As for Cypher publishing John Murillo’s Up Jump the Boogie, I am hearing many positive things about his work and look forward to the book (his first, no?).
Report this comment

i’m happy to see your post — always happy to see a spotlight on small and independent presses! i have now published two chapbooks and a full-length collection with small presses and have had great experiences in each case. i also buy from small presses frequently.

this makes me think of a conversation i had recently with a poet-friend. we were talking about fred moten’s recent (and fabulous!) book, *hughson’s tavern,* which was published by leroy, a small press run by renee gladman. my friend made the point that you wouldn’t just stumble onto moten’s book, i think because it’s not going to be on bookstore shelves and because leroy doesn’t have a strong presence on the web. but my thought was: well, what percentage of new poetry books are going to be found on bookstore shelves these days? poetry sells by word of mouth — you hear (read) about it and go and look for it on the web. if the publisher isn’t online, there’s always spd’s website or sites for other indie bookstores (and the book distributor sites are the ones most book buyers would check first, i imagine).

anyway, that’s one reason why i appreciate what you’re doing with your blogs here: creating some “word of mouth” (word of blog?) for some books that you believe other readers should know about. as a recipient of your generosity, i thank you — and i will continue to look for opportunities to do the same for others’ books (see above, re: *hughson’s tavern*!).

peace.
Report this comment

Also, Barbara: I wasn’t aware of Cypher Books until you mentioned them over on your blog a few months ago. Up Jump the Boogie, I think, falls in that category of “long-anticipated” book. John Murillo inaugurated PALABRA PURA here in Chicago back in January. I love his work.
Report this comment