Brooklyn Alternative Small Press Fair

Emily Brown
Email: emilyholiday@gmail.com
Phone: 646-271-3474

Brooklyn Alternative Small Press Fair

GENERAL INFORMATION

Would you like to join the Small Press mailing list? You?’ll receive occasional updates and information about the Small Press Fairs, as well as other news of interest the small press / independent publishing community. I maintain the list, and here?’s how to join. Go to http://smallpress.notifylist.com Look at the lighter blue box and click the underlined smallpress You'll jump to a new screen where there's a white box where you can fill in your email address. Send it, and you'll get an email in your inbox almost immediately that asks for confirmation. Confirm, and you?’re on. You?’ll also get instructions for unsubscribing if you change your mind later.

The Brooklyn Alternative Small Press Fair was begun in 2002, and has been expanding steadily since then. It is a six hour event where local small publishers exhibit their publications and information about their organizations, and authors perform live readings throughout the course of the event. The goals of the Brooklyn Alternative Small Press Fair are to provide a marketplace for local small presses, poets and writers who have created distinctive publications, recordings and electronic presentations; to increase public awareness of the high quality and diversity of contemporary small press publishing and self-publishing, and to provide an opportunity for networking with the public as well as within the local literary community. Live performances throughout the day are an integral part of the event because this draws a different level of attention from the public attending the event - a live performance can be far more engaging than a static display of publications. The public is invited to sample a diverse selection of small press publications from local small presses, chapbooks made by writers, and poets, as well as examples of electronic publishing, spoken word CD recordings, literary crafts, and much more.

CHECK OUT OUR HOTLINKS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PAGE! Most of these are people & organizations who have previously participated in Fairs, or are participating this year. I haven't had a chance to test each link, so if you encounter trouble connecting to any of them, please let me know and I'll either update the link info or delete it if it's totally hopeless.

SEEKING PARTICIPANTS!

The Fifth Annual Brooklyn Alternative Small Press Fair is scheduled for Saturday, June 17, 2005 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will take place at Camp Friendship, located at 339 Eighth Street near Sixth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I am currently recruiting participants and sponsors for the event. The participant fee is $10. Potential participants need not be based in Brooklyn; it is open to any small press or author able to attend. The deadline for participant applications and fees is April 30, 2005.

RELEVANCE OF EVENT

Small publishers of all varieties share several common features, including a dedication to promoting contemporary literature of high or unusual quality, at some financial risk to themselves because of the large financial investment they make (often accompanied by a considerable investment of ?“sweat equity?”) with frequently low financial return on their investment. Often the real ?“return?” on their investment is the involvement in the promotion of a sector of the arts and humanities they have a passionate interest in and the exposure to new and atypical voices. Many emerging writers find that this market is the one most likely to consider publishing and promoting their work; the list of currently recognized, established authors who were once published by the small publishers includes most of the authors whose books may now be found in the major bookstores, published by the large publishing houses. While the small presses do not merely exist in order to serve as a transitional stepping stone for authors, this is one of their important roles in the hierarchy of the publishing world. The Annual Brooklyn Alternative Small Press Fair is a timely and very relevant project that I intend to continue coordinating and promoting because it helps boost business for and local awareness of local entrepreneurs - the small and alternative presses based in Brooklyn; because it helps forge connections between local authors and their potential publishers and may help the authors?’ publishing careers; because it helps forge connections between the local small presses themselves and may encourage collaboration between them on a number of levels and may help them share expertise and resources, potentially aiding their success. One measure of the potential success of this year?’s fair are the first four fairs that I organized between 2002 and 2005; many of the people who participated in the original fair also signed up again for subsequent Fairs, and many additional presses participated in the subsequent Fairs as well because word had spread and I had found additional ways to promote the event. Previous Fairs have had more than 200 visitors each, including people who represented other small presses or related endeavors who had heard about the event at the last minute and who would have signed up to participate if they?’d known earlier. I?’ve established an extensive mailing list based on previous participants and those who have expressed interest in the event over the years. Participant interest in the event had expanded so in previous years that I found I had to turn some potential participants away because I had reached maximum capacity for the venue used for the second and third fairs; the event has essentially outgrown the spaces I?’d originally used. I?’ve found a new venue (Camp Friendship in Park Slope) that is not only larger (1600 square feet), but less expensive to rent, and tables and chairs are part of the package at the new venue.