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Reverse-Gentrification of the Literary World

Akashic Books

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News & Features » December 2013 » Kaylie Jones Books Featured in Shelf Awareness!

Kaylie Jones Books Featured in Shelf Awareness!

PrintAlex Mutter of Shelf Awareness featured Kaylie Jones and Kaylie Jones Books, the author collective and imprint of Akashic that will launch in January 2014 with Laurie Loewenstein’s debut, Unmentionables! From the article:

Last October, after Jones woke up one morning feeling particularly frustrated by the plight of many of her students and colleagues, who typically write artistic, literary novels not deemed commercially viable, she called one of her MFA students and her bosses, asking if they’d help her if she started an imprint. The answers were emphatic yeses. Then Jones called Johnny Temple, editor-in-chief and founder of Akashic Books, and asked if she could start an imprint. Temple called her back two hours later, saying yes.

“They backed me 100%. It was life changing,” recalled Jones, who was given total freedom to run the imprint however she chose. From the outset, Jones’s plan was to make a collective; all of the imprint’s authors would be involved in a “grassroots way” at all levels of publication, including acquisition and editing. The idea, Jones explained, was that no decision would be made solely by a single person. At present, the collective consists of seven writers, and any writer who publishes with Kaylie Jones Books in the future will become part of the collective. Beyond the collective, Jones has one official employee, several graduate interns and many generous volunteers.

Read the rest of the feature over at Shelf Awareness, and keep up with the latest news from Kaylie Jones Books by visiting the Kaylie Jones Books website or by following them on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

Laurie Loewenstein’s Unmentionables is now available for purchase through our website.

New York area friends! Please join us for the Unmentionables & Kayle Jones Books launch event at Bluestockings Bookstore (172 Allen Street, New York, NY) on Wednesday, January 22nd, at 7:00 pm!

Posted: Dec 10, 2013

Category: News | Tags: , , , , , , ,