MADISON, NJ — Atticus Books publisher Dan Cafaro has a thing with collages. He finds the whole process of creating them addicting.
He also is a self-confessed indie lit junkie and small press geek, so you can imagine how much fun he had today visiting the websites of his peers and absconding with their logos. He took this initiative, he says, mainly because he wanted some original art accompaniment for an announcement he was posting on the Atticus Review website. He was letting writers, indie publishers, and publicity hounds know that Atticus Review Editor Sam Slaughter is seeking reviewers and additional small press titles for the journal’s fast-growing Book Reviews section.
Cafaro says he also put together the collage as a way to illustrate the collaborative interdependence that we as members of the lit community should embrace.
So, indie lit advocate, how many small presses can you name in the picture above? Click on the image to see the artwork enlarged to the full, original size. Atticus Books is one of 35 press logos featured. Here, in no particular order, are the rest, with links to their Facebook pages:
Dzanc Books; Akashic Books; Red Hen Press; W. W. Norton & Company; C&R Press; Sunnyoutside Press; Tin House; Ampersand Books; Artistically Declined Press; New Directions; McSweeney’s; Brooklyn Arts Press; Burrow Press; The New Press; Europa Editions; Graywolf Press; Press 53; Electric Literature; Coffee House Press; Gargoyle Magazine/Paycock Press; Publishing Genius; Two Dollar Radio; Civil Coping Mechanisms; Archipelago Books; Les Figues Press; Melville House; New York Tyrant/Tyrant Books; Curbside Splendor Publishing; Ugly Duckling Presse; Sarabande Books; Open Letter Books; Three Rooms Press; Outpost19; and Milkweed Editions.
We also received a whole lotta Twitter love for spreading the good word with our social media visual. Not to get all warm and fuzzy about it, but it brings us a good karmic vibe to promote the work of our literary lushes, luminaries, and role models.
It started with this:
Hey, @IndieBookIBC, here's an indie book collective made up of indie presses that we love. @dzancbooks @AkashicBooks pic.twitter.com/uHNkdx6Atg
— Atticus Books (@AtticusBooks) November 6, 2014
And this:
Our 6,000th tweet: a logo collage of presses we admire, such as: @melvillehouse, @sarabandebooks, @pubgen, @Coffee_House_ , @Milkweed_Books
— Atticus Books (@AtticusBooks) November 6, 2014
And so on. And as it made the rounds on Twitter, it turned into a bit of a lovefest (as it should).
@AtticusBooks @IndieBookIBC @dzancbooks @AkashicBooks God that’s a thing of beauty!
— Curbside Splendor (@CurbsidePress) November 6, 2014
@CurbsidePress @AtticusBooks @IndieBookIBC @AkashicBooks Ain’t no lovin like some indie press lovin.
— DzancBooks (@dzancbooks) November 6, 2014
We’ll even forgive our friends at sunnyoutside press for the typo in their tweet below. If this were going to print, we know that there’s no way they would have let it see the light of day. They are a class act, with a never-say-quit Buffalo work ethic.
@AtticusBooks @open_letter @sunnyoutside716 @BurrowPress @BuckTweetADP @ElectricLit Great list! Honored to be included!
— sunnyoutside press (@sunnyoutside716) November 6, 2014
Sometimes it’s healthy just to tip your hat to the world you inhabit and acknowledge the marvel that surrounds you. So it is in this spirit that we raise our glasses and offer a toast to all of you wildly talented editors out there, to our creative brethren in crime:
Sláinte!