Summertime Is Officially Here and Unsolicited Press Has a Load to Tell You

Happy summer everybody! Here in the Pacific Northwest, summer doesn’t officially kick off until the 4th of July fireworks have been set off (which actually start being set off on June 30th through about July 7th at all hours of the freakin’ day). The sun is out. Portlanders are gettin’ burnt to a crisp. And our team is busy fostering summer interns (we’re talking about you Ava), doing bookstore outreach, and producing books by some of the smartest minds in the country. Our press has had a lot of ups and downs in the past seven months and without the loyalty of our authors and readers, we may not have survived. But we’re here and we are forecasting a powerful second half of the year. There are a few partnerships in the works (Instagram influencer and review outlet!) and countless readings being set up. We are continuing to get every one of our titles turned into an audiobook, and predict that every backlist title will be in audio by the end of 2024 (and all front lists will be up-to-date). Every year gets better for the press and we will continue to strive for exceptionalism every damn day.

Before we dive into the book news of the month, we’d like to thank all of our subscribers for reading the newsletter. Since we launched it in late June, we’ve had an outpouring of support for this quirky little thing. Thank you so much. If you haven’t yet, please don’t forget to use your welcome discount to get two books for $30 (shipping included).

With the appreciation and housekeeping out of the way, let’s get to it.

—Summer, publisher/managing editor

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New Releases for July

Unsolicited Press is releasing three books in July: The Bridge on Beer River by Terry Tierney, Uncomfortable Ecologies by Elizabeth Joy Levinson, and The Present is Past by Josh Rank. These authors have some amazing events set up and if you keep reading on, we’ll give you an inside look at each book (and a freebie)!

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Publishing News

• Unsolicited Press will be attending the 2023 Portland Book Festival in November.

• The press is currently transitioning to a B-Corp with a mission focused on increasing literacy, reducing book waste, and publishing more books by underrepresented groups.

• Promotions to Celebrate the Launch of Terry Tierney's Book THE BRIDGE ON BEER RIVER

• We recently were able to list our books with Gardners, a wholesale book supplier.

• Later this year, we will be offering one-on-one consultations/conversations with the publisher for writers who need help navigating the book world.

• Ingram reported that Amy Baskin’s poetry collection NIGHT HAG has been our bestseller for the year 2023.

• We are raising money to help us get to the next several festivals and conferences. It’s very costly to attend these events and we always spend more than we make during the events. Donations can be given here.

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Summer Book Sales

July is one of the hottest months of the year, and what better way to celebrate the sweltering heat than a hot hot book sale. Actually, we’ve got quite a few sales going on across the bookverse. Let’s break it down.

—JULY FLASH SALE—

On our site only until July 20th, you’ll find the following books at a discount.

THE MORE YOU HATE ME by Andy Smart

THE MORE YOU HATE ME is a memoir-in-essays collection that examines the author’s experience with his father’s suicide and the layered influence of the film Full Metal Jacket on both men.

Fun Fact: Andy will be reading at Subterranean Books in St. Louis on August 23rd.

THE YEAR OF THE MONSTER by Tara Stillions Whitehead

A 2023 Aspen Words Literary Prize Nominee, The Year of the Monster explores American culture as commodity and comorbidity. From black holes and animal extinctions to death row trauma porn and the redacted scripts of Hollywood abuses: these sixteen stories subvert traditional notions of justice, challenge vulnerable characters to survive in transgressive spaces.

VENTRIC[L]E by Jerrod E. Bohn

What is the love poem’s function? Does it eternally preserve the beloved as they actually are, or does it warp and suffocate them, locking them inside stanzas and lines from which they will never escape? In Ventric(L)e, Jerrod E. Bohn dissects the heart’s labyrinthine structure. The organ is an intricate house, full of delight, surprise, and possibility; however, its chambers are also walled, barred.

NIGHT HAG by Amy Baskin

NIGHT HAG speaks of femininity through the eternal voice of Lilith, the first woman. NIGHT HAG is an exploration of yin strength and autonomy of body, heart, and mind. NIGHT HAG invites readers to consider distinctions between selfishness and self-care.

JOY by Francis Daulerio

Beginning with one pregnancy and ending with another, Joy examines the ways in which we keep ourselves alive, centering around the birth of Daulerio’s first child while coping with the loss of friend and collaborator, Scott Hutchison. With a foreword by acclaimed author Maggie Smith (Good Bones, Keep Moving), and cover art by UK artist Helen Ahpornsiri, this life-affirming collection highlights what Bon Iver’s Sean Carey describes as “Daulerio’s relentless hope and love,” encouraging readers to push through hardships to find their own sense of meaning.

—SMASHWORDS EBOOK SALE—

All of our ebooks listed on Smashwords will be 25% off for the entire month of July.

—BOOKSHOP.ORG SALES—

We have loads of books listed in our Bookshop.org shop on sale ranging anywhere from 15-30% off. Some of those include:

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Upcoming Events

Terry Tierney with Heather Bourbeau - The Bridge on Beer River

Uncomfortable Ecologies Launch Featuring Unsolicited Press Authors

Josh Rank - The Present is Past

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