Tag Archives: C&R Press

Nov 27 2012
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Publishing and Writing Forum, Trends and Culture

So Much Depends upon a Good Book Cover

Some book cover designs by Chip Kidd

Book designers give form to content. They gives readers a first hand impression of what they are about to enter into. A designer manages a very careful balance. You don’t want to be redundant and show and tell. You basically want to show if you’re Chip Kidd. Some small presses may have a signature designer, but in the transitional period that C&R is currently experiencing, we’re working with a variety of designers. We work with designers from top notch New York design firms to sharp college interns to artists and artist-writers who have graphic design skills.

Sometimes these designers are behind the scenes. I think a little too behind the scenes.

As we grow and develop, I would love to see a very open line-up of C&R titles, and the designers behind them. I’m dreaming a little here, but wouldn’t it be cool if the authors got to choose who they wanted to work with? Wouldn’t it be interesting to see a designer work for a piece of the book’s royalty, as a kind of investment in the book itself? Who knows, but it’s a crucial part of the process, of the book as a work of art.

Do we lose something with e-books? As with all technology leaps, yes. Quite a lot, in fact. There’s plenty to gained and the sky’s still the limit, though. And book design remains a crucial part of the book publishing industry. For a hilarious and informative few minutes, just check out this cool Ted Talk from Chip Kidd, one of the most famous book designers today. The video below has had well over half a million views. Be a part of the movement!

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Nov 05 2012
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Publishing and Writing Forum

Three Things Publishers Look for in a Writer

Some publishers care less about the writing and more about the marketing plan, and some don’t care about how the word is going to get out just so they somehow “get out the word.” Instead of some generic list of what publishers don’t want, or chiding publisher’s who remain stuck in old or dysfunctional ways, here’s a few things from an inside out perspective, especially as it relates to C&R Press, our business models, and aiming for a rewarding future–both profitable and fun.

Authors with a passion for their writing: Passion for writing can look a lot of different ways. If it’s a literary fiction writer or poet, the passion shows through in the craft. If it’s topical nonfiction, the passion will come through from the content itself. However it exactly translates from the type of work, in the end you have to be deeply committed. That’s how you’ll push yourself to generate the best material you can. That’s how we will build our brand. Passion translates into high caliber content. If you’re currently struggling with tapping into that passion, or knowing who you really are as a writer, here’s a helpful article.

Authors with a passion for getting sticky: Once you have the content, you should want people to see it, right? You should see if it might translate into some sort of royalty for your hard-earned time, right? If you’ve found what you want to do, if you’re passionate about it, then supporting your work is a joy. That joy should feed you. That’s how we see it. That’s what we’re looking for. Sure, there are ceilings based upon material type, networks, resources, and luck. My suggestion to other writers is to use the same creativity you bring to your ideas, your characters, your writing, and apply it to ways you can “get sticky,” and tap all the possibilities there are out there.

Someone who shares their ideas: Publishers who want to remain relevant need to offer real service. We’re on your side here. Some of us even are authors! We’re not just a credibility machine, or a validating agency which punches your ticket and merely seeks to profit off your original content. If you know a publisher’s terms and conditions transparently from the beginning, and view the relationship as a partnership, then why wouldn’t we want to hear your ideas? Whether it’s offering suggestions, keeping a publisher informed, or brainstorming ideas. In short, we’re building a community, people we want to work with who are professional and fun.

In other words, a rare breed.

Next: Three Things Writers Look for in a Publisher

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Mar 30 2012
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Community

Start with Why: A Great Idea Applied to C&R Press

Ryan Van Cleave and I founded C&R Press in late 2006, which brings up to a little over five full years of operation. We had more good ideas than we could possibly generate–and far more energy and expertise than funds–and while we’ve built a solid base of support and backlist of books and authors we’re proud of, we still haven’t approximated the tipping point we still strive for.

Fundraising has been our biggest challenge. As the press has grown, it’s been all we can do to manage the production of our titles and keep things moving for our authors. We’ve literally not once taken advantage of our 501(c)3 nonprofit status in order to write a grant. Neither have we put together a fundraiser, or even initiated a pledge drive. Somehow, we’ve survived from the modest sales of many of our authors, and a few generous donations. A little over a month ago, however, at the AWP National Writers’ Conference in Chicago, we began to reaffirm our belief and commitment that our press (that began “ex nihilo”) can still fulfill the mission and vision that we originally conceived several years ago.

There is far too much going on behind the scenes for C&R right now for any single post, but one thing that sent us spinning into overdrive when we came back from our exhilarating conference was the need to more clearly define who we already are. We met with Christa Payne, the Director of Development and External Relations for the Public Education Foundation, an expert in fundraising. Among other things, we asked:

Why can’t we, as a nonprofit literary press, have a fundraiser? And what’s keeping us from writing and landing local, regional and national grants?

So many grants have such specific guidelines that it’s easy to lose the forest for the trees. For instance, while community development and enhancing the arts is a great intersection between what a grant seeks to fund and what we CAN do, above and beyond we need operational funds to sign and promote the many wonderful authors that come our way, to be solvent. We believe in literature as a transformative and crucial cultural dimension of human experience in and of itself, not necessarily tied to other nonprofit campaigns. How do we communicate that, and how do we find others to join our cause?

The long and short of it is this: Our conversation with Christa and others over the past several weeks led us to confirming a stronger case of not only who we are, or what we do, but most importantly, why we are. When I saw this Ted Talk, it hit me that everything we already are is not being stated clearly enough. Ryan and I went to work. The results can be found on our website. We’re still “in process” on some our aesthetics and design, but the statements are there now. Why (we are), How (we do it), and What (we do).

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Dec 10 2011
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Book Reviews

The Nostalgia Echo Coming to a Near Future You

I’m very excited about the release of C&R’s second fiction publication and first novel. I don’t know what you may have heard about Mickey Hess from his previous eclectic writings on Hip-Hop, his memoir, Big Wheel at the Cracker Factory, or his 24-hour blurb review service at The Rumpus, but whatever it is, The Nostalgia Echo is an outstanding debut novel. When I first began reading it a little over a year ago, I was pulled in by its high-minded satire, multi-layered wit, and the boundary-pushing use of the first person narrator (the narrator went to “narrator school”). As I read on, the cultural and existential themes came into fruition and from then on, and as the plot came together, I loved it. We were all set for a December 1 release, but sometimes the editorial wheels move with less efficiency than we sometimes want and we’re now looking at a December 18 release. Anyway, it was more important that we get every last copyediting detail down right. The orders are stacking up at Small Press Distribution, and for that we’re grateful. Please don’t hesitate to hit us up directly at C&R and we’ll get you a copy for your holiday reading so hot from the press the ink will still be warm (and as some incentive we offer, as always, free shipping). Here’s a fun review that Largehearted Boy just did for it. Joe Meno, author of The Great Perhaps, and some other outstanding novels, writes, “The Nostalgia Echo is the best book you will read this year, or any year: the exact antidote to all those tired, humorless, beige-colored novels of recent memory, the writing here pops with both a dazzling intelligence and a devastating depth of character. Mr. Hess carries on in the great tradition of Vonnegut, D. Barthelme, and every other genius literary madman.”

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