![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Small Press Spotlight: Catapult Books
Dec. 24th, 2021 02:10 pm(I also have a review to write but here's the last SPS of the year first!)
Who are they?
In their own words: "Catapult publishes award-winning fiction and nonfiction of the highest literary caliber, offers writing classes taught by acclaimed emerging and established writers, produces an award-winning daily online magazine of narrative nonfiction and fiction, and hosts an open online platform where writers can showcase their own writing, find resources, and get inspired."
Catapult is an independent publisher and literary magazine run by Elizabeth Koch. Catapult books have won a bunch of awards. The books include essay and story collections, anthologies, and translated works, as well as English-language novels and nonfiction books. Catapult has the imprint Black Balloon Books, which does some really interesting format stuff. The company also bought Counterpoint, an independent publisher formed from three smaller publishers (Soft Skull Press, Counterpoint Press, and Shoemaker & Hoard) in 2016. The Catapult website doesn't list Soft Skull as an imprint, but Soft Skull does mention Catapult on its "About" page regarding printing permissions.
Website and Store
When you first see the website, the screen mostly consists of articles/essays/stories for its "digital daily magazine." It also has links to its online classes. Somewhere in the middle of this, once you scroll down some, are links to its new books. The navigation bar at the top is clearly labeled, though, and you can navigate to their catalogue by clicking the "Books" icon fairly easily.
Once you navigate to their catalogue, they have a link to their Spring 2022 catalogue for a preview of upcoming books, and further down their current releases. If you see a title you like and want to buy, there are several large links to buy from other book sellers. It's definitely not my favorite format, but it's not hideous and it is fairly straightforward to navigate. Although they don't appear to actually list all the book they have published?
Have I heard of/read any of their books?
I did read Love is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar earlier this year! And I've also heard of Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler (I see it in my library's new books section a lot, but I have a massive list of books I want to read). I've also heard of Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzu; Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer by Jamie Figueroa; The Weak Spot by Lucie Elven; and White Tears/Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad. And I see that there's a memoir by Sofia Samatar, which I didn't know about but now want to read- I love Samatar's writing.
Anything else?
Yep! The CEO's name might sound familiar- that's because she's one of those Kochs.There's an interesting article about it here. I am in favor of independent publishers, and setting up a business like that definitely isn't free, but having that kind of money in publishing is definitely...something.
Who are they?
In their own words: "Catapult publishes award-winning fiction and nonfiction of the highest literary caliber, offers writing classes taught by acclaimed emerging and established writers, produces an award-winning daily online magazine of narrative nonfiction and fiction, and hosts an open online platform where writers can showcase their own writing, find resources, and get inspired."
Catapult is an independent publisher and literary magazine run by Elizabeth Koch. Catapult books have won a bunch of awards. The books include essay and story collections, anthologies, and translated works, as well as English-language novels and nonfiction books. Catapult has the imprint Black Balloon Books, which does some really interesting format stuff. The company also bought Counterpoint, an independent publisher formed from three smaller publishers (Soft Skull Press, Counterpoint Press, and Shoemaker & Hoard) in 2016. The Catapult website doesn't list Soft Skull as an imprint, but Soft Skull does mention Catapult on its "About" page regarding printing permissions.
Website and Store
When you first see the website, the screen mostly consists of articles/essays/stories for its "digital daily magazine." It also has links to its online classes. Somewhere in the middle of this, once you scroll down some, are links to its new books. The navigation bar at the top is clearly labeled, though, and you can navigate to their catalogue by clicking the "Books" icon fairly easily.
Once you navigate to their catalogue, they have a link to their Spring 2022 catalogue for a preview of upcoming books, and further down their current releases. If you see a title you like and want to buy, there are several large links to buy from other book sellers. It's definitely not my favorite format, but it's not hideous and it is fairly straightforward to navigate. Although they don't appear to actually list all the book they have published?
Have I heard of/read any of their books?
I did read Love is an Ex-Country by Randa Jarrar earlier this year! And I've also heard of Fake Accounts by Lauren Oyler (I see it in my library's new books section a lot, but I have a massive list of books I want to read). I've also heard of Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzu; Brother, Sister, Mother, Explorer by Jamie Figueroa; The Weak Spot by Lucie Elven; and White Tears/Brown Scars by Ruby Hamad. And I see that there's a memoir by Sofia Samatar, which I didn't know about but now want to read- I love Samatar's writing.
Anything else?
Yep! The CEO's name might sound familiar- that's because she's one of those Kochs.There's an interesting article about it here. I am in favor of independent publishers, and setting up a business like that definitely isn't free, but having that kind of money in publishing is definitely...something.
