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#SmallPress
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Billypar
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I was blissfully unaware of how small press books were distributed, so I can't claim to contextualize this in any way, but it sounds fairly alarming 😬 :
https://lithub.com/the-small-press-world-is-about-to-fall-apart-on-the-collapse-...

Billypar (Image is by Madeline McMahon from this unrelated article on doomscrolling: https://www.nhmagazine.com/how-to-stop-doomscrolling-and-feel-better/) 7mo
Ruthiella What a sad story. 🙁 7mo
Billypar @Ruthiella I know - the list of presses the article includes at the end is such a long one too 😔 7mo
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vivastory I have no idea what has been going on with SPD for awhile now, but I used to follow them closely. There was a significant period of time when I read mostly poetry & a lot of what I read was distributed by SPD. In fact I used to receive their catalogs & it was always a highpoint to go through & then place my order. I recall that at that time the people at the top of SPD were themselves connected to the indie world, but again this was awhile ago. 7mo
vivastory What I can say, is that this is catastrophic for interesting lit. One year when I went to AWP the SPD booth was the largest & many of the others who were there with booths wouldn't have even been able to be there w/o having SPD as their distributors, It's such a shame. 7mo
Billypar @vivastory That's so interesting- I didn't even know distributors got involved in sending their own catalogues or attending book and writing-centric events like AWP. I'm in the opposite camp where I've only just discovered the wonders of small presses in the past couple of years. I had been looking forward to trying more and seeing if I could identify some favorites, but seems like many will be threatened by this, especially the smallest ones. 7mo
vivastory It's def strange because they when I received their catalogs they would also include a lot of indie presses. So you would see the new releases from publishers like (Copper Canyon, Graywolf, Archipelago) They'll survive this, but it's a shame to see all of the small presses lose distribution. I don't know if you ever listen to Mookse & Gripes podcast, but they often like to spotlight indie & small presses. 7mo
vivastory I *will* add that when I received their catalog it was not a given that certain established presses, esp Archipelago would make it. A lot of the indie presses have thrived thanks to breaking through to the mainstream with a few writers (Thinking of Graywolf w/ Percival Everett; Archipelago w/ Knausgard; Europa w/ Ferrante etc) 7mo
Billypar @vivastory I think a lot of the small press books I own fall into that 'big small' press category you mentioned since I buy so much of my collection from bookstores. Even those get far less shelf space than the big 5, and breakout authors, as you pointed out, probably make that possible in many cases. I definitely need to use that spd list to start introducing myself to more. 7mo
36 likes10 comments
review
Lauranahe
The Cannibals of Candyland | Carlton Mellick
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Mehso-so

This was…interesting. It‘s my first foray into bizzaro fiction, and it wasn‘t awful, just different. The back says it‘s erotic horror, but I didn‘t think it was very erotic. Mostly gross, but I was here for it. However (I didn‘t like this):trigger warning for eating children/babies.

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ShawnYLibros
The Cannibals of Candyland | Carlton Mellick
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Yaya The cannibals of candyland arrived today very excited for this one

5 likes1 stack add
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IndoorDame
The Cannibals of Candyland | Carlton Mellick
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This may be too far outside my comfort zone for me to actually read, but you gotta love this cover so I‘m definitely intrigued. #candy #OminousOctober #Scarathlon2022 #TeamMonsterMash @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs @StayCurious

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🍭 📚🍬 2y
Eggs ❤️🍭📚 2y
43 likes2 comments
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monalyisha
Trances of the Blast | Mary Ruefle
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Mehso-so

Many of the poems felt personal to the point of exclusion; I struggled to connect with them. Still, there were some gems. If ever I have a Writer‘s Corner, the following will be on the wall:

“All things written feel a little terrified at first,
...
but making anything you have explored time,
and exploring time you have created the world,
even if it is only a little cairn of broken bricks
at the end of the rainbow.”

For these words, I‘m grateful.

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monalyisha
A Little White Shadow | Mary Ruefle
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Mehso-so

I wanted to kick off the rededication of my mornings to poetry with something unassuming & undemanding; I thought white-out poetry/found poetry would do the job nicely. It did…too well, in fact. 😅 I was more ready for more words more quickly than I imagined. While a few of these caught me (p.8, 18, 22, 33), most felt like more like thin gibberish & happenstance rather than careful craft. Still, I imagine creating them was a simple pleasure.

vivastory I really like Ruefle, but this is one of my least favorites. A good erasure poetry collection I recommend is Matthea Harvey's Of Lamb. 3y
monalyisha @vivastory I have two others of hers I‘m planning to try! Trances of the Blast & Dunce. After I read her poem “Red” (the one that plays off of William Carlos Williams), I knew I had to read more. 😍 Thanks for the erasure poetry rec! 3y
vivastory I haven't read Dunce, but Trances etc does not disappoint! I hope it works for you. 3y
62 likes3 comments
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IndoorDame
Turneresque | Elizabeth Willis
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TheSpineView 🤩🤩🤩 3y
35 likes1 comment
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BekahB
Touch the Night | Max Booth, III
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This is why I love buying books directly from independent publishers. I knew the book was coming signed, but the personalized touch was extra nice! I was introduced to Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing through my Night Worms subscription. I really enjoyed We Need To Do Something, so I‘m excited to read another book from this author. This one is described as Stranger Things meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which sounds amazing!

Reggie I really like this author and I think if I hadn‘t been reading it the week George Floyd got murdered I would have enjoyed this book a lot more. Also, I‘m always on my tippy toes and hunched shoulders when nonBlack authors write Black people but I think he did a great job avoiding most of the tropes of Black people in horror. Hope you like it but it‘s a doozy! 3y
BekahB @Reggie I absolutely agree. I‘ve read books where the authors definitely failed at representation. I‘m hoping this one doesn‘t disappoint. I‘m planning to make it part of my October reading list, so we shall see. I have to admit, the comparison to TCM is kind of what pulled me in. 3y
42 likes1 stack add2 comments
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S3V3N
Trances of the Blast | Mary Ruefle
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Pickpick

I enjoyed the poems written by Mary Fluefle. This was my first poetry book by her. I‘m adding her others to my TBR List.

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magyklyXdelish
Sweet Story | Carlton III Mellick
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Pickpick

Sweet little Sally finds the end of the rainbow and is granted one wish. She wishes for it to rain candy forever. Little does she know this wish leads to a gruesome and bloody end for the world as we know it. Short sweet and brutal just how I like my CM3 books ♥️

20 likes1 stack add