Small Press Spotlight: Akashic Press
Feb. 16th, 2021 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smalltimereads"Reverse-gentrification of the literary world"- Akashic Books motto
Who are they?
In their own words: "Akashic Books is a Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within the ever-consolidating ranks of the major corporate publishers."
Website and Store
The website is busy, but pretty easy to navigate. The publisher's social media is very easy to find, and the books and authors are front and center. There isn't a central store- you have to click through to each book to buy direct from the publisher.
Their ebook selection is limited, which is unfortunate, but I know that formatting and licensing ebooks is a whole thing, so I'm sure there are reasons for it. In terms of actual book selections, there is a wide variety, with books categorized in more general terms, such as Nonfiction, Mysteries & Crime, and Young Adult/Middle Grade, as well as more specific categories such as Black Interest, GLBT Interest, Caribbean Interest, etc. Akashic also has a series called the Noir series, which is comprised of anthologies of crime stories focused around specific locations such as Brooklyn, Addis Ababa, Delhi, Indian Country, Manila, and more. From a brief glance at a few of the anthologies, it looks like they try and get authors from the locations as well, which is cool.
Have I heard of/read any of their books?
At this time, Akashic's most well known book is probably "Go the Fuck to Sleep" by Adam Mansbach, after an ARC was circulated through email back in 2011. So I have heard of that!
I've read the first of the Changers series by Allison Glock-Cooper and T Cooper, although I never got around to the other three. I've also read Rivers Solomon's An Unkindness of Ghosts.
I've seen good reviews for A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes, and I'm interested in reading Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide when it comes out.
Anything else?
When reading this article, one thing that stood out to me was the section on the financial model of Akashic: "While Akashic author advances are predictably modest—usually under $5,000, rarely more than $10,000—once all project-related expenses are recouped, the author and publisher split profits 50-50, a sharp departure from most publishing contracts." Also, apparently most of Akashic's staff has been with them for a long time, which indicates a good work environment. It's just one article from 2018, but I like that Akashic seems to take care of its authors and employees.
Who are they?
In their own words: "Akashic Books is a Brooklyn-based independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within the ever-consolidating ranks of the major corporate publishers."
Akashic Books was founded in 1997 by Johnny Temple, who used to play bass for post-hardcore punk bands. Most references I've found list Temple as the founder of Akashic, while this article lists him as "co-founder," with Ibrahim Ahmad as fellow co-founder. Akashic specializes in literary fiction and nonfiction, and has a lot of Black and Caribbean authors. It has imprints for children and young adults (Black Sheep; LyricPop), nonfiction about grief (Gracie Bell), new Caribbean authors (Peekash Press), and more.
Website and Store
The website is busy, but pretty easy to navigate. The publisher's social media is very easy to find, and the books and authors are front and center. There isn't a central store- you have to click through to each book to buy direct from the publisher.
Their ebook selection is limited, which is unfortunate, but I know that formatting and licensing ebooks is a whole thing, so I'm sure there are reasons for it. In terms of actual book selections, there is a wide variety, with books categorized in more general terms, such as Nonfiction, Mysteries & Crime, and Young Adult/Middle Grade, as well as more specific categories such as Black Interest, GLBT Interest, Caribbean Interest, etc. Akashic also has a series called the Noir series, which is comprised of anthologies of crime stories focused around specific locations such as Brooklyn, Addis Ababa, Delhi, Indian Country, Manila, and more. From a brief glance at a few of the anthologies, it looks like they try and get authors from the locations as well, which is cool.
Have I heard of/read any of their books?
At this time, Akashic's most well known book is probably "Go the Fuck to Sleep" by Adam Mansbach, after an ARC was circulated through email back in 2011. So I have heard of that!
I've read the first of the Changers series by Allison Glock-Cooper and T Cooper, although I never got around to the other three. I've also read Rivers Solomon's An Unkindness of Ghosts.
I've seen good reviews for A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes, and I'm interested in reading Creatures of Passage by Morowa Yejide when it comes out.
Anything else?
When reading this article, one thing that stood out to me was the section on the financial model of Akashic: "While Akashic author advances are predictably modest—usually under $5,000, rarely more than $10,000—once all project-related expenses are recouped, the author and publisher split profits 50-50, a sharp departure from most publishing contracts." Also, apparently most of Akashic's staff has been with them for a long time, which indicates a good work environment. It's just one article from 2018, but I like that Akashic seems to take care of its authors and employees.
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Date: 2021-02-17 04:55 am (UTC)