F195.
Independence with Independents: Making the Most of Publishing with a Small Press
Friday, February 9, 2024
1:45 pm to 3:00 pm
While independent presses may not offer the big money of the Big Five publishers, publishing with IPs can offer significant benefits, including freedom with content, form, style, and objectives, as well as (some) control during production and marketing. Working with IPs also require more effort and responsibility from writers. Having published with ten IPs, with diverse missions, from social justice to experimental form, we discuss the strategies, challenges, and delights of working with IPs.
Participants
Karen Lee Boren has written the books Secret Waltz, Mother Tongue, and Girls in Peril, a Barnes and Noble Discover selection. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and is the winner of the 2018 Wundor Editions Fiction Prize. She has an MFA from Wichita State University and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin.
Dionne Irving is originally from Toronto, Ontario. She is the author of Quint (7.13 Books) and The Islands (Catapult). Her work has appeared in Story, Boulevard, Lit Hub, Missouri Review, and New Delta Review. She teaches in the MFA program at the University of Notre Dame.
Matthew Roberson has authored three novels, 1998.6, Impotent, and List (FC2) and is editor of a critical book, Musing the Mosaic (SUNY). His short fiction has appeared in journals such as Fourteen Hills, Fiction International, and Western Humanities Review. He teaches at Central Michigan University.
Hasanthika Sirisena’s work has recently appeared in Electric Literature, Lit Hub, Georgia Review, and has been named notable by Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays. Their essay collection Dark Tourist (Mad Creek Books, 2022) was a finalist for a 2022 Lambda Literary Award.
Hugh Sheehy is the author of two short story collections, Design Flaw (Acre Books) and The Invisibles (2012 Flannery O'Connor Award, University of Georgia). He teaches at Ramapo College.
