Tea at Trianon: How to Subvert Traditional Publishing

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

How to Subvert Traditional Publishing

From Print:

When I first heard of a small literary press described as “deliciously subversive,” my curiosity was immediately piqued. Unbound Edition Press, an Atlanta-based independent publisher founded by writer and poet Patrick Davis, is turning some of the traditional publishing dogma on its head, both in style and substance. The press, guided by a mission to elevate emerging, underappreciated, and marginalized authors, already has 15 titles on shelves and 30-plus in development through 2025. I spoke with Davis about how his philosophy drove the brand and what it means when Davis describes the brand as a “system of intention.”
You could say that unconventional is foundational for Davis, having worked on his doctoral research with William H. Gass, the founding theorist of metafiction. This self-referential literary form plays with the rules. Davis spent the following two decades as a brand consultant, working for media companies and publishers, including the Big Five. Frustrated by big publishing’s highly commercial focus, Davis saw little room for what he calls “fine literature.”

Davis believes that books saved his life as a young adult, so books became his lifeline after he burned out of his 20-plus-year career. “I wanted to luxuriate in the written word,” Davis said. (Read more.)