Scenes: Jaded Ibis Press: An interview with Debra Di Blasi

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Could you briefly describe Jaded Ibis Press’s history?

I founded the press in 2008 after realizing that 1) some superlatively original books written by people I respected were rejected as “unmarketable”; 2) print-on-demand technologies improved in quality and price; and 3) I could merge DIY technologies into a multimedia publishing company that addressed culture in the twenty-first century. We’ve really only been publishing full-steam since January 2011 after a protracted move from the Midwest to Seattle, Washington in mid-2010.

Cover, We: a reimagined family history

Who is your audience, and in what ways are you trying to reach them?

We’re striving for crossover audiences that may read broadly and even conservatively, but who increasingly want to be astonished by something new and provocative. These are contemplative readers and thinkers who seek within language, form, and narrative multiple clues to what it means to be human and alive in this particular time and place in the history of the universe.

Our reach continues to expand, from readers of scholarly publications like American Book Review to newspapers and magazines like Forbes and O’s “Best Summer Reading” book list. I spend two to three hours online every day reading blogs, magazines, and news sites to find ways to insert Jaded Ibis into conversations. (We have gotten a number of interviews as a result.) I also use social media and widely disseminated press releases.

Cover, Waiting up for the End of the World

What is your role in the publishing scene?

I view all Jaded Ibis business and aesthetic decisions through the warped lens of “industry standards and expectations” in order to shift the (broken) paradigm away from anything that limits creative breadth, chooses commerce over art, or doesn’t intelligently address contemporary culture and technology.

As a representative of the Press, I frequently lecture on narrative forms as they relate to current and future technologies at venues like the AWP, &NOW Conference, universities, and colleges. I’m writing a nonfiction multimedia book, Stuck in the Crosswalk: The Intersection of Literature and Technology, that provides a current and projected map of our location in lit-tech history and what directions I think we may, will, and should head. It is as much prophesy as guidebook.

Writers of all genres are becoming more intrepid and responding to the mixed- and multimedia aesthetics that surround us. I find it interesting that so many prominent literary agencies are now signing these writers and that Jaded Ibis, likely as a result of generous media coverage, is receiving huge numbers of submissions from the broad spectrum of agents and writers alike. Its humbling, thrilling, and a bit daunting for our wee staff.

How would you characterize the work you publish?

I and my poetry editor, the exceptionally talented poet Sam Witt, make all of the selection decisions. There are no manuscript screeners because we don’t want someone who has not been thoughtfully reading and processing information for at least three decades to decide what is original and demands a presence beyond the writer’s mind. We prefer works that surpass easy categorization, but when asked for standard marketing terminology, we say that we publish innovative (experimental, avant-garde, hybrid, multimedia, undefined) prose and poetry. All of our books are eventually published in four editions: full color, black and white, eBook, and fine art limited edition. Each title includes visual art by a notable or emerging artist(s) and audio track(s) of music, spoken word, or sound art. Fine art editions incorporate a variety of materials to conceptually reflect the content of the book.

Cover, Family Romance

What’s in the future for Jaded Ibis Press?

Jaded Ibis Press and its parent company Jaded Ibis Productions, are moving deeper into technologies significantly beyond eBooks. Our author c.vance already adapted his beautiful print novel, We: a reimagined family history, to an iPad interactive book, and...