Crisis Chronicles Press to Go on Hiatus in June 2023

 

I already mentioned this briefly in my New Year's Eve blog entry about resolutions. But for anyone who missed it, here's the news again, with more cowbell.

For myriad reasons, by June of 2023 (our 15th anniversary), I am placing Crisis Chronicles Press on an indefinite hiatus.

Before that time, I will complete our outstanding commitments. And after that time, I will keep most of our still-in-print books available. But I must resist taking on any new publishing commitments (no matter how tempting) for the time being.

I've been mulling this decision for quite some time, and still have mixed feelings about making the announcement public because I don't want to distract from or dampen enthusiasm for the fine books that we've recently published and that we have forthcoming in the next several months. (You're gonna love them).

But every day I receive more submissions and queries and I can't keep up. Nor can I leave matters up in the air and undecided forever. So the time has come.

I've had the privilege of working with many fantastic writers over the past fifteen years. Some of them have become dear friends. And I've learned one heck of a lot along the way. I've evolved as a poet, editor, publisher, and even human as a result. And my appreciation and gratitude for indie publishers of all stripes has only continued to grow.

I wish I could have published every excellent manuscript that's come my way. But Crisis Chronicles Press has always been pretty much a one-man show with limited time, energy and resources. And as much as I've loved it, there are a lot of other things I would like to do.

Perhaps at some future date we will return. But in the meantime, it's not over yet. Check out our fabulous recent titles and stay tuned for more new ones coming soon.

With deepest gratitude,

John

P.S. Find us at http://ccpress.blogspot.com/.

12/16: Neuronautic Institute presents John Burroughs, Martina Salisbury and William Taylor Jr, plus open mic, on Zoom and Facebook Live

My final Zoom / Facebook Live reading of the year! On December 16th at 7 p.m. Eastern, I'll have the honor of reading with William Taylor Jr. and Martina Salisbury for this excellent series hosted by Matthew Hupert and NeuroNautic Institute / Neuronautic Press out of New York City. I'd love to see your faces and hear your words at the accompanying open mic.

Watch here. And send a private message to Matthew to sign up for the accompanying open mic.

 

Social Media Hiatus? Book Buying Hiatus?

Many thanks to everyone who has recently subscribed to this blog (as well as to those friends and cetera who've been here off and on for quite a while now).

I never did write my traditional year-end summary blog post for 2020. Maybe I'll end up sharing it piecemeal. One thing I did share was my list of 47 books that I finished reading last year. That sounded like a lot until I tried to count the number of new (or new-to-me) books I acquired in 2020. For years I have posted pictures on Facebook whenever I've procured printed books. Based on these pictures, I acquired 102 in 2020. But there are likely some books I missed photographing. And that doesn't count the number of e-books I downloaded during the course of the year, which I would estimate exceeds another 100. (For example, I know I downloaded 75 chapbooks just from Ghost City Press' 2020 Summer Series alone.)

I'm going on a temporary book buying hiatus in 2021, though I just received the four pictured here in the past few days and I know there are a handful more still on their way to me. I'm sharing the photo here now instead of on Facebook because, like the headline suggests, I'm also going on a social media hiatus this month. I meant for it to begin on January 1st, but so far I have had to check into my social accounts a handful of times since then just to tie up loose ends (like gathering January event information for my role as moderator of the online NE Ohio Literary Calendar). I plan to reach the point where I can avoid social media completely (at least for a while) in the next twenty-four hours or so. I'm not sure how long the hiatus will last (the rest of January? the rest of winter? the rest of 2021?). But I think that the longer I stay off, the easier it will be to continue to stay off. Maybe I will get back on regularly after the pandemic is under control and I can begin doing live events again. But mainly I want to break the cycle of being available (and feeling I need to check in) on social media all the time no matter what else I'm doing. I've been stretched too thin for a while now and I want and need to focus more on other things.

One of those things is reading more books than I acquire. Another is spending more time on my own writing. Then there are myriad household chores that need tackled. And I could go on and on. But I'll save some of that for a future post.

* * * * *

Books pictured:

Stonepicker and The Book of Mirrors by Frieda Hughes
Forty-five: Poems by Frieda Hughes
Woman's Work by Marie Chewe-Elliott
What Kittens Like by Marie Chewe-Elliott (illustrated by Jennifer Stolzer)

Lost Only $102.38

The pandemic has been very tough on indie authors and small press publishers. In my case, running Crisis Chronicles Press in addition to buying and selling my own books (both those I've written and the used ones I buy cheap and sell online), with almost all of my paid gigs and book fair/reading events for this year cancelled, I'm lucky it hasn't been worse. This week, I did the math. From 1/1 through 11/11 of 2020, the "business" (I use that word very loosely) has lost only $102.38. Thank goodness for faithful poetry lovers, buyers and donors. It can't happen without you.

If you wanna help us break even (always a goal), we still have books to buy.

View the whole Crisis Chronicles Press catalog here. Email me at jc@crisischronicles.com for bulk deals. You can find a Donate button in the right sidebar of this blog. You can also follow us on Facebook or rate/review our books at Goodreads. Every jot and tittle of support is greatly appreciated.

7/23 NeuroNautic Institute Presents Burroughs, Gibbons, Hildebrand & Ormerod

July 23rd 2020 at 7 p.m. Eastern, NeuroNautic Institute, hosted by Matthew Hupert, will present featured readings by three excellent New York City poets—Robert Gibbons, Karen Hildebrand and Jane Ormerod—plus me, followed by an open mic. The reading will be broadcast live on Facebook at the NeuroNautic Institute / Neuronautic Press page. If you would like to participate in the open mic, please contact Matthew soon.

This will be my first featured poetry reading since March 8th in Toledo, and my only one this summer, so I very much hope you'll tune in.

Over 1000 Likes for Crisis Chronicles Press on Facebook

Thank you so much!

Join the madding crowd at https://www.facebook.com/crisischroniclespress.