Dear
[Bookseller],
Let me take a
minute here to tell you more about Atelier26 Books and the vision behind it.
On my own previous
book tours, I got to meet a number of this country’s best independent booksellers,
and I became convinced that to walk into any little independent bookstore in
any town is to go straight to the heart — the cultural heart — of that
community. Independents and their staff are in the business of knowing their
neighborhoods, clientele, and clientele's particular tastes (a far cry from the
M.O. of Amazon or the chains). I believe deeply that indies thereby do a
profound service to their communities and, by ripple effect, to the larger
culture (not solely the literary culture) in our country. It's no stretch to
say that vitality of the indies means vitality for democratic culture itself,
which begins in and consists of (what else?) neighborhoods! As an avid reader
and purchaser of books personally, I shop exclusively through indie bookstores,
never the chains, and absolutely never
Amazon.
I realize I
say all this to somebody in the thick of the good fight. But I offer it by way
of introduction to the logic and passions behind my unconventional new press,
Atelier26 Books. When it came time to launch Atelier26, though all the pressure
in the culture encourages literary creators to do otherwise (bigger and broader
is always better, we’re told), I made it a founding principle to avoid offering
Atelier26 titles through Amazon or chain retailers. I wanted it to be as clear
as possible, at the start, where this little publisher’s values lie.
Now, as
Atelier26 moves into a new phase of growth with the publication of Harriet Scott Chessman’s new novel, The Beauty of Ordinary Things, here are some key tenets of our publishing model:
- Atelier26 Books are print only, each title showcasing excellent design standards. This is an unabashed push-back against the deleterious effects of screen-culture, but more than that, it is a gesture of solidarity with indie bookstores as fine purveyors of tangible books, after the hit the indies took with the advent of e-reading devices prior to Kobo.
- The Beauty of Ordinary Things will be available to booksellers through all standard ordering channels, or direct from the publisher. All our emphasis in retail sales will be on the indies, not the chains or online behemoths.
- The Beauty of Ordinary Things will be promoted largely through a solid lineup of independent bookseller events. Ms. Chessman’s new novel, by the way, is masterful and emotionally rich, with very high appeal to a general literary readership, and meanwhile Ms. Chessman herself, like me, is an avid fan and friend of the indies.
- Atelier26 features indie booksellers regularly on its website, and links directly and permanently to any booksellers stocking our titles.
I hope this
will give you a solid sense of what Atelier26 is all about — the seriousness of
our vision and the clarity of our commitments. I greatly look forward to
sharing more with you about The Beauty of
Ordinary Things. It’s a luminously moving novel fully in keeping with
Chessman’s prior work, and you’ll find that the final book itself is an object
exemplary in its design. I trust it will amply demonstrate Atelier26’s
dedication to quality in the areas that matter most.
As an author,
a small publisher, and a citizen, I believe a refreshed, re-focused publishing
vision and a redoubled loyalty to traditional bookselling are undertakings of
no small cultural consequence. On that note, I hope you will consider me at
your disposal as a voice on behalf of the indies. We indie publishers and indie
booksellers need to stick together (see NB below).
Cheers from
Portland,
www.Atelier26Books.com
NB: “Both artist and bookseller stand at the
vanguard of culture. Both struggle for something essentially impractical,
unlucrative, and yet unspeakably necessary. Both have labored to build a life
in accordance with a passionate vision. Both are cursed and blessed to live in
the conviction that what they do has relevance and worth in this world — to
spend their days in service to something they love unreasonably and
irredeemably. And strangely, mysteriously, the artist and bookseller alike are
also (though each is much more than this too) perpetuators and guardians of
community — the writer as observer, voice, empathetic being, the bookstore as
megaphone, nexus, flashpoint.”—M.A.C.
