Connuing

Adventures in building a publishing company called Connu. We've dived straight into Silicon Valley adventures. We've met writers we've revered for so long. And we're still trying to get our heads around it all. This is where we ruminate. If you want to read, please jump into our Connu (connu.co or Connu for iPhone in the App Store) and start playing. The opinions herein expressed are not Connu's. connu.co @readconnu facebook.com/readconnu [email protected]

[oupacademic]

We cannot get enough of our Out of Print stacks here at OUP Oxford. Our latest treasure hunt for our Shakespeare-related publishing has revealed these colourful books from an old series called Oxford Shakespeare Concordances. Now, all these plays are in our Oxford World’s Classics series.

[thelifeguardlibrarian]

And I head to bed early to get very Shakespeare in the morning.

[connuing]

We're doing user interviews about our new site and we'd love to hear from you. Email [email protected] to grab a time slot!

[connuing]

haven't tumblred in a while...

We don’t know who is reading this, or why. Sometimes I think the most valuable thing would be to write every day here—a kind of chronicle of the upheavals of starting a business, getting into publishing, all the crazy things. In the moment it seems self-indulgent. But in the end, wouldn’t we make millions by publishing it as a self-help book? Those always do well…

I thought this last night while giving a presentation at our old home base at USC. I saw everyone, all our early supporters—Erin Reilly, Jon Taplin, John Seely Brown, Jake DeGrazia. Met the new companies; was ignited inside despite myself, despite how tough the past few months have been, by the enthusiasm and hope.

My boyfriend and I were talking about how entrepreneurs are the new artist class. I think Alex from reddit calls entrepreneurship the new indie band everyone wants to be part of—and yeah, it’s probably true. I lived out of my car for a long time, Niree’s doing the nomad thing now. My boyfriend was in a barbershop on Polk Street, doubtless illegally, (no joke, I wrote about it here when in one of my bursts of enthusiasm for our lifestyle), which inspired all kinds of interesting writing that I’m publishing under another name. See if you can find it.

The writing part of it is tough, inspires the most guilt. The day-to-day is so intense, so full, I’m losing the words to describe it. And I regret it every minute, because I know I’ll miss those chronicles–or, even worse, not remember enough to miss those chronicles.

In any case, I’m back in LA, where I’ve done most of my writing. Back on my brother’s sofa-bed by the window in his downtown loft, looking through those Art Deco windows at other lives, past the streets that slide into Skid Row, walking the dog to the coffee shop where I set a creepy scene in the novel that’s now in the drawer, spying on movie sets, eating gelato at midnight, prying into my brain for nostalgia for the creepy history that you can smell and feel here.

I’m flying back to San Francisco tonight—which has become a real home too, with my two ballerina roommates, the eerily sunny back porch where I can watch the fog creeping up over the Presidio. But I can’t get over the weird connection to LA. I don’t think Connu could have been birthed anywhere else.

[connuing]

DIGITIZING LITERATURE MEANS DEMOCRATIZING SHORT FICTION

That's Niree's manifesto for ya. Writers + readers: we ask you to start shaping publishing. Visit connu.co to get started.

[connuing]

Imagining the future as some kind of nostalgia.

John Green. His wife said it back to him on their first date, I just learned.

[millionsmillions]

Patton Oswalt, who you may know for his eight-minute filibuster on the subject of Star Wars, is a lifelong fan of Stephen King. As a way of marking the 40th anniversary of the publication of Carrie, he reflects on the roots of his fandom, which trace back to a grade-school reading of The Stand. (Our own Janet Potter reviewed Oswalt’s last book.)

[connuing]

@nireene exercising her mad web skills. #notenoughcoffeeintheworld

[connuing]

necessity breeds new skills

niree's turned web developer; i've turned ux/ui designer.

will preach diy from now on.

[connuing]

connu two point oh

manually migrating old cms to new cms = a huge pain.

but it will all be worth it once we make our shiny announcement next week!

[connuing]

Market Street Residency. Challenge to #amtrakresidency

[connuing]

Good morning, Bay Bridge

[connuing]

Want more from Sarah Lowe?

Today's Connu author, Sarah Lowe, has written a novel that's awaiting publication.

It's called Ten Thousand Joys. I heard an excerpt at a reading once, and can't forget it.

Elizabeth Keane was an office worker from Chicago with a dead-end relationship and an adopted cat until she discovered The Sanctuary. What compelled her to convert to a no-name California religion, abandon her life, and commit unimaginable crimes of terror against her fellow man? Ten Thousand Joys is Elizabeth Keane’s confession. After just one meeting with Mother Maria Le Blanc, who knows? Maybe you’d kill for a chance at enlightenment, too.

If it sounds good to you, too, email [email protected]. 

[connuing]

When Rosanna Warren said, “all your characters are so intelligent,” I was depressed. It’s because I’m imaginative in one-way but unimaginative, un-inventive in another. I don’t invent things that I don’t know. Think of Jane Austen. None of her women are Jane Austen. All of my people, men included, are Lore Segal. That’s an exaggeration. In the 19th century they could invent characters outside their own skin. I think we do less of that.

Lore Segal interview

[connuing]

Channeling Liz Lemon for our NYC demo day.

[connuing]

Story Trailer!

Story trailer for today's Connu. 'Me Too' by Jonathan Miles

[connuing]

On writing and tech-ing

One founder explains how studying fiction helped prepare her for life at her startup. By Susannah Luthi (Co-founder & CEO, Connu) 

[connuing]

Tomorrow on Connu. Will remind you of #Truman Capote and creepy Gothic stories.