So, sometime last fall, I was walking to work, having my usual conversation with myself about what I want to do with my life, when a surprising but sure answer came back: I want to start a small book press. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got, but I knew I didn’t know very much yet about what that means.
So, like we do in the twenty-first century, as soon as I was on lunch break I googled it. What on earth does it mean to start a small book press? And one of the first links that I got back was this: I Made the Mistake of Starting a Small Press and So Can You. I read the article and continued to get more excited. Nearly every thing he talked about, I thought, I can do that! I would like to do that!
But still, a lot of things were left out. Like finding, reviewing, and editing manuscripts. Which seems like a significant part of the process, but I guess that part seemed too obvious? Because every “how to start a micro press” article I found left all that stuff out.
So I nurtured the dream. I sent out feelers to friends who work in books and the publishing industry. Everyone I talked to was excited about the idea. I dreamed of press names. I looked up business structures. I tried to start moving things forward quietly while working a full-time job and being a wife and mother of two kids and beading a dozen super fancy ornaments for Christmas gifts.
Over time I fell in love with the idea. Over time everything I was doing that was not working on this dream started to hurt. And suddenly I was crying in bed on the weekends and I knew I couldn’t put it off or on the sidelines any longer. So I had some serious conversations with my family, and then I put in notice at the job that I had loved and that had nurtured me for years.
And now here I am. Getting ready to publish speculative fiction novellas as a one-woman micro press. I am putting the finishing touches on a call for submissions that should go up by next week at the latest. Getting ready to have someone go over my business plan. Getting ready to finally introduce this dream that I have been so protective of to the world.
Getting ready to find the books that I will love and fight for and talk about and promote obsessively and that need to exist in the world.
Thoughts? Questions? Please let me know!
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