Phoenicia Publishing Re-launch, Bonta Aboard!

The end of 2009 brought two projects to me that reinvigorated my desire (and need) to revamp and relaunch my little publishing company's website. The first was the packaging and publication of a CD for the choir at Christ Church Cathedral, Banquet celeste, and the second was my Christmas gift to my friend and collaborator at qarrtsiluni, Dave Bonta: a book design for his collection of poems Ode to Tools.

I'll talk about the CD in a subsequent post, but today what I really want to do is invite you to visit the new Phoenicia Publishing website, ask for your comments about what I could do to make it better and encourage repeated visits, and most of all encourage you to read about Dave's book and maybe even order a copy for yourself or a friend.

Some highly-talented people can't help but let you know it, while others just quietly work away at their craft, even spending large parts of their time helping and encouraging other people. Dave is definitely in the latter category. I knew he probably wouldn't promote or publish these Odes on his own, and that he'd probably refuse if I asked him directly to give me permission to publish them, so I resorted to subterfuge - and it worked! A proof of the finished book just miraculously showed up in Dave's mailbox one day: fait accompli. We worked together on fine-tuning a few details, and Dave recorded an audio version of all the poems. The finished book is now a real object that can be held in the hands - Dave's long-overdue and richly deserved first book-in-print. You can listen to us discuss the process - and Dave's reaction to the surprise - on the second of his "Woodrat Podcasts," and read how the poems first came into being at the Odes to Tools page on the Phoenicia website.

The book gave me the kick I needed to work hard on the website and think about what I want to do with Phoenicia in the future. We've been publishing the print editions for qarrtsiluni, but I also want to do more on-demand or short-run books and poetry; it's a good fit with my particular skills and experience, and there's a convergence, right now, of available technology and my available time. The challenge in online and on-demand publishing, of course, is the distribution and marketing of the books to an ever-smaller community of readers of this sort of material. We'll be trying some different approaches, but really the best I can do is to remind everyone who cares about good writing that it's up to all of us to support and encourage not only the work we read online, but the efforts of independent publishers who are trying to forge new methods of "making books" that will have a lifetime beyond the ephemerality of the internet.

What I find myself doing these days is using the library (or exchanging with friends) for most of my reading of books published by larger publishers, and using the money I might have spent on those titles to buy poetry chapbooks and independently-produced books, especially those written by friends. No one is making real money on this process; it's a break-even proposition at best for both the publishers and writers. Maybe hand-held reading devices really are the future of books, but if we still care about turning the paper pages of a book, preserving the pleasure and historical value of libraries, and supporting the broad cross-section of writing and writers we've been privileged to read for many years, we need to think about where our purchases will make the most difference,  as well as encouraging online publishing efforts of all kinds. Anyway -- that sounds like a sales-pitch and I guess it is, but what I want to do most is promote a general dialogue about how writers, readers, and "publishers" - whatever that term comes to mean over the next decade - can help each other continue to do good work and, as Dave himself said so simply, "enjoy making beautiful things."

Comments

[Teresa]

Really nice web site, Beth. I especially like its tasteful photographs, and ample white space. The cover design for Dave's book is lovely. I have already ordered it from Amazon, not knowing there was a web site. Should I de-order it and get it from you? Which would be better for the artist?

A small paragraph on the vision of the press might be nice.

Teresa

[James]

The site looks great.

I tend to do the same regarding using libraries for my more mainstream reading and spending my book money on small presses, self-publishers, chapbooks and all the various combinations of those things, and I agree about encouraging online publication as well.

I ordered my Odes to Tools from Dave (had to get the autographed copy) and can't wait to read it. As you know I was very impressed with Memory Palace and I think the work you're doing is outstanding. Thanks for your commitment to keeping the pages turning.

[Beth]

Hi Teresa, thanks a lot for your order and your helpful comments about the site - I/we appreciate both a lot! No, don't de-order, that's too much trouble, just keep it in mind for the future. Phoenicia does get a larger royalty from sales through the website (E-Store). Once we break even, which will happen with a few more sales, I can start paying half of the profit on each book to the author (who obviously isn't getting rich off these royalties either!) But that's a far bigger percentage than the author would ever get through a traditional book contract.

There actually is a blurb about the vision for the press, on the About page, but I'm going to go and rename the page - thanks for giving me the idea for a more compelling title!

Thanks so much, James -- I really think you'll love the Odes when you have them all together. And thanks for the kind words about the website and about "Memory Palace." (Other readers might like to read your review of that book at Coyote Mercury, coyotemercury/memory palace for the Read Write Poem blog tour.)

[Marja-Leena]

I had already visited the site, thanks to Dave's announcement a few days ago. A revisit and deeper look today confirms how lovely it is, and my compliments to you on your artistic and design eye, hard work and passion for small book publishing! James' mention of getting an autographed copy from Dave interests me - is that possible through Phoenicia since cross-border payment to him might be difficult? If not, I'll order a non-autographed copy through your site.

[maria]

Lovely site -- and the cover of Dave's book is eye catching. I am looking forward to getting my copies, which I ordered from the site. :)

[Clive Hicks-Jenkins]

This is a wonderful story Beth, and I'm so moved by the way you went about putting Dave's poems into print without saying anything to him about it. What a wonderful idea. And yes, I can speak from experience about what lengths he goes to by way of encouraging others, as he's been enormously enthusiastic and supportive of the 'Artlog'. I really don't think I would have done it were it not for the way he gently nudged me along and sent cheery advice whenever I was struggling.

The cover design is lovely. I wrote to him to say so, not knowing that it had been done by you!

[Beth]

Thank you, Clive! Dave has been so encouraging of so many of us - and I for one am very glad he nudged you into doing your Artlog! Glad you liked the cover design - it is, after all, Dave's photograph, so all I had to do was to figure out how best to use it.