A Rant

WHY CAN'T PEOPLE READ OUR SUBMISSION GUIDELINES BEFORE QUERYING? WHY WHY?

Our guidelines are basically a paragraph long! If you can't be bothered to read a paragraph, or pull up our website and take the 10 minutes it would take to see what it is that we publish, just don't query us. Really, I'm not kidding. Sending mass queries to agents and publishers is not resourceful, its not cool, and generally its a huge goddamn waste of everyone's time.

To be clear: we don't publsih ANY genre fiction. No women's, westerns, adventure, thriller, children's, poetry, or non-fiction. If your novel is a brilliant amalgamation of three different genres, we don't care. We won't publish it. All we publish are works of serious literary fiction with a pop edge that fall in-between the worlds of commercial and experimental publishing-- in style as well as subject matter. That's it.

If you can see your work being published by Random House, we're not the right place for you. In turn, if you can see your novel being published by FC2, we're not the right place for you either. Impetus is a publishing house dedicated to giving those writers who fall into the gray area between the experimental and commercial a place to be heard. So, take the freakin' 10 minutes it takes to read our submisson policies before clogging our inbox--I beg of you.

You'll not only save our time--but your own.

Impetus Media Sightings

Impetus had a down-right media frenzy the other day, popping up on Galleycat, Bookslut and Largeheartedboy. The links follow.

First, the Galleycat post linking to Jennifer's open letter to Judith Regan. I forwarded the letter and the Galleycat post to the Midwest correspondent at Publisher's Weekly, but they didn't deem it news worthy . . . but they'll soon see the error in their ways--we made Judith an offer she can't refuse.

The other two items both involve Nick Antosca's new book Fires. You can read Nick's thoughts on the writing of Fires, being a young writer and "blowing his load" (or not) in his interview with Ned Vizinni on Bookslut. And on Largeheartedboy you can read about the music that inspired and fueled the writing of Fires.

All-in-all, it as a damn good day--I wish we got that much press every day of the week.

AN OPEN LETTER TO JUDITH REGAN


Dear Judith,

I was saddened--and ridiculously entertained, I must admit--to hear of your recent firing, and consequent plans to take over the film industry. However, before you make such a move, I have a proposition that you might not be able to resist. Impetus Press is a small, independent publishing house located in Iowa City, Iowa that publishes serious literary fiction with a pop edge. I can almost see your right eyebrow raising almost imperceptibly as you read those last words--its right up your alley, isn't it? But I digress. Currently, we have a position available for someone of your considerable experience. Judith--and I hope you don't mind that we seem to be on a first name basis already--Iowa City is a virtual haven. Isn't that just what you need right now? There is art and culture, numerous theater performances, fine dining, and practially no jews to speak of! I think you'd be very comfortable in our quaint little college town full of liberals and lefties--along with the occasional right-wing extremist lunatic. And think of how far your housing dollars would go! In Iowa City, you can buy a 5 bedroom Victorian home for under $300,000! Try doing that in Hollywood.

And, I hope it goes without saying that, here at Impetus, you'd have the run of the house. Replace ALL the mezzuzah's with $100 bills! We don't care! Judith, Impetus needs a strong leader, a woman who knows what she wants and how to get it. I'm too tired most of the time to really occupy that position to the best of my ability, and, from what I've heard from your former co-workers and assistants, you play the part of a castrating bitch (and I mean that as a compliment) flawlessly. Sure, some people say you're demanding, "a complete nightmare" to work with, but Willy and I would welcome your blast of creative energy--even if it came with a barrage of screaming and insults. In fact, such talk would wash over us like a cool wind off the Pacific ocean. Judith, I want to make it plain that here, your talents would be both appreciated and revered.

In closing, we eagerly await your response. Judith, please consider moving to Iowa City and heading up the soon-to-be-next publishing house to be reckoned with.

We promise you won't be sorry.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Banash and Willy Blackmore
Publishers
Impetus Press

Update

Well, we've been back from our trip for a while now, and it was amazing. That being said, we'll probably never go on vacation again, because we had more to do when we came back than ever. FIRES was inexplicably held up at the border, and when the books finally did arrive, many of them were damaged due to incorrect packing and general laziness on the part of our printer, Transcontinental. So, basically we've been dealing with the nightmare of trying to come to an agreement on reprinting--or a discount. Either way, we'll have to pay Biblio to hand-check all the books currently at the distributer--which is a pain in the ass, to say the least.

I feel like I'm in one of those patches where, no matter how hard you try, nothing seems to go right. It makes me want to hide in my room till it all blows over, and the mess attaches itself to someone elses life. I also feel bad for my friends who were afected by the PGW bankruptcy disaster--like Soft Skull Press. I know how hard it is for us to stay afloat when we get paid, on average, every 4 months or so, and I can't imagine how hard it must be to know that you're not EVER going to get paid what you're owed. Now, more than ever, I'm glad that both PGW AND Consortium turned us down. As for Consortium, I don't want to be part of a monopoly either.

We've pushed Christian TeBordo's novel WE GO LIQUID to September. It will be released with Dave Housley's awesome collection of stories RYAN SEACREST IS FAMOUS. The push was partly forced by the new requirements of our distributers, and partly because WGL is NOT a beach-read, and I don't want it to have to compete with books like the new Harry Potter--as if anything really could. Also, most reading series' shut down in the summer months anyway. So, September it is.

And for your viewing pleasure, the top photo is the sunset over the Charles Bridge in Prague.

Thank God for Helpful People

Jennifer and I had coffee this afternoon with our new best friend Susan, who is going to be one of those illustrious few who can consider themselves Impetus employees. Currently, that group is a mighty one strong. And I'm so greatful for her help that I wouldn't be suprised if she makes her way into my will--whenever such a document exists.

It's really amazed me how many wonderful people like Susan we've come across since starting this venture. From Richard Nash to the folks at KGB to our authors, we've been blessed to come in contact with people more than willing to offer their help or, in the case of our authors, to work with us on every level and to do so gladly. But strangely enough, this good luck has not crossed over to the professional relationships we have with companies that we actually have to pay rather large sums of money to, like our distributor, for example. It has taken, amazingly enough, 2 whole days and way too many emails (and a few snotty ones) to find out how much we would need to pay them for one of their services. One would think they'd give up such info more freely. But I can't really complain too much as they do sell our books and at the end of the day, that is their primary job. But still . . .