house in the mid 80s. I can't even find this book, A Purple Palace, on their site. Does this sound like a micropress, or at least it was back in the day?

Second, I just thought about this author I met, JH Glaze, at FandomFest a few years ago, and his books are published (mostly on Kindle though a few in print) by Mostcool Media, Inc. Can't find much when you Google it except for a picture of a house; I think it is/was run by he and his wife. Too much like self-publishing?

[Elyse]

Megan wrote: "Like everyone else, I have a few questions about this one. First, just yesterday I found a book of poetry at the Good Will (autographed, no less) published by Brandylane Publishers in 1995. It's ha..."

I think the first one sounds like a micropress, the second sounds like self-published.

[MaryAlice]

I just found mine! - http://overwhenyousaidwhat.com/

A collection of works about breakups. It is published by Topos Press in Ridgewood, Queens, NY, and has just become available for sale. It's $10.

[Cheryl]

I am changing mine to ......Book Smugglers Publishing (two women)...37 pages...Beauty & the Beast retelling for .99!

[Pixie]

Would Once Upon a Time by Logan Uber work, do you think? The Brothers Uber have published 4 books, it looks like? And I mean, it's a children's book, but I have it, and it's cute. Thoughts?

[Veronica]

I finished Nasty Women and found it to be a worthwhile read. I really enjoyed the wide scope of experiences they managed to include. Full review here.

[Maya]

Soviet Daughter: A Graphic Revolution was a great choice for this challenge! Highly recommend

[Kirsten]

Last week, I finished the Irish novel At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien for this. It was published by the Dalkey Archive Press.

[Sarah]

Anyone know anything about Newcastlewest Books (http://newcastlewestbooks.com)? From the looks of their website, it seems they've published 7 books total from 4 authors and take submissions, but they don't list who is behind their operation, so I'm not sure what to make of it. I won a copy of one of their books in a giveaway and I'm trying to figure out if they are just a few authors self-publishing or an actual micropress.

[Allie]

I didn't find out until after I'd finished it, but The Right Way to be Crippled and Naked: The Fiction of Disability: An Anthology is from a micropress, and I thought it was an excellent collection of stories.

[Neil]

I found The Tower's Alchemist by Creative Alchemy for this challenge. Best part: it was free on Kindle as of May 27.

[Andrea]

Found this site when searching for a local micro press:

https://www.bustle.com/p/13-literary-...

[Bonnie G.]

Andrea wrote: "Found this site when searching for a local micro press:

https://www.bustle.com/p/13-literary-..."

Thank you! I already completed this prompt but I love to support small presses and particularly those focused on women writers.

[Jamie]

For anyone in the Bay Area, Wolfman Books in downtown Oakland has put out a few books and I think they would qualify for this task. They're also offering a cool membership program for anyone able to support.

Despite the name, I promise this website is their website: http://wolfmanhomerepair.com/

[Jenny]

Viv wrote: "A few for UK readers:

Linen Press
Blue Moose Books
Stonewood Press
A Midsummer Night's Press (who have an imprint, Periscope, for poetry in translation - might be useful for the collection of poet..."
Thanks! might go for Catch The Moon Mary from Linen Press as the description 'fairy tale noir' as one of its genres is very intriguing! I was really struggling with this task!

[Annie]

I've gotten so frustrated with this task, and then this weekend I found my copy of The Other Side: An Anthology of Queer Paranormal Romance (that my friend is in!) and I'm going to go with this.

[Joan]

Would Graywolf Press be considered a micropress?

[Jenny]

Does anyone know is Scottish Book Trust would count? I have a collection of short stories they published...

[[deleted user]]

For this task, I read Sing the Song. It was written in a completely strange way from what I usually read and I don't think I am able to fully appreciate it. Nevertheless, I'm happy that I was able to explore a book different from what I usually read

[Jen]

Hi all, I'm guessing that independent publishers are a different beast than micropresses?

Or would Diversion Books be considered a micropress?

If an indie is not necessarily a micropress, though, and my Diversion Books book can't count. . .

What about books self-published by authors? Since an author is a single person, would they be considered a micropress?

Thanks for any help!

[Maryam]

Rebecca wrote: "This challenge was so frustrating and made me want to slam my head repeatedly against a brick wall. I get everything from the library, so finding something from a micropress that I could check out ..."

That sounds interesting. I'll with this one as well as this is a comic and my Library has it.

[Chinook]

I had a plan for this but I also bought a comic from Native Realities which I may use instead. I went to a panel by them at Denver Comic Con and everything they talked about sounded fascinating.

[Michelle]

I am going to be reading Beautiful Wreck

[Chinook]

I read Tribal Force #1: Wild In Country after coming across it at Denver Comic Con. Liked it a lot.

[Cristy]

Glad to see that I'm not the only reader struggling with this one. Finally looking ahead (I've reading two per task) and am less than inspired and not wild about randomly throwing money at something. This will take some serious digging.

[Elizabeth]

When I read the details about a micropress, I searched around and ordered something from one of them. That was a couple of months ago and I'm still waiting for my order to arrive. I guess that is what happens when you have one-person shops. Hopefully, it will arrive before the end of this year.