Plan B Press

happy (belated) New Year!

2012-01-25T10:56:00.002-05:00

two things!

The Spring 2012 season is about to be released :

The City of Crows by Jacob Russell
Ken Joseph Kerschbaum
Orphanage at the End of the World by Jason Venner

pre-orders of the entire season will include a special limited-release art book by Katy Jean.

Also, the 2012 poetry chapbook contest is underway. This year's judge is Robert Fitterman of New York City. Details are available at 2012 Contest

best

stevenallenmay

Fall 2011 Break & 2012 Super Spring Season

2011-09-18T13:43:00.002-04:00

We have not released any books this Fall. The first time since 2002 that we have had no autumn releases. I refuse to use the word "drop," as in "the book drops next week," because it's a horrible phrase that needs to stop being used now.

We hope to get a head start on the Spring 2012 season and maybe get a 2012 pre-order package together. The pre-order would consist of all of the year's books plus a bonus book or broadside, all at a slightly discounted price. We are very excited about this idea and hope to have it up and running this coming spring.

So, where we've often been linking to articles on different literary news, we hope to also let you know how the next season shapes up. Please sign up for our email notifications at planbpress.com.

keeping it alive and real

2011-09-15T10:27:00.001-04:00

Brunel's academic griot will 'fight dead image of poetry'

it's important always to keep it real

new review of Full Moon on K Street

2011-09-08T11:47:00.002-04:00

One of the most pleasant things that has come from our experience of publishing Full Moon on K Street is the seemingly unending gush of positives reviews its been receiving, most recently this one: berniE-zine Book Reviews

We are ever so thankful for having been able to make an impact in the Washington DC literary psyche. A footprint by whatever size is still a footprint. Kim Roberts is a marvel, you know?

the typewriter lives on in India

2011-09-01T06:59:00.002-04:00

The Typewriter in India. It's refreshing to see that a technology given up for dead has maintained a presence and purpose in India. Much like the commentary that poetry is dead - or dying - or in decline - or on life support; the news of the demise is greatly exaggerated. Poetry isn't going to be center of our culture in the US, in a country where marketplace determines value something like poetry isn't going to be "valued" all that highly. Yet, it doesn't mean its going to go the way of the Dodo bird either.

Great piece on what we do to books in NYT 8/28/11

2011-08-28T15:28:00.002-04:00

Reading Life-What We Do to Books

Physics for Poets

2011-08-25T09:14:00.001-04:00

it defies words, really

older article praising chapbooks

2011-08-17T09:05:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine sent me this earlier this summer, but as it's summer it got lost in the shuffle of the season. It's still valid and still true Poetry Pamphlets by John Greening.

quote from The Razor's Edge by Maugham

2011-08-16T08:26:00.002-04:00

I am not the greatest fan of W Somerset Maugham but I was speed reading The Razor's Edge and found this wonderful quote (it rings so so true)

"I thought with melancholy how an author spends months writing a book, and maybe puts his heart's blood into it,
and it lies about unread till the reader has nothing else in the world to do."
page 282

exactly. Bingo. Perfect.

from NPR - Book Business beyond Borders

2011-08-10T13:31:00.001-04:00

interesting view of language, courtesy of the NY Times

2011-08-02T10:03:00.001-04:00

Poetry, Medium and Message

to our Philly roots

2011-07-27T08:18:00.002-04:00

An Independent bookseller in Wayne

Found this article and was touched by the on-going difficulties of independent book sellers in the Philadelphia region. Not surprisingly, Plan B Press was not enamored with the Corporate bookstores that gobbled up the market in Philly in the 1990s. They drove many a fine bookseller out of business, only to be driven out of business themselves by the new behemoth, Amazon. However, some people actually like human interaction and a faceless cyber presence isn't their cup of tea.

Circling back to bookstores with real people in them. Knowledgeable folks. Well-read folks. Bookies, for goodness sake! Praise be to them all!

If you live near Wayne, PA, you should stop in and say hello. For everyone else, support independent book sellers and publishers whenever possible!

best

stevenallenmay

Money changed Poetry (magazine)

2011-06-21T12:50:00.003-04:00

Poetry Magazine! There's a big story in Chicago Times about the new fortunes (not good but impressively new) of Poetry Magazine which got $200 MILLIONS dollars a decade ago. I don't generally read Poetry but have read about the largess that the Foundation and Magazine received with bemused interest.

What emerges, in my view, is a cautionary tale of what happens when wildest dreams come true. Not what anyone expected - that's the reality! There is so much money that the Foundation Board blew $21 MILLION dollars on new digs for the Magazine (and Foundation?) complete with a 125 seat theater. Nice, but aren't there still a few thousand needy poets starving on the streets of America? Can't help a fellow poet get a meal or a place to stay? That isn't in the new mandate or mission? But, $200,000,000.00 is a large sum of money for 26,000 paying Poetry magazine subscribers, isn't it? What ELSE are you planning to do with your windfall, Poetry Foundation, create a theme park?

I'm just sayin'

What is the definition of a "Small Press"?

2011-06-15T10:06:00.000-04:00

There is currently a good deal of buzz surrounding Go The F**k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Richardo Cortes. While I applaud their efforts and marvel at their impending success, I am nonetheless a bit put off by the notion in the media that the publisher, Akashic Books, is a “small press”. It depends how that term is defined. Compared to the handful of behemoth publishers in the world, certainly Akashic is “small”. At the same time, mostly overlooked in the glowing press about this book and its publisher, is the fact that Akashic was started with $70,000.00 in 2002. That’s right, SEVENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS!

Front-ended, at the beginning, 70K. Considering that many “small Presses” begin with an idea and/or a concept (and nothing else), $70,000.00 is a significant “leg-up” in the publishing world. I happened to have met the principle head of Akashic Books in 2003 at the Lehigh Valley Writers Conference and Johnny Temple came across as an earnest and thoughtful person, a nice enough guy. I am happy for the success of the Press, it gives hope for all “small presses” out there. At the same time, all things are not equal and having that much JUMP on the competition does place Akashic at the upper end of what is “small” in Press terms.

Again, compared to Random House, they are peanuts. Compared to Toothpaste Press or the perishable press limited, two “start up” presses from the 1970’s, Temple’s operation seems to have had an unfair advantage. However, the newsprint media tends to be lazy enough to not distinguish from a truly small press and one that is smaller than a BILLION dollar concern but much more “flush” than a Press that frequents Kinkos to print out their books.

Spoken word artist gunned down in Miami

2011-05-31T08:02:00.002-04:00

what does it say about our society when poets are gunned down on the street?

Spoken Word Artist Willie Lee Bell shot in Miami

Anne Blonstein (1958-2011) RIP

2011-04-27T14:30:00.004-04:00

We were contacted this morning by Charles Lock informing us that Anne Blonstein had died on April 19th. It was conveyed to us in the following manner, that Anne would be very pleased to know her chapbook that those lips had language was going to be in the Beinecke. He then told me that she had died of cancer. Here's a brief obit and her current Wikipedia page link. The page does not yet mention her death:

Anne Blonstein

Anne , poet, died (cancer) in the Ita Wegman Clinic, Arlesheim, Switzerland, on 19 April 2011. Born on 22 April 1958, she had lived since 1983 in Basel; she leaves a brother, Steven. A celebratory reading will be held in Basel later this year.

Anne Blonstein

I had the pleasure of reading the mss. "that those lips had language" during our 2004 poetry chapbook contest and while I didn't believe it would win, I decided to keep the copy aside and return to it later. Which I did the following year when it published it, our first European poet, with much "across the pond" issues and problems mostly centered around Anne's insistence at using as her cover image a piece of art by Aloise Corbaz. It was also our first chapbook to have 4 prices in 4 different currencies listed on the back.

Anne and I had kept in touch even as her publishing fortunes improved and Plan B continued to add new poets and titles. Until illness forced her focus on sheer survival and I, not the worse for my ignorance, kept including her in our email blasts about new books and readings.

She's left us with a body of work, which for a writer is what needs to be left. The work. A clean body of that when the physical one betrays us.

end of the typewriter

2011-04-26T10:33:00.003-04:00

a technology barely 100 years old is about to go the way of the Dodo bird

Last Typewriter Factory Closes

Many a writer will be greatly disheartened. It's a bit sad to be sure. I like manual typewriters more than electric ones. My personal preference.

long live the typewrite and all the words that were produced thusly.

till soon

stevenallenmay

want to share a bit of WOW

2011-04-25T16:18:00.001-04:00

was notified earlier today that a copy of everything that Plan B Press has in print has been ordered by Yale University. That's right, Plan B Press books will be in the Yale library very soon! Exciting stuff!!

and now, we have a winner.....

2011-04-14T10:36:00.002-04:00

Congratulations go out to Michael Fallon for his collection, Since You Have No Body. Winner of the 2011 poetry chapbook contest.

the entanglements of e-books

2011-03-21T08:39:00.003-04:00

so, problems that don't exist with physical books - when to "erase" text! From the NY Times, Publishers and Libraries struggle over terms of e-books

more things to consider when wanting your work to go digital.

we could always coordinate by color

2011-03-15T07:24:00.001-04:00

Home Decor for Bookworms

some people think of books as color swaths. ugh

tattooed poetry

2011-03-11T08:29:00.002-05:00

I don't think I am really to go here but it certainly is an interesting conceptual idea. I haven't sat down and watched ten minutes of single word poetry reading but -

it does remind me of a photographer I knew in the 1990s who wrote a poem in three parts across the naked chests of three different people and then photographed the piece. It's similar to that.

and it's a permanent poem that has yet to be "captured" on paper.

enjoy!

Two New Releases! Spring 2011

2011-03-06T10:39:00.002-05:00

Available right now: Voice Lesson's by Paulette Beete. A beautiful chapbook of poems focusing on a woman's many manifestations of finding her voice. Rich narrative poems. And the first release of the season!

Available for pre-order: Android by Lek Borja. Concise poetry exploring themes of alienation and post-modern living. Preorder today and save $2.

memory flashbacks while working on a new project..

2011-03-04T16:54:00.003-05:00

.....so, the project I am working on currently is to comb through numerous VHS tapes which were recorded between 1995 and 2001 on which were countless poetry readings (in full) and recorded episodes of a public access TV show I produced during the same time frame called "(re)VERSE". (re)VERSE was a 30 minute poetry explosion - sort of MTV for the local poetry scene - and the reason I am combing these videos is to find the scattered readings of my own work, in particular the pieces that were to become my first book Plastic Sunrise. That book came out in 2003 just as I was about to present a monthlong poetry festival in Philadelphia called "Poets Among US".

I am going through these tapes with the intention of capturing the bits of me reading poems which make up Plastic Sunrise for a companion DVD for PS. And here I am going through tapes that I haven't viewed in years, an archive of a period of time in a specific area (Central Pennsylvania in the mid-to-late 1990s). The Monks Tunic in Lancaster, PA. Sahara Restaurant in Reading, PA. Butternut Inn in New Tripoli, PA. Stonehedge outside Tamaqua, PA. Other spaces I don't even recall and then I am floored by the incredible array of talent that was there. Many of whom have disappeared into the mist of memory. Awestruck, I fast forward through time (literally) to hear these great poets who faded back to the street or became Poet Laureate of the counties where they lived. And they were all sharing, reading, being present.

One of the poets from that place and time was Craig Czury who has served as Poet Laureate of Berks County, PA and who remarked over a decade ago that I was the archivist of "the scene", and I guess I had become that. Originally I was filming material for the TV show I created, that all changed in 1998 when I blathered out the whole "why not have a poetry reading every day of the month?" line which led directly to Bardfest, the Berks Bards, antijazz conspiracy, and Plan B Press.

Now I am threading the needle of my electronic recording machine to weave together the individual pieces of Plastic Sunrise soas to become a non-book book form of the material. Plastic Sunrise, the DVD footage. It's NOT an e-book, it's a DVD of my per(former) self presenting the work as it was originally written and unleashed. I do not merely "read" my work, there's a performative element in all of it. I am presenting live. Why present live like it's words trapped on yellowing dusty pages? Make the words KICK off the page. Don't hold the language hostage. Light the fuse and toss the bomb!

The project is about half complete - but it is so cool to see these stunning folk captured on tape from their "very, very past." I want to thank in advance Clint Weiler, Kerry Lance Graul, and Kim Rishaw-Seyler for manning the camera during that period. YOU are the videographers; you captured the moment. I just created the scene that you captured. Amen to collaboration!

my response to "Langstongate"

2011-02-12T19:28:00.001-05:00

I am still a relative newbie in Washington, DC (a transplant from Philly back in 2004) and have been a reluctant participant in the poetry scene here owing mostly to my being a Stay-at-Home Dad these days. However, I believe that changed permanently when Plan B Press brought out Kim Roberts’ Full Moon on K Street last year.

Coming from the original U.S. capital, as I have, to Washington has been curious to say the least. In particular, how does creative expression exist within the Federalist buildings, how can one find poetry in a city devoted to the running of the last great Superpower on earth? (watch out though, China is coming on fast!) Another thing that I have noticed is that the fissions I was used to in Philadelphia between poetry groups, and of reading series “centralism” is here as well. As Ice Cube once mused in his version of Bop Gun, “party over here, fuck you over there.”

There are a few key bookstores in DC where poetry is spotlighted, the most pronounced is Busboys & Poets. However, they aren’t the only one. In fact, Busboys and Poets is not primarily a bookstore. Politics and Prose is a bookstore with food service, Busboys and Poets is a restaurant with a bookstore at one end and the performance space at the other. The middle of the space is for EATING. It’s a commercial endeavor; make no mistake.

Having read the various special issues of Beltway Poetry Quarterly, I see that there have been many venues, poets and small presses that have, and do, grace this city with their presence. In the case of poetry VENUES, the problem with longevity is that the poetry host/poetry curators do no own the “means of production.” They are guests in someone else’s for-profit space. Poetry doesn’t own property in this city; and I am sure that if it did, some freshman Congressman from Wyoming would launch an investigation into how that could happen here. You think Langston Hughes left Washington DC because he wanted to?

Which, leads me to Langstongate – the removal of a cardboard cut-out image of Langston Hughes that cost, by my reading of events, $150.00. Does the owner of Busboys & Poets also own the exclusive ghost of all things “Langston”? Has the owner of Busboys & Poets paid a live poet $150.00 to read in his space? I hope the answer is YES because otherwise a cardboard cut-out of a dead poet would appear to be more valuable than any living poet to Busboys & Poets. The irony is too rich for my blood, I gotta tell you!

In his response to this situation, Dan Vera, who has recently launched “Poetry Mutual” with his collaborator Michael Gushue, has created a map of the DC area with all existing poetry reading series. It’s on the poetry mutual blog. I believe it’s instructive that poets and other interested parties get familiar with that map and make a point of visiting an event in a space they have yet to attend. Interact with poets you don’t know. Get the energy flowing. The sooner the poetry community in DC stops thinking of itself as a literary backwater, the sooner it will no longer be true. There’s an incredible array of extremely talented poets and spoken word artists living here right now. Isn’t it time that we rip a line from Walt Whitman and celebrate ourselves a little? It certainly wouldn’t hurt.

the blur of AWP

2011-02-10T19:29:00.002-05:00

As Katy mentioned, I did in fact attend the 3 day AWP event that was held this year in Washington, D.C. which just happens to be our current "hometown". I was reluctant to attend, I have to say, but was talked into it by Kim Roberts and the gang at Poetry Mutual/Vrzhu Press. It turned out well.

I got to catch up with Daniel Nester, Tom Deveaney, Heather Thomas, and others I knew from past incarnations of myself as well as to meet Allan Kornblum, founder of Toothpaste Press & Coffee House Press and Hugh Behm-Steinberg and many others who made their way to our humble little table. It was great to discover and meet the owners of Idiots' Books.

I didn't attend all that many lectures/discussions as I was mostly chained to our table - but I did make my way around the bookfair and was mostly quite impressed. Were you there? Would love to know how you found it.

Till soon

stevenallenmay

2011 Poetry Chapbook Contest

2011-02-08T14:57:00.003-05:00

Our 2011 Chapbook Poetry Contest is still accepting submissions. This is our eighth consecutive year for the contest. We're excited to see the manuscripts that come our way.

The judge this year is Corey Mesler, a former Plan B Press contest winner himself, but for short fiction. We once did short fiction contests. His chapbook with us, Following Richard Brautigan, was turned into a full length book published by a different press.

The winner receives $230 and 50 copies of their chapbook. All details of the contest can be found here.

It's only $15 to try! AND we often provide readers' comments on your work - always constructive, never nasty. So, give it a go.

Good luck!

Wolfgang Books Closing

2011-02-07T14:41:00.005-05:00

We were saddened to hear that Wolfgang Books in Phoenixville, PA was going to close. It was a really neat bookstore that had an amazing selection of titles. And for Steven, at least, it had a mouthwatering selection of Beat books. We had a number of great readings there and the owners, Jason and Paul, were really supportive of our press, carrying more of our titles than any other bookstore. Wolfgang will be greatly missed. If you have never been there, we urge you to check it out before the doors close for good.

image of the store from their website:

Spring 2011 Season and AWP

2011-02-07T11:37:00.006-05:00

Busy Busy Busy so far in 2011.

We are working on releasing the first three titles of the season. In no particular order we have:
1) Paulette Beete : Voice Lessons
2) erica lewis : in this separate existence
3) Lek Borja : Android

Also coming up is our 2011 poetry chapbook contest winner. The contest is still open, so please go to out contest page and check it out. We hope to have updates on the progress of all of these books as we go along, but only one of them is at the printer so far.

We just came back from three days spent at the AWP (The Association of Writers & Writing Program) Conference in Washington, DC. It was a whirlwind, but we got to meet heaps of amazing people and were introduced to some really neat presses. We also saw some of our authors there! We made miniature chapbooks with press information that were gobbled up pretty fast. At our next book fair I'm sure we'll be making little books like that again, but we'll include more imagery. We also had bookmarks and postcards available. Steve will write a blog posing on the highlights in a bit, but in the meantime, here are photos of our table.

thanks again to Jim Mancinelli (for hosting a series)

2010-11-19T07:48:00.005-05:00

We want to again thank Jim Mancinelli for his incredible efforts in securing and hosting the poetry series in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. Here are Joyce Meyers reading from her Plan B Press chapbook, Wild Mushrooms, in 2009 in the first location of the series and Daniel Collins at the new location reading from his chapbook of go & why. We know all too well that curating and hosting a poetry series anywhere is a labor of love. We appreciate Jim's love of the art.

Thanks Jim!

Commenting on two Plan B Press chapbooks

2010-11-12T11:06:00.003-05:00

Without
Richard Erdmann
Plan B Press
Stay-at-Home Press
©2007

The Mutual Life
Relationships, Colonization and Other Accidents
A Manual of Reference
James Thomas Stevens
Plan B Press
©2006

I hesitate writing about previous chapbooks published by Plan B Press here since it has felt like a conflict of interest. However the thrust of my comments here have to do with the books published by one of our divisions : Stay At Home Press. Not that that matters terribly much except that I have a bit less to do with this division than our “running man” division of the Press. As a way of explaining ourselves; I digress:

The concept behind Stay–at-Home Press is the attempt to wed image with text in a more realizable way. And to do this in the “book” format, not relying on or hiding behind the non-conventions of the e-book. To produce something a person can hold : a book. This, of course, was only the most basic reason for developing this new division of the Press. One of the statements that our Press tries to adhere to came from El Lissitzky who in 1931 wrote: “The book must be the unified work of author and the designer. As long as this is not the case, splendid exteriors will constantly be produced for unimportant contents, and visa-versa.

Our first attempt was Richard Erdmann’s chapbook Without. This chapbook melded text with image and image with text on. It was more of an experiment than a finished project, in hindsight I say, and as often happens – the poet disappeared into this “day clothes”. It happens. What remains is the chapbook - what has been lost is the meaning or the attempted meaning of the work.

The project that SHOULD have been the first Stay-at-Home Press book was James Thomas Stevens’ 2006 chapbook The Mutual Life . Stevens took much of the language as well as the illustrations that exist in the chapbook and the recreated cover from the original 1901 Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York: Accidents, Emergencies, and Illnesses published BY The Mutual Life of New York. The chapbook itself was the second phase of the work; it was created in 2004 for a writers convention and then published by Plan B Press as the fullest expression of its potentiality (complete with use of same font headings, etc.) before landing in a more neutered state with his 2007 Salt Publishing full book entitled A Bridge Dead in the Water. (the version that exists in that book is devoid of illustrations and the font matches the rest of the book) Besides being the most true expression of the merging of image with text, it presented the most compelling argument for the creation of the Stay-at-Home Division to date. However, Without was not successful as the first effort.

There will surely be more to come from this division as manuscripts continue to come our way with stronger visual elements. At the same time, there are entire publishing firms that dwell only in the e-book universe which challenges the dimension and understanding of what “text” and “book” will mean in the 21st century. Since we intend to being around for a while, it's in our best interest to make the most stunning books that we can. That remains our overall goal.

AT the printers right now

2010-10-15T20:00:00.002-04:00

are our two Fall releases :

Third Girl by Finley Bullard Evans

One or Two Feathers by Jo Taylor

new videos up!

2010-10-05T10:32:00.002-04:00

M. Magnus and Christophe Casamassima from the Oct. 1, 2010 Poetry Lab and W F Lantry from the 9/3/10 reading!

Plan B Press on Youtube

check it out!

s - a - m

don't believe the hype

2010-10-01T09:48:00.002-04:00

here's yet another article dealing with the pronouncements by some "pundits" that print media is dead - or about to be dead - and is misleading as the night is long. Technology Review

the mouse is about to roar

2010-08-28T19:58:00.001-04:00

!!!

adding language to our website

2010-08-17T08:24:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend we read two stories dealing with the demise of publishing and the crowning "achievement" of e-books, prompting us at Plan B Press to adding language to our website that we PUBLISH ON PAPER. We believe in print. We believe in the physical thing that is a book. We believe in community structures called libraries and in rooms of one's home that are often called the same thing. We believe that there is something to thousands of years of writing and storing those writings that a devise can not compete with. To those who think of a book as a "bound text", then we can see them becoming excited about a devise that shows only text.

To those, however, who see a book as something more than text, we appeal to their nature - their truer nature - for we also see the book as something more than text, and always will. It is not enough to "talk the talk". We do not use Lulu, for example, since their operation is Print-on-Demand. We would rather work with human beings known for centuries as PRINTERS. Ben Franklin, for instance. A Printer! Another Philadelphia based publisher, Robert Bell, should be as famous as the author of a pamphlet he published in 1776 called Common Sense. These are real and actual people. Today, we are supposed to praise machines like The Expresso Book Machine for what they can potentially do "for publishing".

We don't buy the concept; nor the machine. Unless books made by machines are also made FOR machines, there is a flaw in the celebration for the emperor's new clothes. He is naked, as are the arguments toward paper-free books and machine generated books and an entire future programmed out of our (human) hands.

We will have none of it, thank you very much. Others see things entirely differently and that is their right. But, we like what we do and plan (B) to continue doing it for a long long time.

days of the summer dog

2010-08-09T11:22:00.002-04:00

Time moves like molasses
the kids are too much, trapped inside when the heat index soars toward 100.
we live - we read (manuscripts), we publish(books), we try to stay cool.

stevenallenmay

the problem of poetry on e-book format

2010-07-21T07:25:00.003-04:00

This is why Plan B Press publishes books; Poetry and ebooks. ebooks may be the wave of the future, but they haven't perfected the presentation of poetry just yet. Good!

Poetry is a niche "market", if you will, and small presses are more dedicated to its presentation than e-book companies because small presses are invested in the art form more, those who profit from e-books treat poetry as "just another text" and it's not. It's possible that in the future, perhaps even the near future, that poetry and visual poetry will be achieved properly in an electronic format, but as of today - As of today, poetry is still best served by publishers like Plan B Press.

congrats go out to Kim Roberts

2010-07-16T18:01:00.003-04:00

(this photo was taken in April 2010 at the Historical Society of Washington DC )

The fabulous Kim Roberts in July 2010 was awarded the Washington On-Line Award for her contribution to the Washington, DC Arts Community. The award was presented by Grace Cavalieri, president of The Bunny and the Crocodile Press and Forest Woods Media Productions, on behalf of the writers of DC. This was the inaugural award of what is planned to be an annual event.

To say that Kim Roberts has become a fixture in the DC literary and historical communities is a vast understatement. We are very fortunate to have teamed up with her for the making of Full Moon on K Street.

new book out - Janet McCann's House

2010-07-13T09:35:00.003-04:00

We are proud to announce that the winner of the 2010 poetry chapbook contest, Janet McCann, has her chapbook freshly released and available to all. It's $9.00. It's available through the Plan B Press website and will soon be available through Amazon as well.

best

s - a - m

Special Plan B Press issue of Beltway Poetry Journal

2010-07-02T09:30:00.002-04:00

Kim Roberts asked me a few months back to put together a history of the Plan B Press for a special issue of her much acclaimed Beltway Poetry Journal, and that issue is now up. We are grateful for the consideration and for the opportunity to have made a lasting impression in the Washington DC poetry community that we believe publishing Full Moon on K Street has given us.

best

stevenallenmay

Jim Mancinelli moves his series....

2010-05-30T10:23:00.001-04:00

Jim informed me today that his series will be moving to the Slingluff Gallery 11 West Girard Ave., Philadelphia, PA effective immediately.

thanks for you continued interest

s - a - m

Congratulations all around!

2010-05-25T08:12:00.003-04:00

First of all, congratulation to Janet McCann from Texas for winning our 2010 poetry chapbook contest for her collection "House".
This book will be available soon!!

Additionally, congrats go out to Corey Mesler for the release of novel Following Richard Brautigan published by Livingston Press and to Liz Abrams-Morley for the release of her full-length collection Necessary Turns published by Word Press. Each of these books were published in different forms by Plan B Press in the past. Following Richard Brautigan won the 2005 Plan B Press short fiction contest. We published an early sliver of the final novel.

Liz Abrams-Morley's new book of poetry Necessary Turns grew out of the chapbook we published entitled "What Winter Reveals" in 2006. A number of the poems in that collection including the title piece made their way into the new book.

Also, we are glad to announce that Robert Miltner has recently won the the New Rivers Press book award competition for his full length book, Hotel Utopia, which will be out in October 2011 . We published his 2006 chapbook, Canyons of Sleep.

operating Plan B Press AND teammay simultaneously...

2010-05-02T16:32:00.004-04:00

So this is how it works : since 2003, Katy Jean May (Creative Director) and stevenallenmay (co-founder and head honcho) have run the day-to-day operations of Plan B Press as it has grown and matured. In April 2006 our first assistant arrived - her name was Julia Jean. Almost from the moment she came home from the hospital we wondered where in the organization she would be most productive. It has taken her awhile but she is now getting into the swing of things, helping Mommy collate pages for special projects (our own codeword for books before they are ready for sale).

Here's a recent pic of Mommy with Julia working on Michael Fisher's new chapbook, Wolf Spider.

Plan B Press churns out their mighty chapbooks and incredible perfect bound books from their little nest of domestic bliss. It's an odd combination of chaos and bliss. This is one reason that there are fixed limits to the number of books that appear each season. The kids are still a higher priority than the Press, it's as simple as that. While it's true that most of the creative stuff comes from Katy's magic fingers, there are times when s - a- m has to "mule-up" and pull his share of physical production. This is in addition to the lugging of cartons around, filling orders, and generally barking orders at our collected houseplants. The plants are really useless.

While it's true that Julia loves to talk about poetry and do what she can for "the running man" Press, as she calls it, our second assistant hasn't really made any effort to fit in yet. He's cute, that's why we keep him around. I tend not to trust him alone in a room full of recently published books. He's 2 years old, and ah - unpredictable. When he gets quiet I usually rush to check what mischief he has gotten into. We know better than leave out projects that are incomplete. We court disaster if we allow William free rein. He thinks we mean "free reign". Perhaps he will be our court jester too, it remains to be seen.

he is cute though, isn't he?

from the Creative Loafing blog...

2010-04-20T09:12:00.001-04:00

How Indie Presses Will Save the World and How You can Help Them

so, poetry....

2010-04-15T15:34:00.005-04:00

Over the past few months, my kids have been engaging me in post-bathtub conversations before they go off the bed. These conversations begin the same, "so, poetry...." and it's become a developing piece of mine by the same title. It's a performance piece and the entire piece is composed of my kids limited understanding of what poetry is. They overhear snippets of conversations between Katy and myself as we discuss the Press, or of poets who visit our house, or from watching video tape of poets reading at various poetry events in the mid-1990's.

Among the lines that my kids recite almost nightly are "poetry is our friend, poetry likes us" and "poetry kills people for real". So when I saw this book, I had to get it for the title alone. Poets Never Kill (that should end the debate entirely, except the one arguing that poetry DOES kill people is 2 years old)

Actually, my kids' understanding of poetry is about on par with the majority of Americans understanding of poetry. Perhaps we need to focus on getting kids informed, and liking it, before we attempt to "educate the masses". Who are the masses anyway but large numbers of former kids! Happy Mid-poetry month! "so, Daddy, let's talk about poetry...."

updating Plan B Press

2010-03-17T09:11:00.002-04:00

The latest book we have brought out is Joseph Kerschbaum's Your Casual Survival (the air & the echo). Joseph is 1/4 of an Indiana-based poetry troupe called Reservoir Dogwoods. He along with fellow Dogwood member, Tony Brewer, will be at the next Poetry Lab in Vienna, VA on April 2, 2010. In fact, their appearance will be part of their mini-tour which they are calling "Bottomless Cheetah Blood Tourette"

here's their tour dates:

Thurs 1 April
Zanzibar Brews
740 E. Long St.
Columbus, OH
9p

Fri 2 April
The Soundry
316 Dominion Rd.
Vienna, VA
8p

Sat 3 April
Wild Goose Creative
2491 Summit Street
Columbus, OH
7p - $5 cover

I am glad to say that I am particularly happy that their 3rd leg of the tour will be at Wild Goose Creative in Columbus, Ohio. They held Talia Weisz & Jason Venner book release gig back in December. Good people there. If you are going to be heading through Ohio, trying to set up an event at Wild Goose is an option worth checking out.

Additionally, we are more than happy to announce that Dan Maguire's chapbook Finding the Words has gone into a 5th printing. Incredible, Dan, you are the Everready Bunny, aren't you?

till soon

stevenallenmay

due to successful emergence of the Poetry Lab...

2010-03-07T13:15:00.002-05:00

we are creating a Poetry Lab blog to document this fantastic new series.....
suffice it to say that we are overwhelmed with positive feedback we have so far received, and are impressed with the 30 people who showed up for a 10PM start in Vienna, VA!

the next twist : Plan B Press @the Soundry

2010-02-16T07:59:00.003-05:00

s - a - m has been working to establish a new series at the Soundry in Vienna, VA called "the Poetry Lab". Working with Saul Rosenberg of Poetry Pure Poetry and Tommy Tavenner, a vision of the future is being explored once a month. Saul taped and posted the first batch of videos onto YouTube.

PoetryPurePoetry

in March 2010, CL Bledsoe will be reading at the Poetry Lab, in May 2010 Daniel Collins will be performing. Both were published by Plan B Press. The April event will feature Tony Brewer and Joseph Kerschbaum of Indianapolis, IN - each with a freshly published chapbook by Plan B Press. (Brewer - Little Glove in a Big Hand, Kerschbaum - Your Casual Survival)

more to come!

s - a - m

Following Richard Brautigan by Corey Mesler

2010-02-12T14:08:00.003-05:00

In 2005 I decided that the short fiction contest that Plan B Press held would be a "Beat Generation" themed contest as the year marked the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Howl by Allen Ginsberg. I went to such lengths as to secure a number of fairly obscure Beat titles as part of the winning prize and secured ruth weiss to write the foreword to the winning chapbook. As it happened, the judge selected Corey Mesler's entry Following Richard Brautigan.

Now almost 5 years later, the complete novel by Corey is being published by Livingston Press. The click above comes from Corey's own source. The section he reads from is contained in the winning chapbook. The chapbook sports Mesler in a well known Brautigan cover pose.

We couldn't be happier for Corey's upcoming success. It's long overdue. Cheers to you, Corey Mesler. Enjoy the ride!!

Full Moon on K Street anthology is IN THE NEWS!

2010-02-07T06:50:00.002-05:00

See the article in Sunday Feb. 7, 2010 Washington Post Style section written by Dan Zak :

"Chicago has Carl Sandburg's fog, coming on little cat feet. Los Angeles has Bukowski's drunks, sleeves soaking up spilt booze. New York has as many poets as rats. Washington has . . . what, exactly? Its reputation in popular poetry is that of a way station for gestating genius, a quarry of one-liners chipped into monuments, the coronation spot of a poet laureate who lives elsewhere.

Quote a line from a poem that captures the capital as a place to live.

Can't.

Couldn't, until now.

'Full Moon on K Street' -- the first anthology of modern poetry to be wholly for, about and by current and former Washington residents -- teems with poets who've distilled the region's lifeblood into verse over the past 50 years."

FULL ARTICLE

enjoy!

stevenallenmay

Full Moon on K Street anthology is HERE

2010-01-20T07:50:00.004-05:00

the books have arrived, the books have arrived. the books !
gorgeously done cover by Katy Jean May. 101 poems expertly edited by Kim Roberts.
The first reading at Folger Shakespeare Theatre went swimmingly well, congrats all around.
more to follow!

s - a - m

the anthologies are here!

2010-01-11T10:43:00.002-05:00

the gorgeous Full Moon on K Street : Poems about Washington DC has arrived and tonight, Jan. 11, 2010, at Folger's Theater in Washington DC as part of the beginning of their Spring season. It's the first time that Folgers is presenting a local reading and it's going to be quite an event. Will post pix later (should there be a shutterbug in the house)

noting two passings, Dennis Brutus and Don Belton

2010-01-04T08:25:00.003-05:00

In my time in Philadelphia as Katy and I were taking over the daily operations of Plan B Press, I got to meet any number of fantastically talented and influential people. Two of them died over the holidays.

I got to know Dennis Brutus through his friendship and association with poet/publisher Lamont Steptoe and Larry Robin of Robins Bookstore, who created the Celebration of Black Writing in 1984 as a natural outgrowth of the very successful Black Ink program that been on-going at Robins for many years. The gentleman I met was full of grace and determination, a man bursting with energy and righteous cause. His presence, his shadow, will continue to be seen and felt by all who knew him and heard his words.

Don Belton was the kindest, most gentle man I met in Philadelphia. The tragic end of his life reminds me of the horrible ending of Matthew Shepard's life. Why is it that homophobes claim that they are assaulted by gay men as a justification for the hate in their own hearts, trying to justify murder of people who would not harm a fly? For anyone who wishes to know more about the moves in Indiana to seek justice for Don Belton please go to Justice for Don Belton.

Full Moon on K Street comes out soon

2010-01-01T21:17:00.004-05:00

Plan B Press is happy to announce that it is taking pre-orders for Full Moon on K Street: Poems about Washington D.C. at a discounted rate until Jan. 10, 2010. Featuring over one hundred contemporary poems, the book captures DC's unique sense of place, from monuments to parks, from lawyers to bus stations, from go-go music to chili half-smokes.
All poems were written between 1950 and the present, by past and current residents of the city. Edited by Kim Roberts, the publisher of the acclaimed online journal Beltway Poetry Quarterly, this anthology captures the city's many moods: celebratory, angry, and fiercely political.

Contributors include: two-time US Poet Laureate Reed Whittemore; DC's first Poet Laureate, Sterling A. Brown; senator and five-time presidential candidate Eugene J. McCarthy; Cervantes prize winner for lifetime achievement in Spanish-language literature, Jose Emilio Pacheco; renowned gay rights activist Essex Hemphill; and President Obama's official inauguration poet, Elizabeth Alexander.

A number of readings will take place throughout 2010, in the greater Washington DC area (and one in Chicago) It's a developing year-long celebration. To see a listing of readings throughout 2010, please check out the Plan B Press events page or at Beltway Poetry Quarterly

Looking ahead to Spring 2010

2009-12-28T20:30:00.004-05:00

We are publishing three chapbooks plus the 2010 poetry contest winner this coming season while working hard with Kim Roberts to promote the very impressive anthology Full Moon on K Street that is soon to be released. Two of the poets we are publishing are Tony Brewer and Joseph Kerschbaum, who comprise half of Reservoir Dogwoods, an Indianapolis-based spoken word group. Brewer had submitted an entry into the 2009 poetry chapbook contest and I was the reader of his submission and found it very good. After the results of the contest were made known, I wrote Tony and asked him to resubmit the collection. He sent back the now revised collection, "Little Hand in Big Glove", which I felt was an extremely powerful collection.

On the other hand, Joseph Kerschbaum had sent a different collection and then sent a second one when asked. Neither Joseph or Tony mentioned that they worked together - as I was putting together the Spring season I noticed that they both lived in Indianapolis area so I googled them, and hmmm, how about that? I picked two poets who knew each other and worked together. Without knowing, of course, the "happy accident" if you will.

Funny how that happens

till soon

stevenallenmay

updating Plan B Press

2009-12-19T10:14:00.002-05:00

I want to begin by thanking Jim Mancinelli for curating and hosting a terrific new series in Philadelphia - at the Fishtown Airways gallery - called "Plan B Press poetry series" (catchy name, don'cha think?)

Jim started the series in April 2009 and it has just completed its first year, he will have a fresh new schedule beginning in Jan. 2010. Fantastic job, Jim, many thanks. I also want to extend my appreciation to Talia Weisz for putting together what has been described as a "marvelous evening" at Wild Goose Creative in Columbus, Ohio which doubled as her own book release party and group reading featuring Robert Miltner and Jason Venner. Jason's brand new book, Opening Up the Trees, is freshly out on Plan B Press. In addition to Jason, Katy Whittingham of Mass. is the newest member of the group. Her also freshly printed By a Different Ocean has just returned from the printers and it making its way out into the wide, wide world.

In a few precious weeks, after the season to be jolly has run its course, we will be on a path of incredible opportunity thanks to our teaming up with poet and editor Kim Roberts. Kim is the editor of the beltway online poetry journal which is also the best resource for poets in the DC area as it lists all the reading series, contest info, regional publisher info and features about the city of Washington, D.C. - a position she has now held for 10 years. Thus marking a 10 year anniversary, thus befitting such an anniversary - the reason for Full Moon on K Street : Poems about Washington DC . 160 pages, 101 poets. It's going to be an incredible ride as Kim has nearly monthly readings to support the anthology and to celebrate ten years of online success across the region and as far flung as Chicago (yes, there will be a reading in Chicago, a western surburb of DC). Can't wait for that to start! Jan. 2010!!

On Feb. 5, 2010 at the Soundry in Vienna, VA will be the next Poetry Lab which has gotten off to a terrific start. In Feb., we will have as featured poets, Mary Ann Larkin and Patric Pepper. We published gods & flesh by Larkin in 2007. Together Larkin and Pepper ARE Pond Road Press. The readings at the Soundry take place on the first Friday of the month at 8PM. In March 2010 CL Bledsoe will be reading.

Then on Feb. 9, 2010 at Moonstone Arts Center (formerly Robin's Bookstore) 110 south 13th Street in downtown Philadelphia will be a group reading with Collins, Mancinelli, Belluomini, Maguire, Bodien, Bullard and Meyers; these readings begin at 7PM.

much more soon,

stevenallenmay
Plan B Press

the value of the small press...

2009-12-18T19:30:00.002-05:00

found this piece on the blog of Paul Sutherland's blog, it deals with the value of the small presses. Quite right indeed.

till soon

s - a - m

more feedback from the Poetry Lab (12/4/09)

2009-12-10T16:48:00.002-05:00

this posting from Bernadette Geyer, who was in attendance for the first Poetry Lab.

enjoy!

s - a - m

new to the "team" : Angelo Colavita

2009-12-08T16:26:00.002-05:00

Introducing to all is the newest member of our Plan B Press team - Angelo Colavita has agreed to be our Philadelphia Publicity and Events Coordinator. Thanks Angelo! Now get out there and set the city on fire with poetry!!!

a review of the first Poetry Lab 12/4/09

2009-12-07T08:50:00.001-05:00

the following was written shortly after the first Poetry Lab was completed:

"Well, for those who didn't make it last night (Peace and I were there, representin' Reston), Steve has put together a really good event at the Soundry in a perfect place for a poetry gathering. Imagine this.. a building that at one time was used as an auto garage. cleaned up and repainted and turned into an artists loft, an art galery, a performance stage and a coffee shop with free wireless Internet. (The stage and cafe are in separate parts of the building so you don't get the background noise with coffee grinders, blenders and espresso machines as in other places, I have read. There is nothing worse that that.) I have been to Business networking meetings where as a presenter, I was limited to what I could do by the location in that there wasn't Internet available of any kind, including GSM/cell. Of course I am thinking of the possibilities of Internet to support the Poetry Lab event Steve has talked about for April.

The Soundry has more of an industrial feel than the "tea an biscuts" (Peace's words) literary feel of that in Reston. However, that is what makes it really appealing. The moment that you walk through the door, your realize that this is a different kind of place, set aside for those who create. As you walk the winding art lined path back to the performance room, you get the distinct impression that you are about to become part of the communal, artistic, organic life-form that is the Soundry.

This is an open mic event, that really has a mic. Unless you can project your voice really well -- because of the size of the space, and the semi industrial accoustics and at times the heater kicks on. when reading there, one should consider that its use is not optional, as people will not be able to hear everything you are saying otherwise.

On a side note, the small coffee shop at the Soundry makes a good cup of coffee (free refills) that is distinguished by the lack of Starbuckian, or Carrabou Coffeean stigmas of corporate branding. The protective cardboard cup ring that prevents you from burning your fingers, blatantly reads "F*CK THE MACHINE", which helps the coffee taste that much better.

It is a significant event. A place to bring newly written poetry, let it rip, and press upon the boundaries of poetry that are often limited by what you can do in a coffeehouse or other place of business.

- Saul"

making lemonade out of...

2009-11-27T15:47:00.000-05:00

Alaska bookseller will donate profits from Sarah Palin's book, 'Going Rogue,' to Defenders of Wildlife
November 18, 2009 | from AP
Now, this is mavericky.

An independent bookseller in Sarah Palin's home state is donating the proceeds he makes off her book to a group that is among the biggest critics of the former Republican vice presidential candidate.

Don Muller owns Old Harbor Books in Sitka. He's selling Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue," for $28.99, and says he will donate profits to Defenders of Wildlife.

The wildlife conservation group often butted heads with Palin over her support of the state's predator control program, in which bears and wolves are shot from aircraft.

Muller says he's not a fan of Palin. He tells the Daily Sitka Sentinel that donating proceeds to Defenders of Wildlife is a way to "carry the book and do something positive."

a new chapter starts in Vienna, VA

2009-11-05T18:02:00.004-05:00

Beginning Dec. 4, 2009 at the Soundry in Vienna, VA Plan B Press will be lending its expertise in curating and hosting a new poetry series - "The Poetry Lab". The Poetry Lab will be a poetic "Black Box" in the coolest space I have yet since moving to Northern Virginia in 2004!! The room where The Poetry Lab will be taking place is wired for sound, has art hanging from the wall and is the most experimentally-friendly space I have been in since setting up poetry readings in The Fat Little Demon's rehearsal space in a warehouse back in Lancaster, PA in the mid-1990's.

The possibilities are limitless. The Poetry Lab will be held the first Friday of the month from 8-9:30PM at the Soundry and we are looking for poets interested in participating.

Very excited about the prospects here, it's a fantastic space!

cheers

s - a - m

Plan B Press on the silver screen

2009-10-30T19:41:00.002-04:00

A little while ago, Jason, the owner of Wolfgang Books in Phoenixville, PA posted something on Facebook asking people if they recognized the bookstore in a trailer, the trailer above, for a new movie coming out called "99 percent sure". I watched the trailer, and then at 1:58 of the trailer I got real excited and backed up the trailer and froze the image and sure enough I KNEW which bookstore it was because I was looking at SEVERAL Plan B Press books!!! Wolfgang Books is in the film and we are represented !! Awesome!!!

new feature : a fitful hat of questions

2009-10-22T19:01:00.004-04:00

I forget the sequence of events but sometime after moving the DC area from Philly, I became aware of Kim Roberts and her Beltway online poetry journal. She began to link our events and contests on her vast resource pages. We found an electronic home in the DC while I was being more than mildly distracted by Grad School and Katy was began working at Foggy Bottom.

Kim organized the first DC area publishers event at her house in North East DC, and I was there. Something like that simply couldn't happen in Philly. Anyway, over time Kim and I discussed various ideas and she then approached Plan B Press with an idea for publishing the tenth year anniversary anthology of Beltway. We readily agreed.

The idea for developing this form of "interview" or "e-nterview" comes as much from the medium as from images that play often on repeat in my head of bowlers whirling in B&W without bodies from Hans Richter's Ghosts Before Breakfast (1928). So this is the initial rendering of A fitful hat of questions :

PBP : You seem to have become something of a DC literary archivist, how did that happen?

KR: It happened when I fell in love all over again with Walt Whitman. When my friend Martha was dying of cancer, I went back to Whitman's writing about nursing Civil War soldiers. I was living with Martha, taking care of her, and it gave such comfort to me to read about Whitman's experiences in the hospitals in DC--it was truly a help to me emotionally. That led me to re-read his poems, and that led me to wonder where he'd lived when he was a resident of Washington. I couldn't find anyone who'd done the research on his boarding houses--where they were located, what his living conditions were--so I did it myself, going through his correspondence at the Library of Congress as well as checking annual City Directories. The real trick was translating pre-1870 addresses into current street addresses. Before 1870, the street numbering system was completely different, which provided quite a challenge. I was able to find sites of seven boarding houses where Whitman lived.

I later got interested in the city's rich Harlem Renaissance history. Unlike my research on Whitman, many author's houses from the 1920s still stand, and it was exciting to find where Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston and other literary heroes of mine lived.

PBP: What prompted you to start Beltway Poetry Quarterly online magazine?

KR: It was the idea of my friend Kathy Keler. Kathy is a painter and graphic designer, and she started a website called "washingtonart" to showcase other area visual artists. She thought it would be a great idea to pair this with some poems, and--after convincing me, since I initially took some convincing--Kathy taught me some basics of html, and designed the logo and overall look of the journal. I can't believe that it will be ten years old this coming January! The journal has taught me so much, and introduced me to so many poets.

PBP: Can you give some detail to your walking tours of Washington DC ; they are all literary tours, correct?

Yes, I now give Whitman Walking Tours of downtown DC and Harlem Renaissance Tours of the U Street area. Mostly school groups hire me, but I've given tours for patrons from Arena Stage, and alumni associations from Howard University and the Corcoran School of Art. I love giving the tours.

For a few years, I worked on "The Big Read" for the Humanities Council of Washington, and created walking tours tied to the books they were promoting, so I wrote a Zora Neale Hurston tour, an F. Scott Fitzgerald tour of Dupont Circle (called "Jazz Age Stories of the Rich and Scandalous"), and a "New Deal Washington" Tour of the neighborhoods around the White House (to accompany the book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers). I also wrote a walking tour of the Rosslyn neighborhood for Arlington County government, which looked at architecture, public art, and history.

PBP: The anthology, Full Moon on K Street, which you are editing, has evolved from a celebration of Beltway Magazine to a more sweeping look at the city’s poetry over the past 50 years. How did that happen?

KR: The anthology is an overlapping of my several obsessions: poetry, of course, but also literary history, and the built environment. I love cities--their architecture, their grid, the way large groups of people use the space--and I love DC especially. I've looked at a lot of other anthologies, and nothing like this exists--a portrait of the city from 1950 to the present, and the places within the city that have meant something special to these authors.

PBP: What types of obstacles have you had to deal with in preparing the anthology? What has been most frustrating and most rewarding in the effort?

KR: Compiling an anthology is much harder than I imagined! There were lots of authors I knew I wanted to include, and I looked back over their work, and was surprised to see that many never wrote poems set in DC. That includes such authors as wide ranging as Larry Neal, Archibald MacLeish, Owen Dodson, and Anthony Hecht. There were other authors, such as Dierdra Baldwin, Gloria Oden, and Haki Madhubuti who did not respond to my request for poems. It would have been lovely to have included all of them.

But there were lots of wonderful coups as well. I spoke to the next-of-kin of many authors who have passed away who were enthusiastic about the project. Some, like Ed Cox's family, were thrilled to be reminded that their loved ones are still read and loved by the larger literary community. I am so grateful to them (as well as the families of Hilary Tham, Ann Darr, Betty Parry, and others) for the warm responses they gave.

I was also gratified by the poets who--like Myra Sklarew--decided to write poems specifically for this anthology. And I was pleased to be able to track down so many authors who once lived in DC and have since moved away, such as Michael Lally, Gray Jacobik, Minnie Bruce Pratt, and Sharan Strange.

There are also poets included who I think should be better known to readers. I was able to get permission to reprint a poem by Essex Hemphill, the pioneering African-American gay rights activist whose poetry is a revelation, but whose work was long kept out of circulation by family members wanting to preserve their privacy. There are poems by Percy Johnston, a leader of the Howard Poets of the 1970s, and Eugene McCarthy, best remembered as a Senator and five-time Presidential candidate. Their poems, different as they are, show great humor and an deep engagement with the world around them. Jose Emilio Pacheco, little known here, is widely considered Mexico's greatest living poet. He taught at the University of Maryland for one semester a year for many years, and his poem about Sligo Creek is a terrific addition to the book. And Gaston Neal, who published so little during his lifetime but was a mentor to so many, is included with a tribute poem to Sterling Brown.

What was hardest was keeping the anthology restricted to only 100 poems. (Actually, I overshot the mark slightly; there are 101.) I could easily--very easily!--have included twice that number. There are many, many authors I regret leaving out. But there was a lot I was trying to balance in this collection: I wanted each decade from the 1950s to the present to be well represented. I wanted to include poems about the widest range of the city's geography (not just poems about the monuments and Capitol Hill). I wanted to include authors who are well known next to authors who would be new discoveries for most readers. Overall, I am very exciting with the mix I was able to bring together.

PBP: Who have been your most important influences/mentors in your development as a poet?

KR: There are so many poets whose work I love, who have shaped me as a writer. But I will name three here, whose work I return to again and again: Walt Whitman (a former DC resident himself), Marianne Moore, and Gwendolyn Brooks.

PBP: Is there a quote that you live by?

KR: I've long loved this one, from President John F. Kennedy--which I made Beltway Poetry Quarterly's motto: "When politics corrupts, poetry cleanses."

I will give you the fuller quote here. Kennedy wrote: “When power leads a man toward arrogancy, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses. For art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstone of our judgment.”

Plan B Press and editor Kim Roberts team up !

2009-10-04T10:20:00.003-04:00

New Anthology! Full Moon On K Street: Poems About Washington, DC

Plan B Press will release a new print anthology in January 2010, edited by Kim Roberts. Full Moon On K Street: Poems About Washington, DC will include 100 poems, written by current and former residents of the city between 1950 and the present.

Contributors include:

Karren L. Alenier, Kwame Alexander, Abdul Ali, Francisco Aragón, Naomi Ayala, Jonetta Rose Barras, Holly Bass, Paulette Beete, R. Dwayne Betts, Derrick Weston Brown, Sterling A. Brown, Sarah Browning, Regie Cabico, Kenneth Carroll, Grace Cavalieri, William Claire, Carleasa Coates, Jane Alberdeston Coralín, Ed Cox, Teri Ellen Cross, Ramola D, Kyle Dargan, Ann Darr, Tina Darragh, Christina Daub, Hayes Davis, Thulani Davis, Donna Denizé, Joel Dias-Porter, Tim Dlugos, Thomas Sayers Ellis, Roland Flint, Sunil Freeman, Deirdre Gantt, David Gewanter, Brian Gilmore, Robert L. Giron, Barbara Goldberg, Patricia Gray, Michael Gushue, Daniel Gutstein, O.B. Hardison, Jr., Essex Hemphill, Randall Horton, Natalie E. Illlum, Esther Iverem, Gray Jacobik, Brandon D. Johnson, Percy E. Johnston, Jr., Fred Joiner, Beth Joselow, Alan King, Michael Lally, Mary Ann Larkin, Merrill Leffler, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Saundra Rose Maley, David McAleavey, Richard McCann, Eugene J. McCarthy, Judith McCombs, Tony Medina, E. Ethelbert Miller, May Miller, Samuel Miranda, Miles David Moore, Yvette Neisser Moreno, Kathi Morrison-Taylor, Jose Emilio Pacheco, Jose Padua, Michelle Parkerson, Betty Parry, Linda Pastan, Richard Peabody, Elizabeth Poliner, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Liam Rector, Joan Retallack, Katy Richey, Joseph Ross, Ken Rumble, Robert Sargent, Gregg Shapiro, Myra Sklarew, Alan Spears, Sharan Strange, A.B. Spellman, Hilary Tham, Maureen Thorson, Venus Thrash, Dan Vera, Rebecca Villarreal, Belle Waring, Joshua Weiner, Reed Whittemore, Terence Winch, Ahmos Zu-Bolton II.

A series of readings to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Beltway Magazine will commence in January 2010!
The opportunity to pre-order this unique anthology will be available soon!!

catching up with myself again

2009-10-01T19:06:00.002-04:00

The reading at Wolfgang Books on Sept. 19 was great. Chris Bullard presented his work extremely well, considering the motorcycles and teen aged LOUD girls outside. C L Bledsoe read some terrific pieces, including one that I can foresee being the title of a new collection. Elizabeth Bodien read some blazons . She read new and more experimental work. s - a - m read a mix of work. Got the best response to an older piece about a "real life" situation that was heartfelt and tragic-true.

The following weekend, Sept. 26, Katy & I visited with our dear friends Jim (Mancinelli) & his partner, Dave, in Philadelphia. It was really nice to spend time with some really good friends.

This weekend we are "back to it" again, laying out books and creating stunning visual covers.

till then!

a little advance press for this weekend's reading..

2009-09-14T16:20:00.003-04:00

Plan B Press is returning to Wolfgang Books in Phoenixville, PA, I got interviewed briefly about the reading and a bit of history HERE. The photo credit goes to 3 year old Julia Jean May, her first.

The line up includes:
Chris Bullard, 2009 poetry chapbook contest winner
C L Bledsoe
Daniel Collins
stevenallenmay
Elizabeth Bodien
and possibly, Andrew Bradley

impending move

2009-09-02T08:15:00.002-04:00

we are relocating to a house in the section of "Alexandria", VA just south of Rt. 395 (it's like calling Roxborough "Philly", ya know?)
we are moving in on Sept. 15,2009 and will be opening a PO Box around the same time. Once we have it, we will let you know our new Plan B Press address.

thanks

another fore-parent of the work we are doing

2009-08-25T09:30:00.001-04:00

Author Karla Kuskin dies

New York Times
Posted: 08/22/2009 07:06:07 PM PDT
Updated: 08/22/2009 08:50:36 PM PDT

Karla Kuskin, a noted children's author and illustrator whose work combined sly wit and propulsive vitality with deep thoughtfulness about the essential natures of people, animals and things, died Thursday at her home in Seattle. She was 77.
The cause was cortical basal ganglionic degeneration, a neurological disorder, her son, Nicholas Kuskin, said. A longtime Brooklyn resident, Kuskin had lived in Seattle in recent years.
The author or illustrator — often both at once — of more than 50 books for young people, Kuskin was known in particular for the volumes of rhymed verse she wrote and illustrated. They include "In the Middle of the Trees" (1958); "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" (1963); "The Rose on My Cake" (1964); and "Soap Soup and Other Verses" (1992).
Ideal for reading aloud, Kuskin's poems are known for their stealthy humor, deceptive simplicity and unforced though carefully worked-out rhymes. The listener is buoyed along on a flowing metrical current, as in this verse, from her collection "Near the Window Tree" (1975):
When a cat is asleep
There is nothing asleep
That is quite so asleep
As a cat.
She has finished with darting,
Careening and leaping
Now even the soft air around her is sleeping.
As a writer, Kuskin worked with some of the country's best-known artists. Among her most widely praised books are two she did with the noted illustrator Marc Simont, "The Philharmonic Gets Dressed" (1982) and "The Dallas Titans Get Ready for Bed" (1986).

In both books, Kuskin describes in spare, lyrical prose things that happen when we are not around to see them. In the first, members of a symphony orchestra prepare to go to work. In the second, football players divest themselves postgame of layer upon layer and then, looking "like small wet whales," shower.
Kuskin also collaborated with the American painter Milton Avery. Avery, who died in 1965, left behind a series of enigmatic paintings he had done to illustrate a children's story by a friend, the writer H.R. Hays. Deemed too expensive to produce, the project was abandoned, and Hays' original text was lost.
Karla Seidman was born in Manhattan on July 17, 1932, and reared mostly in Greenwich Village. She attended Antioch College before transferring to Yale, from which she received a bachelor's degree in 1955.
Her first book, "Roar and More" (1956), was born of her senior graphic-arts project at Yale, for which she had to design and print a book on a small press.
Kuskin's first marriage, to Charles M. Kuskin, ended in divorce; her second husband, William L. Bell, died in 2006. She is survived by two children from her first marriage, Nicholas, of Pelham, N.Y., and Julia Kuskin of Seattle; and three grandchildren.
Her other books include "Jerusalem, Shining Still" (1987; illustrated by David Frampton); "The Upstairs Cat" (1997; illustrated by Howard Fine), a verse parable about a long-running feline border dispute that emphasizes the futility of war; and "Moon, Have You Met My Mother? The Collected Poems of Karla Kuskin" (2003; illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier).

Not familiar with this person’s work, guess I have some research to do!

announcing our Fall 2009 line up

2009-08-21T14:53:00.002-04:00

we are happy to announce our Fall 2009 releases :

Opening Up the Trees by Jason Venner
Wolf Spider by Michael Fisher
By a Different Ocean by Katy Whittingham

we are very excited about these books and more details will be following in short order.

congrats go out to Elizabeth Bodien

2009-08-16T15:50:00.002-04:00

We want to congratulate Elizabeth Bodien for winner the first annual Lehigh Valley Literary Award in poetry recently in Easton, PA. She won for her chapbook, Plumb Lines. So how does "award winning chapbook" and "award winning poet" sound?

want to feel better? read a book

2009-08-11T16:30:00.000-04:00

MONDAY, AUG 10
Want to Feel Better About Yourself? Read a Book!
According to the results of a survey from the Pepsi Optimism Project, Americans are optimistic—more optimistic, in fact, than they were back in November 2008. Specifically, the surveys shows that people become more optimistic about our personal relationships, health, finances, and overall well-being in the last seven months (although they're a bit less optimistic about their careers these days). What attracted our attention, though, was the sort of things that make people feel optimistic—and might just lift the spirits of those of us in the publishing industry, too.

While the official survey report zeroed in on the importance of a constellation live events like music concerts, theatrical performances, and speeches, the one "optimism booster" cited by more respondents than any other—88 percent—was "books." Unfortunately, that's not broken down by categories, so it's not quite clear whether fiction or non-fiction lifts people's spirits, so you should probably read a little of both, just to be on the safe side.

(Meanwhile, 56 percent of those surveyed say they feel optimistic after attending poetry readings, which was pleasantly surprising as we had not realized poetry readings were so popular—although clearly they should be!)

A few more data points, as long as we're here: Oddly enough, 96 percent of those surveyed expressed optimism about the shape of things to come, but only 25 percent had an upbeat perspective on the immediate future and the year ahead. And though more than two-thirds of the baby boomers, Gen-Xers, and millenials queried said they'd recently witnessed or participated in activities that made them feel optimistic, only 59 percent of those 63 or older would say the same. (Finally, less than a third of Americans, the survey adds, gain optimism from blogs—although, again, it was unclear whether that means reading blogs, writing them, or both.)

Posted by Ron Hogan

Summer In Session

2009-08-11T15:26:00.002-04:00

While we are, for the most part, on a bit of a hiatus at the moment, we have been having sporadic bursts of activity; an email announcement here, a book release there. But in addition to that, Mr. President is also writing up important business paperwork, so we should be able to provide you with updates on that this autumn along with our newest releases.

We are gearing up for another jam-packed autumn, about 4 books slated. Plus we are planning on attending a few events as well, including a gig in Baltimore in September and an event at Wolfgang Books in Phoenixville, PA. If you are close to either of those locations, please stop by and check out our press. There will be a handful of our poets present to read, sign books, hobnob, etc. And sometimes, it's just good to put some faces with names, and voices with poems. Please check out our website's events calendar as details emerge.

Lately we've been posting news and Op-eds on publishing and poetry, with links to other sites. We find it's nice to bring a little outside world into our blog. Tell us what you think. Do you like these little blurbs or would you rather stick to PBP-centric stories only?

we flutter, we twit

2009-08-06T07:29:00.002-04:00

a few months ago, I set up a twitter account for myself /the Press/ an upcoming book of mine
under the name "bardwire"

the book is FAST WHITE

last night a good friend of mine from my undergrad daze at Temple University came to visit and challenged me to use Twitter for creative purposes, I said FINE

so I have. In addition to updating activities for the Press I will be composing work on Twitter and writing about what is likely to be seen as a "breakthrough" book, Fast White!!!

more reason to avoid Kindle

2009-07-31T13:31:00.003-04:00

Amazon Sued Over Kindle Deletions

When you buy an actual BOOK, it is yours - it can not be deleted as an electronic file it is an actual physical thing. Any notations you make in your BOOK remain there as long as you keep that BOOK. Apparently, the same is not true of "reading devises". Expense little kink they need to fix, I believe. (it is not a book, it is not a book, it is not...)

have a great weekend!

stevenallenmay

new books are out

2009-07-20T19:07:00.005-04:00

Chris Bullard You Must Not Know Too Much
Talia Weisz When Flying Over Water
Bob Marcacci a man floats

are all available now. The first printing of Bullard's book as his was our 2009 contest winner and he gets the lion's share to himself. He is reading tomorrow night in Philadelphia at the Fishtown poetry series with host Jim Mancinelli. The other two poets are currently traveling abroad so, they won't be reading in support of their books for a several more weeks. We will announce their availability to our mailing list contacts before general distribution. Look for it soon!

David Highsmith congregations is now at the printers. We anicipate it being available by the end of the month or early August at the latest.

Our Late Season: an Update

2009-07-08T07:53:00.002-04:00

We are still in our spring season.

Yes, it's true.

This season keeps on going and going. We still have three more books in the works for the "spring": When Flying Over Water, You must not know too much (our 2009 chapbook contest winner), and congregations. When Flying Over Water is actually complete, so we're planning a release date for that. You must not know too much is at the printer, and congregations is nearing the end.

It's just been a long, long spring.

We are in the process of changing locations, I've had an employment shift lately, and we were stricken by massive computer problems that continue to plague us. It's been a really rough season overall. I am planning to have a light autumn consequently since we'll be getting a late start. Of course,... Steven will be weighing in on that I'm sure.

If we can get settled in to a new computer and new location soon, I anticipate our upcoming seasons to be more timely. Anticipate - not guarantee.

-

a poem amidst the revolution (Iran)

2009-06-24T17:52:00.001-04:00

my words could do no better, whoever you are, Ms. Iranian lady, be well.

News about Salt Publishing (UK)

2009-06-22T09:33:00.002-04:00

The UK's largest independent poetry press, Salt Publishing, has staved off bankruptcy after appealing for help from its fans. Ten years old and the home of poets including the rising UK star Luke Kennard and award-winning Australian poet John Tranter, Salt last month found itself on the edge of a financial precipice. The effects of the recession - spring sales were down nearly 80% on the previous year - coupled with the end of its Arts Council funding, an enormous tax bill and a demand for payment from a major creditor meant it had a £55,000 budget deficit. "It was absolutely the end," says director Chris Hamilton-Emery. About to lose his home - Salt is a family business - he began cancelling the books Salt had lined up, but then he came up with a possible solution.

The Just One Book campaign, encouraging fans to buy one of Salt's 300-plus titles, started with a single post on Facebook, and quickly went viral, with Twitter, Facebook and hundreds of blogs all picking up on it. The orders started to rush in, and as of this week, Hamilton-Emery says the worst is - hopefully - past. "We've had more than 1,400 direct orders, worth £32,000, over the last four weeks, from Kazakhstan to South America. It's quite extraordinary, and very humbling."

I wanted to mention that two of the poets we have published have also been published by Salt. Anne Blonstein and James Thomas Stevens. I hope for the best for Salt.

updating

2009-06-16T09:10:00.001-04:00

on their way from the printer is Talia Weisz "When Flying Over Water" and the first reprint of Francine Tolf Like Saul.

green eggs and slam (but I don't like slam!)

2009-06-09T18:49:00.002-04:00

Is Slam in Danger of Going Soft? as it appeared in New York Times.

For the record, I don't much like slam poetry nor Mr. Smith. Slam does not translate into a book. It's good on DVD perhaps, or a CD. But on the page? I can't think of a single book by a slam artist that has been successful. Okay, maybe Saul Williams. Okay, that's one. Capturing performance on the page is extremely difficult.

from the 2009 BookExpo, how to do everything wrong

2009-06-05T07:11:00.001-04:00

Stupid Things Booksellers & Publishers do.

It's an ongoing situation, isn't it?

tension, reflex, release (why we print on paper)

2009-06-01T07:08:00.002-04:00

Publishers Meet in New York, Going Paper-free

We read this and shake our heads. This is a Printing Press! Remember it!!

we haven't reached the "bottom", yet!

2009-05-30T11:37:00.006-04:00

Japanese author Koji Suzuki, of the 1998 Hollywood film "Ring," poses with toilet paper rolls printed with drawing of a ghost on them to promote the product in Fuji, central Japan, Saturday, May 23, 2009. The product, dubbed "Japan's scariest toilet paper," carries Suzuki's latest horror story "Drop" for release next month. The toilet paper roll would be "a horror experience in the toilet," manufacturer said. (AP)

Okay, we hadn't thought to go there yet. Perhaps we might have come to this eventually. There is no line between advertising and product "placement" anymore. Everything goes - everywhere!!!
Reminds me of something, say.....

Economics of Poetry

2009-05-29T12:38:00.004-04:00

I was sent this NPR article this morning on the business of poetry:

Large publishers have been hit hard by the recession... But one corner of the publishing world has its own strange economy. Poets and those who publish them are used to earning next to nothing for their work... For editors like Bob Hershon, poetry is also a labor of love. His Hanging Loose Press advances poets the money they need to print and bind their volumes. Poets try to recoup that cost by doing readings and coaxing friends to buy their books. Hershon says his friends in commercial publishing are losing their jobs. "But we can't be out of work because we don't take any salaries," he says. "We're nuts, but my co-editors and I work out of our hip pockets.

This sounds eeerily familiar to me.When we took over the press in 2003, my meagre "real job" income was not only supporting us, it was the life support for the press. We considered it a triumph in 2005 when the press was actually supporting itself. There was even a moment when we were almost thinking that one of us might one day be monetarily compensated for our work. But that moment passed and we returned to our routine.

In the six years that I have been co-running Plan B Press, I haven't been paid a dime. I get thank you's and compliments, which are much appreciated, but the possibility of a salary somehow escapes me. When we receive inquiries from graphic designers looking for a job, it makes me chuckle a bit. They never mention the phrase pro bono, nor would expect to see it. But in a business as small as ours, if the only two current employees aren't getting paid, neither would any additional staff. Small arts organizations thrive on volunteers. Without volunteers, many small businesses would crumble.

Running a poetry press is a labor of love. It certainly isn't a money making venture. We can all agree with the NPR article- poetry is recession-proof. As Bob Dylan famously sang: When you got nothin', you got nothin' to lose.

-

Update on Book Schedule 5/28/09

2009-05-28T09:54:00.002-04:00

Moving along at,…well not breakneck speed, but we’ve completed all but one book, and the layout on that one is nearly finished. Ever since getting our computer back from the shop it’s been coming and going, freezing when overtaxed (every 45 minutes or so). I’m growing frustrated with the whole thing. Is it the RAM? It’s all Apple-origin! I just don’t know.
We anticipate Talia Weisz’s book going to the printer on Friday. Bob Marcacci’s book should be back any day now. And the proof for congregations should be with the author soon, once we can get a contract together.

So we’re swimming along nicely.

I will be cutting airplanes out of paper this weekend. At least I won’t be relying on our computer.

-

ripples across the pond in Philly (2)

2009-05-26T08:41:00.002-04:00

also wanted to mention that Plan B Press poet ryan eckes is the host and curator of the Chapterhouse Reading Series in Philadelphia.

ripples across the pond in Philly

2009-05-25T17:56:00.003-04:00

A handful of years ago now, after I stopped hosted the Eternal NOW! poetry series at Robin's Bookstore in Philadelphia, I was discussing the next evolution (as I saw it) in poetry reading presentation with Michele Belluomini and Jim Mancinelli. We all agreed that having poets in art galleries would be an ideal situation.

It took years for the timing to work out but Jim happened into a good situation at Fishtown Airways Gallery where he began curating a poetry series in April 2009 with Plan B Press poets Ryan Eckes and Michele Belluomini. Here's a note from Jim pertaining to his new series :

The Fishtown Airways Poetry Series

LOCATION: Fishtown Airways Gallery
200 E. Girard Ave. (2 blocks from the Girard Ave. El stop)
Philadelphia, PA 19125
fishtownairways@aol.com
WHEN: The 3rd Tuesday of every month (except August)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE:
May 19 JC Todd & Catherine Staples
June 16 Mel Brake & G. Emil Reutter
July 21 Jim Mancinelli & Christian Bullard (winner of the 2009 Plan B Press poetry chapbook contest)
August 18 NO READING
September 15 Liz Abrams-Morley & Courtney Bambrick
October 20 Leonard Gontarek & Samantha Barrow
November 17 Jim Cory & Dan Maguire
December 15 Acoustic guitar virtuoso An Evening with David Falcone
(A FAPS Free event!)

This is a new reading series that will take place on the 3rd Tuesday of
the month. There will be a hiatus for the month of August. The Fishtown
Airways Art Gallery is at the corner of Shackamaxon and Girard, in the
“Riverside” section of Fishtown. The exact address is 200 E. Girard Ave.
and it is two blocks from the Girard Ave. el stop. This is a newly
renovated space and is perfectly designed for readings. The format will
include two featured poets, each having 20-30 minutes, with a break in
between each poet. The last poet will be followed by an open reading
where a participant can read one long piece or two short pieces. I will
moderate the series.

Jim Mancinelli

News of our poets

2009-05-05T07:42:00.005-04:00

Elizabeth Bodien reports that Plumb Lines is a finalist for the first ever Poetry Award that will be given by the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group. The winner will be announced at a dinner in late July. Congrats in advance to Elizabeth.

Dan Maguire's Finding the Words is going into it's 3rd printing since Nov. 2008.

Ryan Eckes' when i come here is also going into it's 3rd printing.

Jim Mancinelli continues to host and curate the Fishtown Airways Poetry Series, Fishtown Airways Art Gallery, 200 E. Girard Ave. (Philly) If you are interested in reading for his series, please send him an email. mancinelli51@gmail.com

Deborah Filanowski is busily planning for the next poetry festival to occur at Stonehedge in Tamaqua, PA this July. Details to follow.

Loving and Hating Apple

2009-04-30T07:56:00.003-04:00

For two days I had been trying to telephone our Apple store to find out how our computer repair was going. Busy signals. beep - beep -beep... Since I had been told that they anticipated the part coming in on Tuesday, I figured Tuesday night would be a reasonable update day. Busy signal. How about Wednesday? Busy signal. Off to the Apple store we drove on Wednesday night. I made my way back to the Genius Bar where a perky concierge greeted me. I asked for a status update and she went into the back room to ask around. Meanwhile Steve and the kids are browsing laptops and walking loops in the stroller.

A few minutes later, Perky Concierge comes back to inform me (wearing her best saddened newscaster face) that the part hasn't come in yet. Then she smiles. This isn't smiling time. This is commiserating time. I've been without a computer for nearly two weeks now and she's smiling at me. No - beaming at me.

I knot my brow. "Well, when do you think you'll get the part?" Perky shrugs... and smiles. This is not an oopsie moment, Perky! Then she suggests that I call back for an update on Friday, adding that she hopes the phones are working by then. Friday? Call back Friday? Perky has no idea at all when the part will come in or when it will be installed or when the tests will be run. She's a concierge, a salesperson essentially. I understand that. I'm not expecting the world here.

I had been very happy with Apple's support up until recently. When everything seems to have died in my Mac all at once, all of the tech people I dealt with were responsive and provided updates, walking me through the process. Unfortunately, It seems that the Apply Way is to fix parts one at a time, and every part that is in my computer seems to need to be special ordered. If Mac Stores are many Apple users' lifeline for technical problems, you would think that they would carry some parts. I guess they only keep parts for their newest gadgets... you know, the ones that probably aren't breaking down yet.

I met Steve in the doorway and broke the bad news. He shouts, "What the fuck!" I suggest to him that we just leave before he screams at one of the employees. We walk out the door with our kids, the smoke curling off of Steve's head. Perky Concierge II smiles and waves, "Have a good night, guys!"

This is not a good night, Perky.

You are not Mary Tyler Moore, turning the world on with your smile.
-

Technical Difficulties III

2009-04-29T09:02:00.005-04:00

Our little computer is back at the shop as of Sunday morning. It is supposed to be back today, but I've given up plotting a timeline. Needless to say, our entire book production is on hold.

A third printing of Ryan Eckes' book "when i come here" was sent off to the printer on Saturday before our computer decided to freeze on us again. But we haven't been able to make any progress on our spring season books. Luckily, now that the corrected proof is back, Bob Marcacci's "a man floats" should be heading to the printer once we make those edits.

We also bought hand made paper this weekend for Talia Weisz's "When Flying Over Water". And Steve and I were discussing cover ideas for "Congregations". We need to start on the contest winner's book too. But this will all come after we get our little metal dynamo back from Apple. We plan to purchase a laptop soon after so that we can prevent this supreme amount of downtime in the fture.

The upside: all contest winner responses have been sent; and we're spending more time discussing the future of the press, projects, and incorporation details.

Stay tuned...

Technical Difficulties: Update

2009-04-24T09:52:00.002-04:00

As we are computer-less at the moment, it's amazing how little we can actually accomplish.

1) No proofs to authors. (in fact no progress on layouts or covers either)
2) No blog posting or website updates
3) No typed correspondence or purchase orders possible

We're back to pen and paper on everything. It's nice in a way to focus on other things. Our trusty Editor is writing responses very quickly on contest entrants now that he is is disconnected from the internet.

The library has proven itself to be a very helpful stopgap. It is free and accessible, but you are booted off after 30 minutes. No questions. No exceptions. Also apparently it's acceptable to talk loudly in a library if you are at the computer terminals. This is news to me. I thought there was still the Quiet Rule in effect at libraries, except for the kids' section where the occupants are literally incapable of staying quiet- especially around others.

So the computer is still at the shop, but we hope to be back up tonight or tomorrow, but I won't place any bets. It is Friday afterall and we're still in a blackout.

Thanks again for your patience.

Technical Difficulties

2009-04-21T13:25:00.002-04:00

Well, our Macintosh just died on Sunday. The power supply is kaput. So our local Apple store has ordered the part and should have the working CPU back to us at some point between Wednesday and Friday hopefully.

Unfortunately this means that we're a bit out of commission on orders and general correspondence; although we are doing our best to address thing on a delay. Basically we ask that you be patient with us until we are back on track.

and we have a winner.....

2009-04-15T07:32:00.004-04:00

the winner of the 2009 Plan B Press chapbook contest is -

You Must Not Know Too Much by Chris Bullard (Collingswood, NJ)

congrats to Chris and all the wonderful submissions we received this year!

updating the contest

2009-04-02T14:05:00.002-04:00

2009 seems to have been a stellar year for the submissions to our contest. The readers are beside themselves dealing with so many fantastic manuscripts. Congrats to all who have participated, you will all be notified once the judge makes her decision. I daresay that her job this year will be wonderfully difficult

(better her than I)

Paying for Information, Literature and Art

2009-03-30T10:19:00.006-04:00

So I heard that Philly.com will start charging a fee soon to view content. As someone who likes to have access to online news, my first reaction, obviously, is to say, "No." However, my rational side quickly steps in, thankfully I have one, and thinks it over a bit.

As a current, yet reluctant, resident of northern Virginia, my local newspaper is the Washington Post. I have never read a Virginia newspaper. There ARE local papers, super local, but nothing close to WaPo. WaPo recently raised its prices. I was a bit stunned to see the daily paper price double. Usually I read the online version. It's the most up to date, I can see older stories that I may have missed from previous days, and there are more interactive features, like chats and polls that would be missed in the paper format. But the paper format still has an allure. I tend to read more of the paper, taking in stories that I might otherwise skip. I can also carry it with me and read it while commuting.

When I was living in Philadelphia, we subscribed to the Inky. That is, until our newspaper deliverer broke one of our front door windows with a particularly fierce throw. Sunday newspapers are heavy, but not THAT heavy. We had a brief subscription to the daily paper, but we could never seem to read it every day. The papers would stack up and by the end of the week we would be recycling whole sections that we had never even gotten to, or conversely we would try to soak up stories that were irrelevant, like theater reviews for shows that had closed or community meetings that were scheduled for yesterday.

I also never really understood the point of having a Daily News and a Philadelphia Inquirer. I realize that the Daily News is more blue collar and the Inky more blue blood. But couldn't the two be combined? OR another thought. WaPo has a free daily version available at train stations and some bus stops called "Express" and it runs pieces that reference stories that are in its mother paper. Kind of an 'if you like THAT, than try THIS!" kind of thing. Philadelphia already has the Metro newspaper, but competition couldn't hurt.

Philly.com's website is a lot better than it was and I think that it provides a useful resource. However, it's odd that there is a main page, then links to the two completely, utterly, different websites of the sister papers: Inky and Daily News. And the kicker for me? The cover story for Philly.com is not the same as either of the cover stories for the papers. (sigh)

But the content of these news sources, no matter how fragmented, is still valuable. Philadelphia papers have talented writers, and there is a lot going on culturally, artistically and politically in Philadelphia. There should be a wealth of material. We should be willing to pay for that. But it is about priorities and mindset. Some folks are willing to put down $12 for a sandwich at lunch, but are reluctant to buy an independently made product, like a piece of art, a book, or a performance. These experiences, tangible or not, will last your whole life,.. unlike that sandwich. Paying for your local information, although not as tangible and not as impressionable as more artistic pieces, is also something that shapes you and provides something meaningful. It is a resource. You really do appreciate something more if you pay for it yourself, like a car when you're a teenager or the first clothes you buy for yourself. But can Philly.com get enough people who are willing to pay for it? I just don't know.

Like a subscription to any other website, such as e-mail, Flickr, etc. it's a matter of priorities. In economically difficult times, it may be hard to warrant a subscription to an online newspaper, a book purchase, or a ticket to a performance, but it can be food for the soul. And we all make choices every day about where our money is going.

Spring 2009 In Progress

2009-03-29T08:34:00.003-04:00

We are laying out our three books for 2009. Two proofs are already completed. Printer quotes need to be gotten. Covers need to be thought out. The anthologies that will be available to the public probably won't go up until this summer. I plan to release them as a unified bunch. We plan to be moving this summer as well, so there will be a bit of upheaval again, but we will spread the word as much as we can.

One of our earlier authors, Jim Mancinelli is starting a reading series in the Fishtown neighborhood of Phladelphia beginning on the first Friday of April. Our website has details. Two of the first night's guest poets are also former Plan B Pressers: Michele Belluomini and Ryan Eckes.

our sisyphus moment

2009-03-24T12:00:00.003-04:00

I reach for an empty mug of coffee, awake since the kids stirred at 5 AM. Hours of whoosh pass, Katy off to work and the kids now napping. I reach for an empty mug of coffee. And stare at our running man. The running man. He is in constant motion, He's a kindred of the White Rabbit in the Alice in Wonderland stories. He a blur of activity. An outlined image - a swirl of light.

And every day he runs up the hill (to paraphrase Kate Bush), trying to scale the peaks. Trying to launch himself into space. Forever young and jubilant. Forever rushing - likely in too many directions at once. Forever, like Sisyphus, trying to do the heroic and impossible simultaneously.

It's hard to be the running man, running with a briefcase full of dreams, in front of or against his shadow. And yet, our logo does define us quite accurately. Constantly in motion, in full sprint. Gripping our briefcase tightly. Mad as a hatter. And grinning ear to ear, just thankful to being ALIVE and able to pursue our goals, however often they may change.

But they don't really change; our lives have. Katy and mine. We have added "parent" titles to Co-founder and Editor, and Creative Director. It's a different thing, certainly. My attention, which is well known for it's shortness, has gotten shorter. My energy levels are through the roof. I am ready to roar (we saw lions at the Zoo over the weekend, they were noisy)

It's springtime and we are ready to ZOOM!!!

Meeting Time!

2009-03-02T11:00:00.002-05:00

We had our first official meeting in months yesterday. It was actually warm weather the last time it happened. We've been managing fairly well in spite of this, but... signals were getting crossed, assumptions were being made, and we didn't have time to really regroup.

So we discussed our spring lineup, plotted what paperwork we need to get in, who needs to be contacted, and what quotes we need to send to our printer. The last of the submissions are trickling in, as I mentioned in the last post, but those should be on their way to judgedom soon. We all have checklists of what needs to get done. Now we just need to actually do it.

Sometimes all it takes is a good meeting to actually discuss the current needs, issues and successes to figure out what you need to do. We're notfans of beurocracy so we don't use the official meeting format, whetever it's called., Roberts' Rules of Order or something?... I could Google it, but I don't feel like it. And as you can see, we don't meet often and talk about "synergy," "thinking outside the box," "no I in Team" or any other of those meettings-from-hell catchwords and phrases.

It was good and I hope it reflects in how our spring season runs. We'll see....