SPDetails

Trans-Continental Blogging!

Lindsey Boldt, aka SPD's beloved Customer Service & Sales Associate, has left the org but has agreed to keep in touch. She's going to do this by blogging about her trip across the country, seeking out poets, writers, poetry publishers, and literati of all stripes. Read about it in her POST SPD Blog.

Perfect Day for an Open House!

SPD's most recent Open House took place on one of the most spectacular days we've seen around here in awhile. The readings were equally spectacular, and we thank everyone who came, snacked, talked and bought books! As a non-profit, it's not only our pleasure to open up the warehouse a few times a year, it is also very much a part of our mission, so do keep an eye out for the next one (to make sure you hear about it, try signing up for the email newsletter in the upper left corner of our home page and selecting the "Local Events" list).

Thanks to our generous supporters: Peet’s Coffee and Tea, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Cheeseboard Collective, East Bay Express, Festoon Salon, Jeff Maser, Jimmy Bean’s, Parkway Speakeasy, Landmark Theaters and San Francisco Performances.

SPD at the AWP!

SPD at the MLA!

Selling books at the Marathon Reading	The SPD/CLMP Panel	Laura talking books in the SPD booth

SPD at Litquake!

SPD at BEA!

This year, SPD's Sales & Marketing Manager Neil Alger travelled to New York and met up with SPD's Executive Director Jeffrey Lependorf in the heart of Manhattan to attend Book Expo America, the book industry's largest trade show. SPD's booth, strategically located next to fellow literary book distributor Consortium, received a constant flow of traffic from bookstore buyers, librarians, publishers, authors, and more. There was great interest in the 90+ SPD titles on display, which provided a welcome sight for lovers of independent literarature from around the world. Neil and Jeffrey handed out more catalogs than ever before, thanks in part to the lovely cover image courtesy of Brian Calvin. Be sure to check out his other work at www.Corvi-Mora.com. Thanks to all of the SPD publishers who came by the booth to chat and hide their bags brimming with free books, and to Jay and Aaron of CLMP for helping out. All in all, even with broken air conditioning and ninety-degree heat, a highly succesful show for SPD and its publishers.

Donna Brook Bob Hershon Jeffrey Lependorf		Harold Augenbraum Lisa Moore Jeffrey Lependorf Felicia Luna Lemus

SPD Bee-In a Terrrific Sucesss!

Above: MC Laura Sydell tests the spelling acumen of author Daniel Mason (photo: AJ Craft) SPD's 1st annual Spelling Bee-In, held on Monday May 14th, was a splendiferous hullabaloo, with the final thrilling display of "spelling chops" taking place between Berkeley cultural leader Penny Cooper and San Francisco author & diva Charlie Anders. Anders took home the crown on the word "weltschmerz," but it was widely agreed that the real victory went to everyone who came, especially considering the free "Bee's Knees" cocktails from Hangar One and the pleasure of supporting SPD's mission. Click >>HERE<< for photos from the event, or View the SF Chronicle's article and video >>HERE<<. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made the event such a hit, including: Crown Point Gallery (thanks Sasha!) at 20 Hawthorne Street. Craft Distillers & HANGAR ONE Vodka! Our publisher-sponsors Kensington, Knopf, and MacAdam/Cage. Marshall's Farm Natural Honey The Believer Chez Panisse Olivetto Cowgirl's Creamery Berkeley Repertory Theater Eccolo Ana Acs Massage SPD staff, interns and volunteers The entire SPD board PLUS special thanks to: Our superb emcee, Radio commentator Laura Sydell, Arts Correspondent for National Public Radio . Our fair-minded judge, San Francisco Chronicle Book Editor Oscar Villalon And thanks to ALL our superfabulous Spellers: Cookbook guru Mollie Katzen (The Enchanted Broccoli Forest ) "Sexpert" Susie Bright (Best American Erotica ) Author and Stanford professor Tobias Wolff (Old School ) Ex-stripper Stephen Elliott (Happy Baby ) Jack Spicer biographer and former New York state Spelling Bee champion Kevin Killian (Little Men ) Political commentator George Lakoff (Don't Think of an Elephant! ) SPD Spelling Bee Champion Charlie Anders (Choir Boy ) Author and teacher Melanie Abrams (Playing forthcoming from Grove/Atlantic) New York Times bestselling novelist Beth Lisick (Everybody Into the Pool ) Best-selling fiction writer Daniel Mason (The Piano Tuner ) Award-winning author Nona Caspers (Heavier than Air ) Poet and former SPD publisher Marc Lecard (Vinnie's Head ) Novelist, poet, teacher and literary magazine editor Maxine Chernoff (Among the Names ) Poet and former SPD Board Member Forest Hamer (Rift ) Cultural leader Penny Cooper Journalist, subculture skipper, and novelist Kemble Scott (SoMa) Craft Distillers, alcohol sponsor of the event, very graciously donated Hangar One vodka as 'Bee's Knees' and provided tastings of delicious artisan spirits, for which we cannot thank them enough.

Small Press Distribution celebrated National Poetry Month last month by displaying "Four Decades of Bestselling Poetry" in the Exhibit Cases at the Berkeley Public Central Library. The exhibit came down April 30th, but here are some photos of the display.

SPD at AWP

At this year's AWP Conference & Bookfair in Atlanta, SPD joined over 60 small presses, university writing programs, and literary organizations in celebration of the written (and spoken) word. SPD had a tremendous location for our bookfair tables, located right at the foot of the only entrance. As a result we saw a constant flow of the 5,200 conferees. They handled the 80 books we brought to display, picked up catalogs, and asking a really remarkable number of questions about SPD. 160 people signed up for the SPD raffle, which is a record--the winner was Rebecca Morgan Frank of Emerson College. This year also saw the first panel discussion hosted and sponsored by SPD. Titled "Writers and Politics" the panel featured provocation and eloquence from Joshua Clover, Nick Flynn, Lucina Kathman, and Heriberto Yepez. About 60 people showed up for the panel, many of whom participated in the long and spirited Q&A session that followed. Thanks to everyone who came to the booth, to the SPD publishers who we met with, to the friends and writers we saw, to our great & brave panelists, and to the AWP generally for another exciting and exhausting conference.

SPD honored with Fred and Pat Cody Award!

On February 10th the Berkeley Public Library Association presented SPD with the Fred and Pat Cody award at their annual Author’s Dinner. SPD’s Laura Moriarty and Brent Cunningham attended the dinner and accepted the award on SPD’s behalf. It was a wonderful opportunity to raise SPD’s profile among some of the Bay Area’s most dedicated supporters of reading and literature!

The Fred and Pat Cody award was created in 2004 to honor a “Berkeleyan with a distinguished career related to books, literacy and literature.”

The Berkeley Public Library Foundation Authors Dinner raises funds for the library and its neighborhood branches. The evening featured an authors' cocktail reception, seated dinner and presentation of the award. Bay Area authors and writers in attendance included Gray Brechin, Ben Fong-Torres, Khaled Hosseini, Peggy Knickerbocker, Richard Orsi, Elizabeth Rosner, brothers Daniel San Souci and Robert San Souci, columnist Robert Scheer, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic Joel Selvin, Laura Werlin, Sally Woodbridge, Marilyn Yalom and California Poet Laureate Al Young.

click for larger version pictured from left to right: Laura Moriarty with the Fred and Pat Cody Award, Laura Moriarty and former SPD board member Victoria Schoemaker with the Fred and Pat Cody Award, Laura Moriarty and Brent Cunningham with the Fred and Pat Cody Award

SPD at the MLA

At this year’s Modern Language Association (MLA) meeting and bookfair in Philadelphia, Marjorie Perloff was MLA president, and the theme was “Poetry & Sound.” As the only exhibitor with a majority of poetry books on display, SPD therefore attracted even more attention than usual. We gave away more catalogs, sold more books, and collected more contact information than in previous years, and we were specifically mentioned during at least two panels. We were especially excited to have made contact with many new professors already aware of the power of small press titles in the classroom. Look for us again next year in Chicago!

click for larger version

Special congratulations to the winner of our raffle, Fahamisha Brown of the Metropolitan College of New York (pictured below, although not in NY)

Pictures from our recent Open House!

kari edwards (1954-2006)

We are deeply saddened to note the passing of kari edwards, who died in San Francisco on December 6, 2006 of heart failure. SPD is honored to carry most of the books published by this much-admired writer. But more than this many on our staff also knew and appreciated kari personally--not only as a writer but as a friend, as a caring and supportive activist, and as an engaging provocateur in local poetry circles. kari was never afraid to express political views, especially unconventional views about identity formation and gender, while at the same time remaining always open-hearted and open-minded. kari’s presence will be missed very much.

Plans are in the works for memorials and gatherings to honor kari’s memory. We will update this space as we hear more specific information. If people know times and dates of events please email Brent Cunningham at brent@spdbooks.org with that information.

LOS ANGELES: There will be a memorial reading for kari at 7pm at High Energy Constructs in L.A. on Thursday, December 21st. More info here.

BALTIMORE: Memorial Reading for kari edwards, hosted by CA Conrad, on Saturday January 27th at 7pm. Location: Dionysus, 8 E. Preston St., Baltimore, MD. Phone: 410-244-1020.More info here.

DENVER: Edge Gallery in Denver is putting together a memorial show beginning March 2. Contact Mark Brasuell if you are interested in helping organize a memorial reading at the end of the month. 303-752-1676.

SAN FRANCISCO: On Friday, April 27, 2007 at 7:30 there will be a tribute to kari's considerable legacy at the San Francisco Campus of the California College of the Arts (1111 Eighth Street, SF CA 94107). The evening will include, poetry, music, performance and presentations of visual art.

SPD Joins MYSPACE

Small Press Distribution now has a myspace page! Please visit us to propose friendship, make comments, send messages, and take a look around our cyber digs.

CLMP and SPD Announce a Joining of Forces

New York, NY/Berkeley, CA: The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) and Small Press Distribution (SPD), the country's only two national non-profit organizations devoted to serving independent literary publishers, have entered into a formal strategic partnership to broaden their reach and better serve their constituents. Through a first step of sharing an Executive Director, these organizations will explore combining their resources and joint programming. The literary community can expect a healthier environment for independent literary publishing, and for readers and writers of literature from coast to coast.

According to Jeffrey Lependorf, now serving as Executive Director of CLMP and the newly-formed venture philanthropy Literary Ventures Fund, "for non-profit organizations with shared missions, it makes good sense to maximize limited resources to serve our constituents better. This effort has the potential to profoundly strengthen our community of independent literary publishers." Mary Shapiro, President of the SPD Board adds, "We look forward to working together to create more sustainable organizations that will thereby better our missions of serving independent publishing and supporting the literary arts. A successful strategic partnership will enable our organizations to make even larger contributions than they have each been able to make individually. We are all excited about the possibilities." Dave Martinson, who has served excellently as Interim Director of SPD, will continue to serve on the SPD Board of Directors.

CLMP and SPD both work to help independent literary publishers achieve their missions of connecting writers of serious literature to their potential readers. CLMP provides mission-driven, independent literary publishers with the tools to work as effective businesses, while SPD makes it possible for their books to enter the marketplace and reach their readers. Ira Silverberg, Board President of CLMP, says "both organizations advocate on behalf of this community and produce public events to raise the profile of independent literary publishing. For independent literary publishers, the combined strengths of these essential organizations will result in deeper and more effective services. For readers and writers, this new partnership will help ensure a vital and more vibrant literary landscape."

About CLMP and LVF
The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, founded in 1967, supports and promotes non-commercial literary publishing to ensure that readers and writers are well-served by a strong and vibrant literary culture. As the service and advocacy organization for independent literary publishers, CLMP's services and resources are designed to develop each member's publishing capacity through increased marketing and organizational skills, while promoting communication and shared learning across the field. CLMP programs and services are made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, New York Community Trust, The Greenwall Foundation, Wendling Foundation, Publishers Weekly, Harper Collins Publishers, Random House, William Morris Agency, Donadio & Olson, Market Partners International, Private Capital Solutions Group, Oxford University Press, Doubleday, and Friends of CLMP, a group of individuals dedicated to supporting independent literary publishing.

CLMP merged with the newly formed Literary Ventures Fund, Inc. in 2005. LVF builds on the premise that given a level marketing playing field, exceptional literary works can thrive in the marketplace. Using a venture philanthropy model, LVF invests in literature "one book at a time," providing both funds and expertise to ensure that each book reaches its market potential. Projects are selected based on their literary merits, their marketplace viability, and their likelihood to remain in print, and those books that do produce a profit over time will pay back a percentage of profits to the Fund to help support future projects. Initial projects in the LVf investment portfolio include Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury (Archipelago Press, February 2006), already hailed as a "masterwork" by The New York Times and in its second printing; Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife by Sam Savage (Coffee House Press, April 2006), already a Barnes and Noble Discovery selection; and First Hurt: Stories by Rachel Sherman (Open City Books, May 2006), already receiving phenomenal advance praise.

SPD at the BEA

SPD staffers Brent Cunningham and Neil Alger flew out to DC earlier this month for the book industry’s largest show of the year, Book Expo America. With over 2,000 exhibits spread out over an enormous show floor, excitement about books was thick in the air.

Independent booksellers from across the country congregated at SPD’s booth over the three days of the show, thumbing through the latest offerings that we had to display. SPD also hosted a book signing with poet, basketball star and anti-war activist Etan Thomas, whose book MORE THAN AN ATHLETE is available from Moore Black Press. About 40 people lined up to have their books signed by Thomas, who says that even at the height of the basketball season, he finds time to write every day.

In all, this most recent BEA illustrated the vibrancy and necessity of independent literature within the greater publishing world.

Click here to view more BEA photos.

The Berkeley Daily Planet gives a brief overview of SPD history and honors SPD as an invaluable community resource in the age of corporate publishing and chain bookstores. Read their article at www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/index.cfm?archiveDate=12-07-04.

"Best of the Net" Award for www.spdbooks.org

About.com Poetry, a guide to poets, poems, & all things poetical on the Net has chosen www.spdbooks.org as the "Best of the Net" site in the category of Poetry Publishers & Online Catalogs.