Don’t get me wrong because I love me some mainstream publishers. But every once in awhile it’s cool to find some indie pubs doing it right. And since I’ve spent my fair share of time in Philadelphia, I couldn’t help but give a shout out to Philadelphia Stories.
Philadelphia Stories is a literary magazine for fiction, art, and poetry in the Delaware Valley. The magazine has an initial print run of 12,000 copies and can be found in many locations around that region for free.
Anyway, PS expanded their horizons to book publishing this year and their first book, Broad Street, by Christine Weiser is pretty darn fun.
“Broad Street captures what happens when Kit Greene and Margo Bevilacqua make a drunken pact to form a band with the sole purpose of outshining hte musical men in their lives: gigs in seedy bars, obsessed fans, threats from a stalker, parties with biker gangs, and the endless quest to secure a steady drummer.”
On the website PS professes that it seeks to distinguish itself from other boutique publishers by offering a refreshingly edgy blend of commercial and literary fiction. Does it succeed? Sure, I think so.
It’s got a chick lit feel and yet the characters aren’t just shopping, learning to bake, or discovering that their dreamy real estate agent killed somebody. Weiser takes a commercial plotline and makes it her own.
Something that I normally don’t talk about, but I think stands to say for smaller pubs–The physical book is nicely bound and a quality product. Good editing is evident and all around, I have to say, that I give the imprint’s debut novel a thumbs up.
And since I’m thinking that some of you might be over there fumbling with your fiction wondering if there is a submission rock left unturned, maybe hop on over to www.psbookspublishing.org for a look-see.
Finally, please remember that just like we love our independent bookstores with their quaint charm, dusty shelves, and cats lounging wherever they please, remember to love your independent publishers. After all, if you never explore an art’s subculture, you can never be that annoying girl at the party that says, “Hey, I discovered him before he was famous.”
Think about it.
