Wednesday, January 9, 2019

To Boldly Remain



by Danny Gardner, author, A Negro and an Ofay

In Q3 2018, after an eighteen-month start-up phase, I quietly founded a publishing house with a brand-centric focus, rather than genre-centric, to respond to readers' desire for stories that are told according to the blended lives of mystery, crime, suspense, romance, and adventure we're already living. To publish at a standard high enough to earn our readers' respect and dollars, and return them to the creators they admire, all so the magic continues. A publisher of the people, for the people, publishing books for the children of the woods, mountains, desert, and concrete, delivering them to bookstores other folks wouldn't, handing them to readers many think we shouldn't. To start conversations across oceans of perception, we've chosen to be a publisher that brings people closer together, so the gaps may be crossed within the span of a few good stories, and if not, then we'll print more, as long as folks keep crossing.

The going canard is we're a diversity player, which is one way of viewing the venture. Bronzeville Books' founder is African American. Women such as Renee Pickup, Sara J. Henry, and Erin Mitchell, make up its publishing leadership. Our inaugural class of authors reflects much of this diversity, thus, "we good," as we say out Sout'.

We're excited to present to our readers the results of diversity, in function. You'll feel it in our choice of books to bring to market. Hooking up readers with great stories and the folks who create them, irrespective of the limits in perception, is what we do. Selling great books. Loving those who read them. Honoring and supporting those who write them. It's as old as publishing. Nothing untried and untested about it.

The seven of us who lead Bronzeville are in it for the work. We want the responsibility for rewarding readers and the authors who work hard for them. It's why I sacrificed personal possibilities in artistic merit to shift focus on the community. Our business intent is to establish new metrics based upon a commitment to not only write of a better world but contribute actively in creating it, a mission we'll achieve as long as we pluck the best and the brightest from the places where they're overlooked and place them upon our platform. If you're a writer, watch for our submission announcements. If you bring your best work and your courage, you just may achieve your dreams. To be an author is to have a hand in shaping folks' lives. A better person has a better bookshelf, and we want you on that better person's bookshelf, with the Bronzeville "B" on the spine.

Bronzeville was the neighborhood of my birth, and the place books first came alive for me. We want Bronzeville Books to make reading come alive for you. If you're a reader or a writer, and you feel ghettoized by those who currently set the tone, roll through Bronzeville. You'll see how beautiful the ghetto can be.



Danny Gardner, Founder
Bronzeville Books
An Allied Gardner Company

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats!

James L’Etoile said...

Blow it up big, brother! Looking forward to the Bronezville brand on my shelf.

Joe Clifford said...

Woo HOO!

John said...

Way to go, Danny!!!

Rex Weiner said...

Well done, Danny! Expecting great things...

Wes Bishop said...

Congratulations!

Unknown said...

This sound amazing. Good luck to all!

Will Viharo said...

Cheers from Thrillville! I dig where you’re coming from and where you’re going.

Sandra Ruttan said...

Fantastic news. Congrats!

Kate Pilarcik ~ absolutely said...

HAPPY DANCE BEYOND HAPPY DANCE

Promotion power backgrounding is here for you ▪︎ Oh yeah, #damnproud too, Bub

~ Kate, absolutely