Pressing business
Kate Casper - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 5/10/07 Section: 80 Hours
Jennifer Banash and Willy Blackmore have taken their small publishing house from an unknown, shoestring concern to an independent press that attracts half a dozen unsolicited manuscripts from across the country every day. Impetus Press, founded in August 2005, will even host a reading this month in Manhattan and another that will be broadcast May 29 on satellite radio.
With a lust for literary pop fiction, a great-grandfather's legacy, and fresh voices to be heard, Banash's and Blackmore's press is proving itself after a difficult first year in business. In January, Impetus passed a key small-press benchmark by signing on with a national distributor specializing in books from independent imprints, Biblio Distribution. The distributor handles storage, shipping, and bookstore marketing.
Nationwide distribution also brought Impetus attention on the literary scene. Across the country and on the Internet, book reviews, interviews, and features on Banash and Blackmore have drawn attention to this Iowa City press.
Readings at literary venues, such as the KGB Bar in New York City, well-known for hosting authors, have generated buzz for Impetus (and another is planned for May 20). The hype has attracted daily submissions, and in the fall, Impetus will release three titles.
Still, the first year of business for Impetus was a "trial by fire," Banash said.
She and Blackmore had the literary/editorial/artistic side covered, but they knew little about business. The name of the press accurately describes its foundation; they had an idea and moved quickly.
"I think that if we had really sat down and thought about the financial aspects of things at the very beginning, we probably wouldn't have started the business at all," Blackmore said.
Impetus was financed by personal savings and loans scraped together. It was risky. "Small presses require a fair amount of capital and have a very difficult time getting good returns," Blackmore said.
Almost every aspect of publishing was a challenge, he said: "Finding people to blurb books, finding people to review books, finding bookstores to carry our books, finding a distributor to sell our books to bookstores, then trying to find readers to buy the books once there in bookstores."
The team asked other small-press publishers for help. Richard Nash of Soft Skull Press in New York City and Allan Kornblum of Coffeehouse Press, which started in Iowa City before moving to Minneapolis, answered questions and offered advice.
More than 7,000 new publishers arise each year, according to the independent publishing organization the Small Press Center. The center estimates conservatively that there are 50,000 such presses in the United States.
"Many [small presses] fold after the first few years, and only those with a good financial and marketing plan and good books survive," said Karin Taylor, an executive committee member of the industry group.
Like most people who started presses, Banash and Blackmore began Impetus because they perceived a gap in the market. Banash said that in publishing, literature that does not fit the mainstream market, and yet is not experimental enough for most independent presses, has no home.
This she discovered firsthand. While working on her English doctorate and teaching at the UI, she wrote three novels. Frustration set in after editors repeatedly told her they loved her writing but it didn't fit their market.
In September 2006, Hollywoodland: An American Fairytale became Banash's first published novel as well as the first Impetus Press title. The book tells the story of a small-town girl who moves to Hollywood in search of her dreams, only to be swallowed by a world of porn films, drugs, and hallucinations.
Banash, however, is quick to correct anyone thinking that Impetus is a vanity press. She said working with other authors is the reason she loves publishing.
Blackmore, an art major, is following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather John Farrar, a co-founder of the well-known literary publisher Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. Along with making titles such as A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, famous, Farrar contributed to anthologies on publishing that have served as inspiration for his great-grandson.
Blackmore developed book-design skills through coursework at the Center for the Book. Accordingly, he is Impetus' book designer. Fonts, cover graphics, and layouts are fashioned and made into galleys he creates in-house. Though Blackmore has the final say on appearance, both he and Banash stress the importance of keeping the author involved at every stage of publication.
Author Nick Antosca, who published the novel Fires with Impetus, said that when he first started working with Banash and Blackmore, he trusted their commitment to his book, which has moments of intimacy and nuance, yet is drunk with tragic relationships.
"I just felt that they seemed to 'get' the book and had read it very carefully," he said.
Antosca appreciates the attention Impetus gives to its writers. "Certainly, they work more tenaciously at producing and promoting their books than do the employees of major houses," he said.
All of Impetus' published work has a pop-culture sensibility. The three titles reference brand names and entertainment icons, and the literature has an everyday feel that contrasts with elitist culture.
Banash and Blackmore want Impetus to enjoy a long life and a sustainable growth level. Blackmore said they are writing a business plan to pitch to investors.
Banash said Impetus is very specific about submissions it will accept, in order to stay true to its mission and avoid over-reaching. The press does not take any "genre" manuscripts, such as romances or Westerns; nor does it take children's books, poetry, or nonfiction. Banash said there have been submissions she has absolutely loved, but if they don't fit these parameters, she can't publish them.
"Right now, the idea is not to get too big too fast," Banash said.
E-mail DI reporter Kate Casper at:
kate-casper@uiowa.edu
For more information about Impetus Press, its catalogue, founders, and events, see the publisher's own website
For more information about Impetus Press:
Website: http://www.impetuspress.com/
E-mail: info@impetuspress.com
Want to send Impetus a manuscript? Send query letters by e-mail to submissions@impetuspress.com.
With a lust for literary pop fiction, a great-grandfather's legacy, and fresh voices to be heard, Banash's and Blackmore's press is proving itself after a difficult first year in business. In January, Impetus passed a key small-press benchmark by signing on with a national distributor specializing in books from independent imprints, Biblio Distribution. The distributor handles storage, shipping, and bookstore marketing.
Nationwide distribution also brought Impetus attention on the literary scene. Across the country and on the Internet, book reviews, interviews, and features on Banash and Blackmore have drawn attention to this Iowa City press.
Readings at literary venues, such as the KGB Bar in New York City, well-known for hosting authors, have generated buzz for Impetus (and another is planned for May 20). The hype has attracted daily submissions, and in the fall, Impetus will release three titles.
Still, the first year of business for Impetus was a "trial by fire," Banash said.
She and Blackmore had the literary/editorial/artistic side covered, but they knew little about business. The name of the press accurately describes its foundation; they had an idea and moved quickly.
"I think that if we had really sat down and thought about the financial aspects of things at the very beginning, we probably wouldn't have started the business at all," Blackmore said.
Impetus was financed by personal savings and loans scraped together. It was risky. "Small presses require a fair amount of capital and have a very difficult time getting good returns," Blackmore said.
Almost every aspect of publishing was a challenge, he said: "Finding people to blurb books, finding people to review books, finding bookstores to carry our books, finding a distributor to sell our books to bookstores, then trying to find readers to buy the books once there in bookstores."
The team asked other small-press publishers for help. Richard Nash of Soft Skull Press in New York City and Allan Kornblum of Coffeehouse Press, which started in Iowa City before moving to Minneapolis, answered questions and offered advice.
More than 7,000 new publishers arise each year, according to the independent publishing organization the Small Press Center. The center estimates conservatively that there are 50,000 such presses in the United States.
"Many [small presses] fold after the first few years, and only those with a good financial and marketing plan and good books survive," said Karin Taylor, an executive committee member of the industry group.
Like most people who started presses, Banash and Blackmore began Impetus because they perceived a gap in the market. Banash said that in publishing, literature that does not fit the mainstream market, and yet is not experimental enough for most independent presses, has no home.
This she discovered firsthand. While working on her English doctorate and teaching at the UI, she wrote three novels. Frustration set in after editors repeatedly told her they loved her writing but it didn't fit their market.
In September 2006, Hollywoodland: An American Fairytale became Banash's first published novel as well as the first Impetus Press title. The book tells the story of a small-town girl who moves to Hollywood in search of her dreams, only to be swallowed by a world of porn films, drugs, and hallucinations.
Banash, however, is quick to correct anyone thinking that Impetus is a vanity press. She said working with other authors is the reason she loves publishing.
Blackmore, an art major, is following in the footsteps of his great-grandfather John Farrar, a co-founder of the well-known literary publisher Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. Along with making titles such as A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, famous, Farrar contributed to anthologies on publishing that have served as inspiration for his great-grandson.
Blackmore developed book-design skills through coursework at the Center for the Book. Accordingly, he is Impetus' book designer. Fonts, cover graphics, and layouts are fashioned and made into galleys he creates in-house. Though Blackmore has the final say on appearance, both he and Banash stress the importance of keeping the author involved at every stage of publication.
Author Nick Antosca, who published the novel Fires with Impetus, said that when he first started working with Banash and Blackmore, he trusted their commitment to his book, which has moments of intimacy and nuance, yet is drunk with tragic relationships.
"I just felt that they seemed to 'get' the book and had read it very carefully," he said.
Antosca appreciates the attention Impetus gives to its writers. "Certainly, they work more tenaciously at producing and promoting their books than do the employees of major houses," he said.
All of Impetus' published work has a pop-culture sensibility. The three titles reference brand names and entertainment icons, and the literature has an everyday feel that contrasts with elitist culture.
Banash and Blackmore want Impetus to enjoy a long life and a sustainable growth level. Blackmore said they are writing a business plan to pitch to investors.
Banash said Impetus is very specific about submissions it will accept, in order to stay true to its mission and avoid over-reaching. The press does not take any "genre" manuscripts, such as romances or Westerns; nor does it take children's books, poetry, or nonfiction. Banash said there have been submissions she has absolutely loved, but if they don't fit these parameters, she can't publish them.
"Right now, the idea is not to get too big too fast," Banash said.
E-mail DI reporter Kate Casper at:
kate-casper@uiowa.edu
For more information about Impetus Press, its catalogue, founders, and events, see the publisher's own website
For more information about Impetus Press:
Website: http://www.impetuspress.com/
E-mail: info@impetuspress.com
Want to send Impetus a manuscript? Send query letters by e-mail to submissions@impetuspress.com.
Be the first to comment on this story