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When an old friend from high school let me read a copy of her latest manuscript, Blame it on Barbara, I asked her to put me down for 10 copies when it got published. Not “if” it got published, but “when” it got published because it was that good. I had no doubt in my mind she would be fielding offers from multiple publishing companies and deciding which one to choose - I was just hoping she didn‘t forget about me while she was out on her book tour. When she told me months later that she had received zero offers, I was shocked and I had only one thought - what is wrong with the publishing industry?
After seeing some of the rejection letters, I had my answer. They ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime, and I wondered what could possibly be expected from an industry unable to craft even a simple form letter. Even the letters that were competently written were missing the point, apparently. They were looking for trends, it seemed, instead of good writing and compelling stories. It seemed very simple to me - people want to read stories that resonate with their lives, not stories that fall into a category that the committees of stuffed suits sitting in some office believed they should want to read.
After discovering that what we had hoped for in a publishing company was just not out there, we decided to take the path less traveled, dive in and give it a go ourselves. We've decided to go back to basics and start our business under the premise that things really just don't have to be that complicated. Sometimes what you need isn't a bunch of fancy ideas or committees to come up with catchy slogans, but just a great idea and some old-fashioned hard work to get it out there. We firmly believe that people want to read well-written stories with characters they can root for, that they can relate to on a very basic human level, and I think we’ve delivered that.
Of course, it isn’t all quite that simple. There are also the printers and design hurdles and tax laws and endless searches for typos… exhausting on good days and seemingly insurmountable on others. But if we can bring you that which we strive to find for ourselves, that story whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts, that story whose words will resonate with you even after the reading is finished...well, then it has all been worthwhile.
I hope that Blame it on Barbara is just the seed and that Pizza Night Press will continue to grow as we find other writers that have slipped through the fingers of the big-box publishers. And if Pizza Night Press should be so blessed by our readers, we vow in return to always remain rooted in the simple principles upon which we were founded: that good writers write good stories and that good readers read good stories. If we’re right about that, it’ll be impossible for us not to do the impossible.
So, please, if you like our books and if you like our authors, tell your friends.
Rachael Gander
Member, Pizza Night Press
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