Announcement
My loves,
I'm opening my own press in 2025!
Most of you know that I’ve been writing novels and poems and stories and songs all of my life. I used to dream that I’d find a champion (or several, ha!) to usher my works into the world and assuage my cravings for legitimacy, validation, compensation, and attention. Prestige even. Respect. I worked very hard to find those connections and even tested a few out (agents and editors and the like). I networked my ass off. I signed contracts and worked revisions and navigated obstacles. I felt the exhilaration of progress and the despair of failure. Ultimately, I was told, again and again, that my work wasn't quite marketable. It was "beautifully written" (hmmm), but a bit too "quiet" (boring?) and "literary" (craft focused? wordy? overwrought?) to easily shelve or reliably sell. The thing is, I like quiet and literary. It's honestly what I like to read, and what I want to write. I could change all of that, but at what cost? I felt pretty wretched for a while, but I kept searching far and wide for some permission, some value, some power outside myself.
I’m here to tell you that I’ve finally been to the Emerald City and seen the man behind the curtain. He's... not so impressive. My own personal Glindas (Phoebe Search, Michael Davidson, Darian Lindle, Martha Reynolds, Ysabeau Wilce, among others) have insisted for many years now that I had the power all along, I just had to learn it for myself. And they were right.
Songborne and Seabound Press will publish my writing and hopefully, eventually, quiet and literary works beyond my own. I'm delighted to say I'm not doing this for money. I'm privileged enough to have family resources to support my art, so I'm not going to use crowdsourcing platforms or sell my work in strictly traditional ways. My books will be available for sale but also in limited artful editions by what I'm calling "creative barter". I'll send you my writing if you promise to make me art in response. (Any kind of art.) I have plenty more to say about how that will work and why I'm doing it, but all in good time.
So that's my news. Lots more of it to come. Thank you so much for being my community.
Onward. With grit.
xoxo
Edie
Our Mission at Songborne & Seabound Press:
To publish and produce works of art that inspire attention to our world, astonishment in our experiences, and the creation of new art.*
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