MAEJ TIME. IT IS MAEJ TIME.
Social media is always fun, as I'll have to try to condense into two sentences why one of our books just HAS to be read by someone, so thank God for tumblr, where I get to have as many sentences as I want and go into the nitty-gitty a bit.
I haven't talked much about publishing on here, but I started this project (aka tRaum Books) with a friend in 2021, as a labor of love and as a venue to put out the types of books that even indie queer presses (probably) wouldn't touch. Because they were too risky (in theme and/or length); because they were queer and/or trans in a way that wasn't necessarily validating or relatable, because they slipped between genres, or were written by someone with too low of a following to net a guaranteed readership. I've never embraced the 'publisher' role and to the end, consider myself an artist and writer: of things that are too X for this crowd, and not Y enough for the other. This is not meant to be a pissNmoan about 'genre', or readers who want clear signposting on what they are about to get into. I get it. Our money is limited, our time even more so, and it makes perfect sense that someone would want to dedicate their time to a book that can clearly outline what the experience will be. That just happens to not be the type of writing I produce or what I am drawn to. I like to be surprised and am often drawn to books that surprise me.
So that is the type of work I have sought to put out. The hard-to-pin-down. More accurately, I should say it is the type of work that has found me, because our press notoriously has never had an open call for submissions. Books just find us when the time is right.
So I had come to Dale Stromberg's high-fantasy MAEJ not as a potential publisher, but as a beta reader and I still remember vividly my first impression of being blown away by the sheer attention to detail, the pure CRAFTSMANSHIP of the story. As intricate and precise as one of those handmade wooden puzzle boxes. But I also remember another impression: a certain sorrow from thinking, man. There is nobody on earth who would ever publish this. Not because it isn't excellent, amazing, in turns difficult and also fun to read (MAEJ is all of these things). But because it requires an immersion and trust from the reader that I believe many (if not most) simply do not possess anymore. The most powerful publishers could weave their marketing magic and get people to buy it, but the amount of readers who would actually make it to the end (if we say a book being read, not just a book being bought, is the goal)--so, such a reader seemed rare.
More simply, I felt like I had been allowed to witness some rare endangered species of a book--the kind everyone online bemoans nobody publishing anymore, yet few would honestly want to confront.
Both a relic and a touchstone. A vociferously political book that didn't sermonize--the message was baked into every magical tile paving those fictive streets. I knew then that i wanted to try to help publish the book. If the author wanted to deal with small press, that is (which many times, let's be honest, could be bestowing upon a book's forehead the kiss of obscurity).
There is not much a tiny publisher like myself can bring to a book's release that the author could not do themselves (given some investment and time and oh yeah, patience). Much of us have limited reach, and again, MAEJ was not the type of book that I felt would automatically pique the interest of many of my followers. What I could do though is help the author along in what is sometimes so hard to do for your own fiction. I could go out and yell, yo, you should really really read this. If you enjoy high fantasy, an effortless gender subversion, and prose infused with a magical playfulness. If you like to try to recreate the reading experience akin to being ten again and curling up with a huge tome of an adventure, and letting the outside world slip away. YOU NEED TO READ THIS.
Those who push past the initial resistance will be rewarded handsomely by the final grand mosaic Stromberg creates of what seem at first a plethora of chaotic, colorful tiles. It is indeed a rare and complex, awe-inspiring thing of beauty.
Order your own physical or ebook copy of MAEJ. Grab a free ARC copy of the book. Add MAEJ on Goodreads.
I want to thank the author @dalestromberg for his patience with working with me. I know that dealing with me is often chicken-fried chaos, so thanks for coming along for the ride. I want to thank @zillanovikov. While she was not directly involved in this project, nobody can ask for a better writing and pub buddy and I'm really grateful to know her.
I want to thank @flameswallower for writing one of the best reviews of MAEJ ever. Not only are they an inspiring writer, but a vocal supporter of small press, and another author I am happy to have gotten the chance to work with.
And @baconorigami for all his support. <3
And to thank you, dear readers! To those of you who boost our posts, collect our books, leave reviews--engage. You make it all worth it. <3<3<3
