Indies Team Up for Small Press Month

This March marks the 12th annual National Small Press Month (NSPM). Bookstores and other venues across the country will celebrate small presses with multi-author events. Co-sponsored by the New York Center for Independent Publishing, PMA -- the Independent Book Publishers Association, and CLMP -- Council of Literary Magazines and Publications, NSPM organizers provide booksellers with suggestions, resources, and marketing materials to participate.

NPSM coordinator Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi said, "We encourage all bookstores across the country to host readings and talks with independent press authors, to display small press month posters -- anything to help promote independent press books and get them in the hands of readers and to help raise awareness of the kinds of books being published by independent presses across the country."

The February Red Box going to stores with Book Sense will include a NSPM poster, which features a Walter Mosley quote: "The life's blood of contemporary and modern literature is in the custodianship of so-called small publishers. Without them there is no future for literature." Additional resources are available on the NSPM website, www.smallpressmonth.org.

For the 12th annual celebration of independent presses, the NSPM events calendar is expanding. "This year we have coordinated a series of reading marathons across the country," said Van der Vliet Oloomi. "On March 6th in particular we are hosting a bi-coastal event -- a reading marathon featuring 31 authors (for the 31 days in March), all from independent presses. The ... marathon will be taking place simultaneously at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco (it is put on by Small Press Distribution) and The Bowery Poetry Club in New York City.... Also, this year Walter Mosley is the face of the Small Press Month Poster -- which we are really excited about."

On March 6, City Lights will be partnering with New Lit Generation (Small Press Distribution) to present more than 30 authors from Bay Area independent presses, including Manic D Press, Heyday, and O Books. Peter Maravelis from City Lights explained that the annual event allows independent bookstores to "bring attention to the diversity and talent that lie outside of the corporate publishing houses, and moreover, to connect writers and publishers to their public." He added, "It deepens our appreciation of the good work being done by independent presses across the country -- work that is based upon a genuine interest in literacy and discourse, and less permeated by the profit motive."

On March 20, Powell's Books in Portland, Oregon, will be holding "Smallpressapalooza," with 16 authors, including Kimberly Warner-Cohen (Sex, Blood And Rock 'n' Roll, Ig) and Alex Wrekk (Stolen Sharpie Revolution: A DIY Zine Resource, Microcosm). "The readers at the small press event here are mostly Portland-area writers and include poets, fiction writers, zinesters, and cultural essayists," said Powell's Kevin Sampsell. "The 16 readers will read in a five-hour period (15 minutes each) and there will be breaks every hour (because of this epic time span, we're going to be getting some food and refreshments from some places in the neighborhood for these breaks. I suspect people will be going in and out all night). Portland is an epicenter of writing and reading activity and it was easy to find 16 top-notch small press voices for this event."

Supporters of NSPM include the American Booksellers Association/Book Sense, Small Press Distribution, Reed Exposition Services (BookExpo America), Association of American Publishers, Selfpublishing.com, ForeWord Magazine, Ingram Publisher Services, The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen, and others. --Karen Schechner