A few of you know how unbelievably happy I am to say this. The rest of you will likely get tired of me saying this: my story chapbook is now officially available for preorder! Books will ship around November 16th.
All preorders will receive a copy of the book, along with the following:
That’s all the bulleted aspects above and 63 pages of some quite fantastic writing. How much? you ask. $7. Seriously, OW Press and I don’t make any profit on this (unless hundreds of copies find their way into the world). You are buying love. Money goes back into making more books.
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PREORDER HERE, at the OW Press Charactered Pieces page.
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For more general information on Charactered Pieces, take a look at my info page, here. |
Preorder now. I only get to touch the books once, so I can’t personally inscribe after the initial round of inscriptions. Unless we meet awkwardly in public somewhere. Hint: I’m the guy in the trench-coat…
Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS Feed. I don’t only whore myself, as you’ve seen here. Check my archives; I post interesting stuff too.
*Drew Estates (the makers of ACID cigars) don’t endorse me in any way. They goddamn can if they want to, though. This is an official offer: I will become (continue to be?) a Drew Estates whore if I get some free cigars.
Mel Bosworth, skullcap connoisseur and Pushcart nominee, has a burgeoning series of youtube videos in which he reads stories by other writers. The short videos (usually less than a minute or so) work well to break down a dull day. And if you are too busy to watch, you can at least listen – Mel’s got a great reading voice.
His latest, him reading the opening section of CHARACTERED PIECES. I’m thrilled and honored.
One of my first intros to Mel’s work was via Folded Word’s single story “mini-mags.” The story: Leave Me as I Lessen. The reaction: floored. I meant to post about this great story before, but my goddamn life got in the way. So, I say, read it now, here. It is only downloadable for free until December 15.
Coming soon(ish): CHARACTERED PIECES by Caleb J Ross. Neat!
I’ve done a lot of work for Outsider Writers Collective over the past year, so I can vouch for all of the energy that goes into their chapbooks. Well, into their first chapbook, anyway (CHARACTERED PIECES is only the second OW Press book). I did some editing and the cover design for the first book, ANTISOCIAL by David Blaine. Now, it’s my name on the cover.
A chapbook, for all who may not know, is the e.p album of the writing world, acting as a taste medium of things to come. CHARACTERED PIECES will consist of eight stories, four of which have been previously published (in print journals, so not many people have read them).
More than most things in my life, I am damn proud of this collection.
The print-run will be small (likely, beginning with 100 copies). I beg you to buy a copy, not only to satiate my ego, but to help ensure OW Press is able to produce more chapbooks. OW Press operates on a zero profit model for the time being, putting all book sales monies back into the press. I state this to assure you that nobody at OW Press lights twenty-dollar Davidoffs with your money.
More to come, including pre-order information, the final cover design, and probably a few giveaways. If you haven’t yet subscribed via RSS or signed up for my newsletter, now is a great time to do so. I’m not exactly sure what is to come, but I know it will be great.
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Vain Magazine could claim more ancestral lit zine origins than most. They have the staple bound 
cover of an indie mashup, the forward thinking mindset of an east coast glossy, the strong literary content of small press chap network, and the design sensibilities of art school college grad with trust fund comfort to keep his ideals high and his being higher.
Writer, editor, designer, and 1000 more -ers, Richard Thomas, turned me on to Vain Magazine last year when his story, “Underground Wonderbound” graced its pages. I was impressed, not only with his story, but with the overall aesthetic appeal of the magazine. Too often, hand-stapled, small print magazines get the scoff. This one deserves some praise.
Now, after all that build up, I’m here to let the ego shine. My story, “Charactered Pieces,” appears in the new issue, #7, right now. I wrote the original version of this story in college, and it has been sweating since. The Vain Magazine version is a much better, much more mature version, but still has all the underdeveloped Siamese twin left leg goodness of the original.
