• Guest please check The Index before starting a thread.

Black Mountain Press

EddyJ

One day at a time, eh?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 3, 2011
Messages
200
Reaction score
31
Location
Georgetown, Ontario
In my search for publishers to submit (a literary novella), I came across this small pub house which seems encouraging: they are actively looking for new writers. I wondered if anyone here has heard of them or have any comments. The link to their site is:

http://theblackmountainpress.com/index.html


Thanks,

Eddy J
 

PVish

Cat hair collector
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 24, 2005
Messages
1,641
Reaction score
263
Location
slightly off center
Website
peevishpen.blogspot.com
First red flag: The homepage seems geared to writers rather than readers.

From the catalogue page and mission statement (bolding mine)
Established in 1994, the Black Mountain Press is dedicated to promoting work of emerging authors of literary poetry, novels and short stories.

Second red flag: If the press has been around since 1994, shouldn't it have more than four books and two videos in its catalogue? And shouldn't they be "literary poetry, novels and short stories," rather than three non-fiction books (by the same author) about white water rescue, and another book about how to win at the track.

As cinema, art and story telling has plummeted in literary quality to appeal to the lowest common denominator in recent years, the Black Mountain Press strives to find and publish works that aspire to a higher ideal, many times written by unknown, first time authors, without agents representing them. All too often their works are ignored by the corporate publishers who are more interested in serving up their chain store consumables for a public lost in our mass produced fast-food induced art world.

Third red flag: They don't seem to want agents involved?

ETA Another red flag: Clicking on the "order here" button for first four books takes you to another small press; clicking on the last book takes you to a page on eBay.
 
Last edited:

EddyJ

One day at a time, eh?
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 3, 2011
Messages
200
Reaction score
31
Location
Georgetown, Ontario
Good information. Thanks for sharing. I'll loop back and take a closer look.
 

Guili

Registered
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
I've had great experiences with the Black Mountain Press. Maybe they are just starting to do literary works. They state:
For the next three years from 2013 through the end of 2016 our focus will be in collections of poetry, memoir, novels and collections of short stories
But it appears like there are more at:
http://isbndb.com/d/publisher/black_mountain_press.html
I don't mind a press that speaks to writers and will accept works directly from writers. I have found they do a good job of speaking to readers on other sites and blogs. And they use red14films to help market as well.
 

LindaJeanne

On a small world west of wonder
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Messages
746
Reaction score
120
I don't mind a press that speaks to writers and will accept works directly from writers. I have found they do a good job of speaking to readers on other sites and blogs.

There's a difference between "Accepting unagented submissions" and "actively discouraging the use of an agent".

glad you've been happy with them. :) If you don't mind my asking, what have your sales been like?
 

Guili

Registered
Joined
Feb 21, 2013
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
There's a difference between "Accepting unagented submissions" and "actively discouraging the use of an agent".

That's funny! BMP simply states that no agent is needed, not don't use an agent. Are you an Agent?
 

LindaJeanne

On a small world west of wonder
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 6, 2011
Messages
746
Reaction score
120
Are you an Agent?
Lol, hardly.

At any given point in time you can find someone bemoaning the recent decline of quality of books, art, music, etc.
Every era produces a tonne of forgettable crap.

Over time, most of yesterday's forgettable crap is forgotten, but we are always deluged by what's being created in the present. The past always looks better because it's already passed through the sieve.
 

CaoPaux

Mostly Harmless
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
13,952
Reaction score
1,746
Location
Coastal Desert
Publishing indeed ceased after '16. (The "new for [current year]" stuff on their site ain't.)