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[This is a nice introductory article into who we are as a press, from
Publishers Weekly.]
TWO DOLLAR RADIO'S FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?
It was late 2004 and I incorrectly envisioned the world
of books and literature as one filled with purity, devoted souls, and soft music played on a harp.
I am a writer and I viewed the craft as more than a trade and more like a vocation:
art created in solitude, drinking reheated coffee, pounding on the
keys in order to connect with a reader sitting on an easy chair in a dimly-lit room drinking
reheated coffee. The concept that someone's perception of a book was merely a number in a column
on a spreadsheet made me sizzle.
After reading The Business of Books by Andre Schiffrin, we were inspired
to start our own new idealistic book publishing company, following the footprints left by the likes
of John Martin and Barney Rosset.
We filed as an LLC in January 2005. We all had (have) full-time jobs and worked
(really, really hard) on growing Two Dollar Radio.
2. HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR NAME, THE TWO DOLLAR RADIO MOVEMENT?
While I was bartending in downtown San Diego, before Two Dollar Radio’s inception, an old-timer
at the bar was becoming belligerent. I was annoyed, bidding my time 'til I would be
forced to cut him off, imagining how this encounter might transpire, and doing my best
to ignore him. It was hard to do. He must have realized this because
he said, “Don’t mind me, I make more noise than a $2 radio.”
It stuck in my mind because our goal as a book publisher has been to make a sonic and
aggressive impact. We settled on the Movement part of our name because we didn’t want
to rule out future endeavors into music, film, and the visual arts.
3. IS BOOK PUBLISHING ALL YOU DO?
No, although it is our main focus. We want to promote what we consider to be quality art,
and we have sections
of our website devoted entirely to spot-lighting (with no financial benefits) visual artists
that we adore.
4. WHAT SETS YOU APART FROM OTHER PUBLISHERS?
We feel that it is the artist’s role in society to spark social change. One aspect of this
is awareness. We require (in contract) that each of our authors donate a certain percentage
of their profits to a charitable organization of their choosing, matched by us, the publishers.
The chosen organization also gets the opportunity to state their mission and ways readers
can get involved, and a mention on our website.
In addition, we place a high value on quality and production. Just because we cherish our
independent label, we don’t feel that our books should appear cheap, or the writing abrasive.
We feel confident that any of the books we publish challenge anything put out by the corporate
houses, in terms of substance, style, vision, and voice.
5. WHAT TYPES OF BOOKS DO YOU PUBLISH?
Our interest primarily lies with what we would characterize as bold literary fiction: subversive,
original, and creative.
6. WHO THE HECK ARE YOU GUYS, ANYWAY?
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