StepSister Press

the blog's new home

2009-01-10T20:37:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone,

Please find the blog at its new home, stepsisterpress.com/blog.

Thank you!
Annie

The blog is migrating...

2008-08-28T21:54:00.000-07:00

over to http://StepSisterPress.com/blog

Lots of new events and information for and about our authors and artists to be found.

Thank you!

StepSister Press is on twitter

2008-08-23T09:06:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press isn't just on twitter, it's addicted. Join the following to watch the unfolding dilemmas of combined small business and studio practice. This morning's dilemma: whether to stay home and work on bookkeeping or go out and buy motors to install in fly sculptures. Watch for more updates and a possible blog migration pattern soon. You can find us on twitter here: http://twitter.com/annieheckman

StepSister Press is a bad panda

2008-07-24T06:23:00.000-07:00

And by panda, I mean blogger.
But there's tons of work getting done!
Take, for example, the intricate process of producing artXposium 2.0. This beautiful volume is in the works in time for its launch to coincide with the artXposium 2008 in West Chicago, co-curated by the book's editors, Anni Holm and Irene Pérez.

Or there's our new press kits for each book online.
Or the fact that our launch party for Airline to Heaven, Part I is going to have book-themed food...
Or there's also the constant stream of new events that are coming up for Submerged: Tales from the Basin.

More soon from the cave.

StepSister Press is reading about Lauren Gonzalez in the Wall Street Journal

2008-06-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press was pleased to run across some thoughts from Lauren Gonzalez (editor of our Submerged: Tales from the Basin anthology) in this past week's Wall Street Journal. Read the article here to find out more about Lauren's work on Hail to the Chimp, a new political party game for Xbox and PlayStation that just became available through Wideload Games. In case you'd like more exposure to our fabulous editor's work regarding presidential politics, there's still time to offer your thoughts to President Bush about his job performance at HeckuvaJobGeorge.com.

StepSister Press loves our beautiful new books

2008-06-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press is already getting overwhelmed with pre-release orders for our beautiful new books. Thank you to our artists, authors, editors, and contributors for making it possible. And to our customers: you just filled in some space on the income section of the company's Profit/Loss report, sent tons of encouragement to our wonderful artists and writers, and helped contribute to our capacity to make more beautiful books (or ugly? soon we'll make some ugly ones). Check back soon for more updates on 1) promotional materials for the books so you can help rocket them to stardom, and 2) a new publication in the works, a project involving art, West Chicago, and a few ingenious organizers.

StepSister Press gave the shopping site a minor makeoever

2008-06-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press changed some colors on the shopping site, and made more (awesome!) items available for pre-release sale. More soon on with a post on the books and some notes for those of you on the mailing list, but if you want a sneak preview this weekend, here you go: http://www.shop.StepSisterPress.com.

StepSister Press likes hilarious publishing-related youtube videos

2008-06-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Lauren Gonzalez, editor of Submerged: Tales from the Basin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxschLOAr-s

StepSister Press is looking forward to July

2008-06-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

for the release of our first book. Available for pre-release order now.

StepSister Press urges you to go shopping...

2008-05-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

...on HeresToGoodWomen.com, a site celebrating women, featuring beautiful stories about women submitted by their loved ones, with an online shop that offers a number of great items for gifts. It's true, I usually post to complain about things or brag about some obvious publishing skill I just picked up last week, but this time I will be doing some straightforward poromotion because the occasion warrants it. I had the pleasure of meeting Nancy Magsig, co-founder of the site with Nancy Murrah, over email and phone, via an introduction by Submerged's fantastic editor Lauren Gonzalez. Nancy was already being remarkably supportive of our work with Submerged as we were just starting to get to know each other. Sadly, HeresToGoodWomen.com will be closing its virtual doors on Wednesday, May 21. We'd like to give them a hearty thank you and boost, and they are making it easy to do so with a huge going out of business sale. All items are 45% off - you'll see the promo code displayed on the home page. I'm personally going to do some shopping there this weekend, and these are deals on some really good products.

For a brief stroll down memory lane, some of you may know that the owner of StepSister Press used to be the co-owner of the Blue Spider Art Studio back in the day. When it was time to move on from the studio, it was a really difficult time, but ultimately brought lots of wonderful things in its wake. So we're wishing lots of happy circumstances, new pages, new leaves, silver linings, and even-better-thans to Nancy and Nancy. And we're going shopping.

StepSister Press is cranking out Airline to Heaven, Part I this summer for real

2008-05-10T22:43:00.001-07:00

StepSister Press has spent a few solitary days with cats putting the finishing touches on Airline to Heaven, Part I. You can pre-order this awesome book now, and we will officially, enthusiastically begin shipping them out starting July 30, 2008. This book started as my (Annie Heckman's) messy art diary in 2006 and expanded to become the Airline to Heaven, Part I animation installation and works on paper (recently shown at the Moreau Art Galleries with a big shout out to artist-curator Krista Hoefle). This messy art diary became somewhat honed, with lots of help, into a portion of my MFA thesis at NYU. I had planned to produce it as an artist's book, and it took me two years to learn how. In the meantime I had decided to found the press, so this was about to become the initial freebie-all-royalties-re-deposited-into-the-company-book. But then I decided it needed more development as a total work, so Matthew Dal Santo and Terri L. Russ came on board, writing parallel works of fiction to complete the project. The decision to do parallel primary texts was an interesting process; the desire to make a complete volume of related fiction overcame the wish to have images bracketed by this-art-is-so-fabulous essays, and in the end influenced the development of the press and its attitude towards collaboration. Publishers' Graphics, based in Carol Stream, Illinois, has been tremendously helpful as the printing nears; they were equally helpful when I did a very short run of books for my 2D Design class, so I recommend them without reservation. This book is going to be gorgeous, hardcover, with 13 full-color images, and lots of angst sprinkled throughout the pages, with funny bits at the end. StepSister Press says to buy lots of this book right away. A perfect birthday present for someone who loves art and likes to be sad on birthdays.

StepSister Press introduces Submerged: Tales from the Basin

2008-05-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press is pleased to introduce Submerged: Tales from the Basin, edited by Lauren Gonzalez, with images and art direction by Lorien Jordan. This new anthology of literature and art was created by more than forty women to benefit those who survived Hurricane Katrina. A percentage of the proceeds from each book will be donated to charities based in New Orleans working on ongoing hurricane relief efforts.

The title refers to a fear many of us had as young children, of having our heads submerged under water while our mothers washed our hair. The stories, essays, poems, and art of Submerged are an exploration of each contributor’s relationship with her hair, in most cases emotional, and generated from youth. For more details about the book, please visit its page on our site, and prepare to pre-order it from our store soon. Submerged will launch in late August 2008.

More updates coming soon with profiles of Lauren and Lorien. You can learn about Lauren's work here, and see Lorien's website here.

StepSister Press is beaming: Terri L. Russ's class featured in the Observer

2008-05-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press is beaming to announce that our author Terri L. Russ (Bitchin' Bodies coming soon) coordinated a project with her communications class on female beauty at Saint Mary's College that attracted the attention of folks at the Notre Dame Observer. The article, by Ashley Charnley, is titled 'SMC Beauty Conference displays projects on self-image: Communications class displays Barbie doll projects that represent female stereotypes, portray unrealistic alterations' and details the Beauty conference held at the student center at SMC. True to Terri's mission, the event and the article bring out her students' ideas about reformulating notions of beauty by altering Barbie dolls to make their own characters who play on the idea of being able to package feminine ideals in little plastic forms. Some personal favorites: Goth Barbie and Zen Barbie, and a padded Realistic Barbie. Be sure to check out the article here, Terri's blog about the book, and our store to see Terri's upcoming release.

StepSister Press hearts bigcartel

2008-04-30T23:18:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press absolutely hearts bigcartel for internet sales. It's smart, funny, clever, patient. Check out our new link to the shop on the main site to find previews of our new projects, soon to be updated with official add-to-cart buttons for in-stock and pre-release sale items. Here's a snapshot of the beautiful page:

One of the many things I like about this interface is that it's simple to customize the page, so it doesn't have to feel like the customer has left the company completely, but at the same time it has that trustworthy-official-internet-store feel to it. StepSister Press is always striving to appear official. Check back very soon (or follow these posts) to see the products updated and shifted from 'Coming Soon' status to 'Spend your economic stimulus checks on books' status.

StepSister Press and the wonders of typographic perfection

2008-04-27T22:12:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press has been in the design/re-design/figuring out what's wrong with the design/fixing the design/starting all over again process. The advice coming out of this adventure would have to be this: When you're working on a solid, must-be-finished-some-time-soon-in-order-to-ever-see-the-light-of-day kind of project, be wary of bracketing work time with any refresher courses in typography. It's possible to be almost completely ignorant of typography (I used to be and that was such a naive, free-spirited time), although that's not the best outlook for someone trying to make books. Growing awareness of typography's many conventions, quirks, and pitfalls makes the brain expand and the stomach become more sensitive. One day you're a relatively happy person, and the next day you find yourself excusing yourself from the dinner table because someone forgot to set the punctuation to extend tenderly into the margins on a menu. Or you roll your eyes when you receive a card with a decorative font set in all caps. If there is a Dorian Gray portrait of me, it shows me holding in my splitting sides as I spot a period with two spaces after it, or snickering over a poorly justified line of text. I'm about to go stick my head in a tub of cold water because of the non-curling quotes in this blog post.

submissions to StepSister Press

2008-04-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press is expanding its efforts with information on new projects coming out soon and some more details for interested artists and authors. We have a newly updated submissions page at http://StepSisterPress.com/Submissions.html. I'm pasting in the information below, and please email me any time with questions at StepSisterPress@gmail.com. We're getting ready to announce an awesome new project, so keep checking back here and on the site this week.

StepSister Press is small and we want to give full attention to your proposals, so please spend time with these guidelines when considering making a submission. Our practice is based in a liberal social outlook, with a grounding in visual arts and too much television. We look for projects that intertwine genres, for example, an experimental collaboration between an artist and a biologist. StepSister Press is particularly interested in work that explores sociopolitial themes, gender identity, naturalistic worldviews, and broadened definitions of family. At this time we are also inviting projects that approach issues related to suicide prevention from perspectives that engage anti-self-help audiences. If you feel that your work might constitute one half of an interesting collaboration, please send us information about your idea, as part of our goal is to bring together authors and artists from different settings. Please visit our blog and read up about our current projects before submitting.

If you feel that your work fits our interests, please submit a typed proposal (12 pt, serif font, 1-inch margin, 8.5 x 11" paper) with a self-addressed stamped envelope or international return postage to:

StepSister Press, LLC
ATTN:Submissions
4064 N. Lincoln Ave #426
Chicago, IL 60618 USA

Your proposal should include the following items:
- query letter: include introduction to book idea, approximate length, discussion of the work's audience, and brief biographical introductions to participants
- cover sheet: title, name, contact information including email and phone number
- one paragraph synopsis, i.e. the type of description that might appear on a back cover
- a short (1-3 page) overview of the text or images
- a brief analysis of the potential market for your book, including any marketing strategies, target audiences, and comparisons to similar titles
- a brief biography and Cv/resume for all participants in the project
- a description of the larger project as a whole if this book is proposed as part of a series or in relation to an exhibition
- a selection from your manuscript: for fiction, the first 50 pages of your manuscript; for non-fiction, a representative chapter that is not the introduction or preface to the book; for shorter texts or image-based projects, please choose a selection that represents less than 50% of your project as a whole
- a table of contents and any images that may be important to the text

We will let you know when a submission has been received, and respond to submissions via email or phone within 60 days; please be patient during this reading period. If your project is time-sensitive, for example if it coincides with an upcoming event, then please indicate this in your query letter. Please do not submit full manuscripts unless we request them after enjoying your proposal; we will destroy any unsolicited manuscripts in order to adhere to this policy and protect your projects.

some notes:
- If you are considering approaching us about children's literature, please keep in mind that we are dedicated to including LGBT perspectives in our work, and are unlikely to consider literature for young people that presents a less inclusive view of family.
- If you are interested in pursuing a work in coordination with an art exhibit, this may be a possibility for the press if the work has potential to stand on its own as a book beyond the duration of the exhibit, and if the scope of the project extends beyond documentation.
- Please note that our mission is to support the production of works, and we make projects without subsidy from our artists. Any external funding will not have an impact on the review process.

Thank you for spending time with these guidelines and please feel free to send any questions about submissions to StepSisterPress@gmail.com.

StepSister Press has a bitchin' cover for 'Bitchin' Bodies'

2008-04-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

After a healthy phase of planning and preparation, StepSister Press is pleased to be in the thick of production on Bitchin' Bodies by Terri L. Russ, with images by Karin Lekan. This book is even more bitchin' than we ever planned, which is saying a lot for a text that starts out with full awareness of it's own bitchin'-ness. Also check out a light makeover on our website, StepSisterPress.com.

StepSister Press is expanding her brain with 'The Art & Science of Book Publishing'

2008-04-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press has been trying to figure out how to do hundreds of things at once, and Herbert S. Bailey Jr.'s classic The Art & Science of Book Publishing is giving me some ideas. This book seemed a little old-fashioned at first, sitting on a shelf next to a number of titles that promise to fast-track entrepreneurial efforts in a series of (fill in the number) steps. Those are actually very helpful, but Bailey's book captures the nuance of the publishing process in a way that is both precise (lots of charts) and reassuring about the many aspects of publishing that are not so easily quantified. The text begins with an entire chapter about rationality and irrationality in publishing, a good start for someone whose initial attraction to publishing was "books are awesome." His emphasis on publishing as a service operation brings a new focus to this odd activity. While it's dated in some aspects of its style (for example, feminine pronouns are noticeably absent), it's a remarkably valuable text that I'm keeping close at hand, for its elegant description of the workflow and division of labor involved in publishing and for its unraveling of the importance of the relationships involved in this process.

More soon on upcoming projects and release dates, with lots of beautiful books and harsh promotional campaigns that will make this post look like a rainy afternoon.

StepSister Press is taking care of [her cats'] business

2008-03-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press is proud to have two new felines in the home. They are proud to have an owner with an exciting, messy office to explore. Behold Spanky going over the Bitchin' Bodies manuscript for us, shortly after using his hindquarters to make his own selections on iTunes.

StepSister Press is walking while working

2008-03-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you put together 3 herniated discs, a toolbox, a good pair of walking shoes, and a USA Today article on how to improve your life for New Year's? That's right, a treadmill with a desk thingie hooked up to it, except in March instead of January because of how long it takes to do things recommended by magazines. StepSister Press is officially operating from a treadmill desk. James Levine, M.D. developed this idea in the Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis lab at Mayo Clinic, and you can learn about both fancy and more homespun incarnations of the trend at http://www.squidoo.com/walkingwhileworking. Building your own treadmill desk requires some creativity, and probably a circular saw, but ultimately costs a lot less than the built-in computer treadmill modules. And it helps you avoid that problem of what to do when one of the two components breaks, like when a TV set with a built-in DVD player breaks and then you have the big half-broken TV and a separate DVD player, and when people come over they're like, "Why do you have two DVD players?" and then you have to tell the whole most boring story ever every time.

StepSister Press weighs in on small business stamina

2008-03-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press is a fan of Productivity 501. The kind spouse of StepSister Press recommended it when it had some good ideas for organizing at-home office space and finding time for all the many random tasks required of an entrepreneur. Here are a few productivity suggestions of our own, culled from over a month of self-employed bliss:

- Delay the installation of accounting software as long as possible.
- Check primary results every 4.5 minutes.
- Start watching a long television series on dvd, something with like 3,900 minutes of view time.
- Every time a tax requirement or business licensing application comes up on your desk, hop on the treadmill and read O Magazine for a few hours.
- Instead of the old 1-day turnaround for communications, let your clients/customers/vendors/service providers come to YOU. Again and again. It shows power and restraint.
- Write a to-do list. Accidently use said list to mop up spilled soft drink.

This is all we have for you right now, but there are sure to be more insights popping up in our diaries. Stay posted.

Steve Heckman

2008-02-24T15:25:00.000-08:00

StepSister Press is up and kicking, after a brief duck from the public eye. You had enough to concentrate on with the primaries anyway.

This hiatus was unfortunately brought about by the death of a dear loved one, my brother Steve Heckman, who ended his life on January 21, 2008 at the age of twenty-nine. He was a beautiful person, unfailingly kind to me, and he struggled with depression for over thirteen years. While we will always wish he had been able to seek out the means to help himself in those last moments, we have lots of good things to remember about him, including his passion for books, education, and critical thinking. He was a devoted elementary school teacher, inspired by the process that goes on when a young person begins to grasp new concepts and develop new ways of interpreting and questioning the world. He had a goofy sense of humor, which I understand came out in his teaching as much as it did in his frequent you-tube recommendations to me. As difficult as it is to think about promoting a company in the midst of this tragedy, I'm finding comfort in the thought that many of Steve's joys in life came from the type of materials we produce. To learn more about him, and to see the founder of StepSister Press in a number of compromising haircuts and outfits, please visit http://stevememorial.blogspot.com. To learn more about the challenges Steve faced, or to seek out information if you or someone you know may be coping with issues related to mental illness or suicide, please check out the sites below. Writers or artists with thoughts on projects that may continue Steve's work of engaging young minds in an offbeat and critical fashion, that may advocate for our friends with mental illness, or that may comfort those suffering a similar loss, are invited to please submit their ideas: http://stepsisterpress.com/Submissions.html. We miss Steve very much and can only hope that our affection translates to effective measures and assistance for others who may be suffering from similar difficulties.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Association of Suicidology, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, The Compassionate Friends, Living With Suicide, The Dougy Center, National Organization for People of Color Against Suicide, National Resource Center for Suicide Prevention and Aftercare, Organization for Attempters and Survivors of Suicide in Interfaith Services, Sibling Survivors, Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, Suicide Information and Education Centre (Canada), Suicide Memorial Wall, Suicide Prevention Action Network USA, Survivors of Suicide

StepSister Press made a website

2008-01-10T18:50:00.000-08:00

StepSister Press is actually finally proud to announce its new website at StepSisterPress.com. We're leading you even further into the already-present twenty-first century with our fancy links, images, and blurbs about books. Best of all, the buttons are shaped like all the little shapes on our logo. This site will knock your socks off, very far off, like when you wake up and you have no idea where your socks are.

If you're so excited that you want to be added to the mailing list right away, and bypass all the mission statement marketing garbage, you can go straight to this link and it will give you the opportunity to join our fancy independent press list.

StepSister Press is ordering takeout

2007-12-29T18:09:00.001-08:00

After many days of mixing holiday leftovers with groceries and tea, StepSister Press is finally ready to order takeout. This turn of events came about because StepSister Press decided to educate itself and make lots of marketing, fulfillment, and distribution decisions today. This brought the business well past dinner time with an empty stomach.

More soon on Airline to Heaven, Part I, with a sneak preview to the contributions by Matt Dal Santo & Terri L. Russ. After we spearhead this project by mid-January, our work on Bitchin' Bodies will continue through till its release in mid-April. Soon after that we'll start putting together more earth-shattering projects, all brought to you by hard-hitting bottom-line up-to-the-minute marketing goodness. Just in time for the holiday season. Next year.

StepSister Press is not intimidated by snow or lack of sunlight

2007-12-28T08:32:00.000-08:00

At long last, StepSister Press is resettled in its small office surrounded by art and books. The idealistic ramblings of an enthusiastic upstart are replaced by hard-nosed market analysis, lots of complaining, and lots of 'Small Business [fill in blank] for Dummies' books. Bitchin' Bodies is in the process of some expert editing and image-adding, Karin Lekan has made some awesome images for us to add to the text, and Annie Heckman is in the process of learning how to, um, make a book (you mean we have to make it look good and be the right size and everything?). Also it's been a time of learning how to write thrilling copy for the website and somehow condense our enterprise's ideology into a short paragraph, remarkably difficult when the enterprise hasn't produced anything yet. We're not proud. And so the website is late (LATE! FAILURE!) despite the best efforts of our computer expert. Eating cookies was supposed to help but made StepSister Press fall asleep watching Band of Brothers. As indicated by the title of this post, we might be able to toss this up to snow of lack of sunlight, but of course these environmental factors are not actually intimidating us in the least. Once again, StepSister Press is not proud, and welcomes in the new year with a sense of humble nausea. Look out for the website, added links, and perhaps even mugs with the names of unpublished books on them, hitting the stores, or the website, in time for your traditional Valentine book-inspired collateral product purchases for your loved ones.

StepSister Press is happy to announce the pre-launch of the Bitchin' Bodies project via a new blog featuring the musings of Dr. Terri L. Russ

2007-12-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

That's right, Terri is up and running on her new blog for Bitchin' Bodies, at bitchinbodies.blogspot.com. If you've been keeping up with the StepSister Press blog, you'll find a nice change of pace with Terri's posts: thoughtful, creative, actually saying stuff. Terri and I have finally chosen a day for our book launch (and by extension press launch, not to belittle the small experimental project coming out in January). Bitchin' Bodies will set its papery little feet on the ground on April 12 in Notre Dame/South Bend/Mishawaka, Indiana, Terri's home turf and my soon-to-be nostalgiacally left behind partially homeful turf. Find more details on this blog in the coming months about our launch, which in the StepSister Press/Bitchin' Bodies spirit will prove to be a drag-em-out booze-out hyper-excited rally of sorts.

Don't stop reading yet: we're building a website for StepSister Press at stepsisterpress.com. Don't go there yet! It just says 'Coming Soon.' Peter Clark is plugging away, with a lot of vague and shifting advice from the StepSister Press owner, making a site that will be cool, awesome, fancy, and special. That's right: special, cool, awesome, and fancy. The actual super-launching of this site is set for December 20, 2007. Remember: this doesn't mean the site will actually be selling any products yet. But prepare yourself for more than books: T-shirts, coffee mugs, perhaps ball-point pens. In the wise words of Arlo Guthrie, I'm not proud - or tired.

Thank you very much and buy lots of StepSister Press products for your holiday needs, but next year, and actually earlier than the holidays so we can make it through the first two quarters in the black.

StepSister Press offers visual proof of Karin Lekan's ongoing awesomeness

2007-11-27T09:12:00.001-08:00

Karin Lekan has communicated that she is plugging away on imagery for Bitchin' Bodies from her new San Francisco home. Here are some images from her recent work, collaged cut-outs developed as she created her first animation, we got a brand new ocean, we got a friend inside.

i love you like my dad loves shelly

we got a brand new ocean, we got a friend inside

More soon on the topics of dead stars, future projects, and using book shopping as a technique to beat the early 2008 blahs.

StepSister Press, LLC is official, with two real books coming out soon, so plan your holiday shopping accordingly, but for next year, in the spring

2007-11-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

StepSister Press is now officially StepSister Press, LLC. Soon it will start to be extra-real, with amazing, serious, well-made, carefully bound books for everyone. As soon as it sets up a bank account. StepSister Press has been so busy trying to figure out the ins and outs of publishing that several announcements hang in the space between October 31st and today.

First - I'm wishing Terri L. Russ a hearty congratulations and a long winter's nap as she just today finalized Bitchin' Bodies. The text is now ready to undergo the many interesting transformations that make it into a book, so we are on board for a release in spring of 2008. Check out Terri's ongoing snapshots of the project on the up and soon-to-be running blog, bitchinbodies.blogspot.com.

Next up - We're extremely pleased and fortunate to have Karin Lekan on board with us, producing the images for Bitchin' Bodies. Karin is a talented, focused artist and illustrator, a gutsy personality who agreed to this project in the midst of her first San Francisco earthquake. Full disclosure: Karin and I were practically in diapers together, or at least worked at the public library together in high school (no diapers, but we did experience the awkward years together), and I hope that this will be the first of many projects and aesthetic plots together. For a preview of Karin's work, check out movingthroughmedium.blogspot.com, and keep checking here for some soon-to-be posted images.

And the last announcement - I know you've heard rumors, but yes it's finally true and real: StepSister Press will be putting out a book called Airline to Heaven, Part I, with the somewhat skewed worldview of its owner at the centerpiece of a text based on the images and writings that went into the Airline to Heaven, Part I animation. A brashly self-published text, it doesn't qualify as a self-published catalog exactly because of how coo coo nutters the writing is. Perhaps this makes it an artist's book, perhaps not. But it will be good practice for the press to publish something without making a travesty of it, or if it is a travesty it might sort of go with the whole failed afterlife fantasy theme. More soon on this project, and on the potential of the acclaimed author Terri L. Russ (see above) contributing a piece on dead stars.

Keep checking back and don't possibly think about shopping for any late winter or spring holidays without putting a book from StepSister Press in your basket.

StepSister Press is tired and drooling, but still managing to spearhead intercontextual re-emphasized targetly breakthroughs

2007-10-31T06:24:00.001-07:00

StepSister Press is pleased to pre-announce the working-on of a forth-upcoming project, the fantastic text Bitchin' Bodies by former attorney, current doctor-professor and really truly brilliant author on my campus at Saint Mary's College, Terri L. Russ. She's smart, she's tough, she says what she thinks, and she writes a lot (a lot a lot). Then she makes all the writing into books and I'm very fortunate to be in on the making of this one. It's going to be a total coup for this press, and will re-contextualize the spearheading targetness of all our art-based projects. Bitchin' Bodies describes how women talk about body dissatisfaction, i.e. we want bitchin' bodies so bad that we become bitchin' bodies. I was reminded of this book's relevance this morning when I flipped on the TV to keep me company in my weird little room, and the set was peppered with info-mercials for weird products, re-vitalizing your workout with this half-moon thing, all kinds of crap.

What's most interesting about Terri's book to me is that she doesn't just point out body dissatisfaction as a problem, which happened enough in the 90s, but rather focuses on the conversations young women have about these issues and uses those as a starting point (I like to call it a cultural trampoline, came up with that yesterday) for new possibilities, new ways to be satisfied with ourselves and move on to shake the world with all that energy that goes into calorie-counting and stomach-squeezing and pushing things back into their lycra containers. An upcoming post will give you the scoop on the book's visuals, something I'm very pleased about, as the book will be full of images from an up-and-coming re-thinker of visually strategic innovatively truncated paradigms. Imagine this book coming out in April 2008, and we will too.

StepSister's groundbreaking strategic re-emphasizing of the target for everything via re-energized collaborative inter-communicative strategies

2007-10-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a tough day to beat in the formation of this business. There were papers; they were signed; there was a self-addressed stamped envelope involved. All those things that make me feel good about being a productive citizen. Today I answered emails while my muscles twitched from this little electrode machine, looked over my small publishing listserv emails, and read about distribution options and decided that they're all scary. Terri Russ has kindly posted a comment (she likes my logo idea so you better get in votes soon if you think it needs a lot of work... Peter) and she deserves full warning that I have no idea - very little idea - very not much idea - what I'm doing. Of course we've gone over this issue before, over coffee. Terri is an amazing author and I will tell you soon what we're working on together for next year.

I have recently revised the business plan for StepSister Press, and you'll be pleased to hear that we're saving the environment, broadening intercultural discourse, making all gender bias disappear, and undoing all sorts of societal badness, all at once and all the time. I imagine I'll need to scale this down when I get back to 'target market' (do I really have to put more in this section than 'burnt-out hipsters and extended family'?), but for now I think it's a cute draft. Really it's going well.

More tomorrow on the general specifics of upcoming projects. After I turn into a bat and make art in another dimension before waking up in a coffin with a 'Marketing for Dummies' book clutched in my withering hands.

StepSister Press is becoming an LLC so make sure there's enough ethanol in your car to do some serious book-shopping

2007-10-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

StepSister Press is almost official. The papers went in the mail today. It will be an LLC in the state of Illinois soon, fingers crossed and a salty tracking number tossed over the shoulder. Some of the new challenges involved in starting a small business, issues I hadn't foreseen during my youthful forays into storefront art classes: broken laser printer, inkjet printer with no ink, loss of concentration and memory functions, drooling, and the grinding process of securing a cashier's check. Other than that no problem.

Here is an example of the logo in progress; post nice comments to this blog and send the nasty ones to StepSisterPress@gmail.com. I know I need to move 'StepSister' over a little bit. Thank you to UPS, gmail, blogger, Jesse White's website, and all my anonymous helpers for making the almost-pre-somewhat launching of this independent press possible.

Don't forget to post your thoughts in order to make this blog a must-see spot on the indie publishing scene. A few notes to any writers on this blog: no cursing and none of those little faces that show emotion with punctuation. These things escalate quickly. I will need to check the blogger rules about what to do if cursing is part of the name of one of the publications though, and to see what really counts as cursing these days. Remember: I didn't type this post, I shouted it into a tape recorder. And a word from our sponsors: visit annieheckman.com for other art-related updates. More soon.