The New Faces of Publishing
| By Jamie Thomas |
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(Photo by Marshall Franklin Long)
It's finally here! Replacement Press releases its first book If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home at Magers and Quinn Friday. Meet author John Jodzio and chat with publishing trailblazers Andrew and Sarah De Young.
St. Paul couple Andrew and Sarah De Young, both 26, hope to combat the perception that their generation doesn’t read in what seems an obvious way: by selling them books. “In publishing you hear a lot of speculation about what the future’s going to be and a lot of what you hear is that 18 to 34 year olds don’t read. I just don’t buy it,” says Andrew, who during the day works at Lutheran-leaning publishing house Augsburg Fortress. In defiance of this grim industry analysis, he and Sarah, a graphic designer at ad agency Riley Hayes, recently launched an independent publishing company aimed at giving a voice to an up-and-coming literary generation.
The result of much cocktail napkin brainstorming by Andrew and Sarah, the name “Replacement Press” was chosen with a dual meaning in mind. “On the one hand, it’s possible to read the name as a provocation. We’re telling the prevailing culture, literary and otherwise, that we’re here to replace it,” Andrew says. “At the same time, the name is a sort of self-deprecating joke, because to me the idea of a ‘replacement’ anything connotes utter disposability.”
Armed with a name and a vision, the De Youngs put out a nationwide call for fiction last August. They received more than 100 manuscripts in the first two months. On the whole, submissions seemed in step with the press's mission of publishing fresh fiction set in the context of today’s social and cultural issues. Many channeled coming-of-age experiences, even entries sent in by older writers (Andrew and Sarah admit their press is geared toward young authors but said they welcome all ages as long as a story’s message jibes with their mission). Above all, the submissions reflected diversity: stories from new immigrants, tales of minority experience, voices of the homosexual or transgendered, and accounts of generational divide.
But one manuscript stood above the rest: a collection of short stories by Minneapolis author John Jodzio, whose work has appeared in notable literary journals such as Opium and McSweeny’s. Replacement Press will publish the collection—titled If You Lived Here, You’d Already Be Home—next month. The twenty stories are quick reads with snappy dialogue and lots of dry wit. The narratives follow younger characters and are dark, even desperate at times, yet tempered with undertones of empathy. Overall, it’s a fitting first book for the fledgling small press.
To Andrew, Replacement Press represents somewhat of a challenge to Jodzio and his fellow emerging scribes to prove whether they’re essential or disposable in this uncertain publishing climate. The way for the “replacements” to set themselves apart, he says, is to embrace technologies that the current literary culture has for the most part avoided—the very things that the new generation uses every day. “Experimenting in forms like Kindle and using the iPhone to distribute novels or using Twitter to write short stores—these are all things that are finally starting to break through [in the publishing industry],” Andrew says.
Small presses like Replacement are uniquely positioned to take advantage of such emerging technology. Thanks to a system called “print on demand,” the De Youngs can keep publishing costs reasonable by publishing a small first run of 500 to 1,000 books, supplemented by a-la-carte ordering. With print on demand, digital files are sent to a printer, which keeps them on file and prints a single copy of a book each time it’s ordered online, so publishers print only what they sell. Andrew and Sarah plan to release 2 to 3 books per year using this system. Jodzio’s book will sell at several small local shops, including Magers and Quinn and Common Good Books, as well as through Ingram, a distributor that allows readers to order from online vendors and by special order at chain stores.
In addition to promoting If You Lived Here though Facebook, Twitter and a blog, Replacement Press plans to put together a sampler of sorts, available online in the form of a printable booklet with one of Jodzio’s stories and an interview with the author.
Contrary to the belief that technology is hurting publishing, Andrew and Sarah believe new innovations are poised to save their industry by opening it to more voices and stimulating the literary vanguard. By embracing these changes, the next generation of readers and writers will do more than replace the current literary establishment—they may transcend it.
If You Lived Here, You’d Already Be Home Release Party
Friday, March 19
7:30 p.m.
Magers & Quinn Bookstore
3038 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.
St. Paul couple Andrew and Sarah De Young, both 26, hope to combat the perception that their generation doesn’t read in what seems an obvious way: by selling them books. “In publishing you hear a lot of speculation about what the future’s going to be and a lot of what you hear is that 18 to 34 year olds don’t read. I just don’t buy it,” says Andrew, who during the day works at Lutheran-leaning publishing house Augsburg Fortress. In defiance of this grim industry analysis, he and Sarah, a graphic designer at ad agency Riley Hayes, recently launched an independent publishing company aimed at giving a voice to an up-and-coming literary generation.
The result of much cocktail napkin brainstorming by Andrew and Sarah, the name “Replacement Press” was chosen with a dual meaning in mind. “On the one hand, it’s possible to read the name as a provocation. We’re telling the prevailing culture, literary and otherwise, that we’re here to replace it,” Andrew says. “At the same time, the name is a sort of self-deprecating joke, because to me the idea of a ‘replacement’ anything connotes utter disposability.”
Armed with a name and a vision, the De Youngs put out a nationwide call for fiction last August. They received more than 100 manuscripts in the first two months. On the whole, submissions seemed in step with the press's mission of publishing fresh fiction set in the context of today’s social and cultural issues. Many channeled coming-of-age experiences, even entries sent in by older writers (Andrew and Sarah admit their press is geared toward young authors but said they welcome all ages as long as a story’s message jibes with their mission). Above all, the submissions reflected diversity: stories from new immigrants, tales of minority experience, voices of the homosexual or transgendered, and accounts of generational divide.
But one manuscript stood above the rest: a collection of short stories by Minneapolis author John Jodzio, whose work has appeared in notable literary journals such as Opium and McSweeny’s. Replacement Press will publish the collection—titled If You Lived Here, You’d Already Be Home—next month. The twenty stories are quick reads with snappy dialogue and lots of dry wit. The narratives follow younger characters and are dark, even desperate at times, yet tempered with undertones of empathy. Overall, it’s a fitting first book for the fledgling small press.
To Andrew, Replacement Press represents somewhat of a challenge to Jodzio and his fellow emerging scribes to prove whether they’re essential or disposable in this uncertain publishing climate. The way for the “replacements” to set themselves apart, he says, is to embrace technologies that the current literary culture has for the most part avoided—the very things that the new generation uses every day. “Experimenting in forms like Kindle and using the iPhone to distribute novels or using Twitter to write short stores—these are all things that are finally starting to break through [in the publishing industry],” Andrew says.
Small presses like Replacement are uniquely positioned to take advantage of such emerging technology. Thanks to a system called “print on demand,” the De Youngs can keep publishing costs reasonable by publishing a small first run of 500 to 1,000 books, supplemented by a-la-carte ordering. With print on demand, digital files are sent to a printer, which keeps them on file and prints a single copy of a book each time it’s ordered online, so publishers print only what they sell. Andrew and Sarah plan to release 2 to 3 books per year using this system. Jodzio’s book will sell at several small local shops, including Magers and Quinn and Common Good Books, as well as through Ingram, a distributor that allows readers to order from online vendors and by special order at chain stores.
In addition to promoting If You Lived Here though Facebook, Twitter and a blog, Replacement Press plans to put together a sampler of sorts, available online in the form of a printable booklet with one of Jodzio’s stories and an interview with the author.
Contrary to the belief that technology is hurting publishing, Andrew and Sarah believe new innovations are poised to save their industry by opening it to more voices and stimulating the literary vanguard. By embracing these changes, the next generation of readers and writers will do more than replace the current literary establishment—they may transcend it.
If You Lived Here, You’d Already Be Home Release Party
Friday, March 19
7:30 p.m.
Magers & Quinn Bookstore
3038 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.
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