The BigSmallPressMall is an alliance of four of today's most innovative independent book/literary journal publishers. Fence, McSweeney's, Open City, and Wave Books (formerly Verse Press) come together with their shared interest in promoting new and unusual writers outside of the mainstream publishing system. These four presses make editorial decisions based purely on quality rather than on projected sales figures. Their alliance is not about similar content or specific political or literary ideology, but rather about the show of a mighty alternative cultural force: books and journals that bring you outstanding, risk-taking fiction, poetry, essays, and artwork. Stuff you would not otherwise have access to.

The first step taken by the collective is this very web site, which offers information about each press, listings about events, and a very special offer on a sample bundle of our titles. Future plans include nation-wide, BigSmallPressMall-sponsored events, unique content from each press, and a constant stream of special deals available exclusively on this site. Sign up for our mailing list and we'll keep you posted about the most optimistic and exciting literary groundswells going. You won't be sorry.

For more information, contact editors@bigsmallpressmall.com.

Submissions

Please note that the BigSmallPressMall does not accept submissions, though each press has its own guidelines:
Open City
Fence Books
Fence Magazine
Wave Books
McSweeney's


Publishers Weekly September 30, 2002
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Four Literary Presses Form Online "Mall"
by Dylan Foley

Four literary magazines with book publishing imprints—McSweeney's, Open City, Fence and Verse—have created a Web site to promote their books, magazines and literary events around the country. Launching on October 15, BigSmallPressMall (bigsmallpressmall.com) is a sleek, no-frills Web site that offers information about each publisher, a schedule of upcoming literary events and an e-commerce area where browsers can buy individual books, discounted bundles of titles from all four presses and magazine subscriptions. "The growth of corporate publishing has inspired us to assert ourselves more, to keep doing what we're doing. By banding together, our voices are louder. The Web site is a fun, grassroots way to make noise," said Joanna Yas, managing editor at Open City magazine and its eponymous book imprint.

Although the presses are geographically farflung and distinctive in their styles, they see an advantage in cross-promoting their titles, which skew toward a hip, young readership. "We all have highly individualized approaches to publishing," commented Rebecca Wolff, founder of Fence magazine, adding, "we hope that the Web site will lead to cross-pollination between the four presses." Drawing on a joint database of 14,000 addresses, bigsmallpressmall.com will relay news and reading schedules to subscribers and site visitors via e-mail.

Of the four presses, San Francisco based McSweeney's, founded in 1998 by Dave Eggers, may be most recognized for its quarterly literary journal and online presence. However, in the past two years, McSweeney's has published 11 titles with its newly developed McSweeney's Books arm—including I. by two-time National Book Award finalist Stephen Dixon, The New Sins by former Talking Heads bandmember David Byrne (2001), The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature by Neal Pollack (2001), and Eggers' latest novel, You Shall Know Our Velocity (Sept.). All titles are available on the McSweeney's web site and at local bookstores.

Twelve-year-old Open City magazine began publishing books in 1999, featuring the work of emerging writers such as poet David Berman (Actual Air, 1999) and fiction writer Sam Lipsyte (Venus Drive, 2000). The nonprofit magazine and press are headed by the writers Thomas Beller (Seduction Theory and The Sleep-Over Artist, both from Norton) and Daniel Pinchbeck (Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism, out this month from Broadway), though neither has published his own books through the press. Elizabeth Schmidt, who is poetry editor at the New York Times Book Review, is also on the masthead as a contributing editor. Distributed by PGW as part of the Grove/Atlantic list, Open City's top-selling title is Berman's poetry collection Actual Air, with 10,000 copies sold.

Fence magazine, whose board includes literary lions Rick Moody and Jonathan Lethem, is known for its challenging poetry and packed readings in New York City, where the five year-old magazine is based. Fence Books has published four titles in its first year, including the poetry collection Zirconia by Chelsey Minnis (Nov., 2001), with the University Press of New England handling distribution.

Fourteen-year-old Verse magazine, an outgrowth of the English Department at the University of Georgia, has also gained attention for its promising young poets. The top-selling title at its two-year-old press, located in Easthampton, Mass., is Joe Wenderoth's collection Letters to Wendy's (2000), which has sold 5,000 copies after three printings, according to editor-in-chief Matthew Zapruder. Small Press Distribution is currently repping the press's 13 titles.