Found Press Media is a novel new publisher. But they don’t publish novels. They don’t even publish printed works. They are a new and exciting press that is sure to make waves in the Canadian publishing scene, one short story at a time.
Found press is the first fully digital short-story publisher (featuring titles in the form of e-books and audiobooks, which can be purchased through online bookstores as well as the Found Press website) to hit electronic shelves in Canada.
Every three months, the press releases a handful of collected stories in Found Press Quarterly, an online journal put together by the editors at Found Press Media. Unlike traditional short-writing collections, FPQ features pieces that are produced, promoted, and sold as stand-alone works. Readers have a choice between purchasing a single story or an entire collection. Single stories go for 99 cents, and collections are $3.75. Authors receive royalties, too.
Found Press likens the publishing model to the process of downloading singles from music albums online. Readers are given the freedom to preview and enjoy stories and authors at their leisure, accessing them by the Found Press website or online bookstores. Found Press publications are versatile and available vis-à-vis computer, smartphone, tablet, e-reader and even audiobook.
Found Press is based on a publishing model that combines high standards of writing with the promotion of the short-story genre, the ever-prevalent rise of e-book technology with a conscious effort to give recognition to individual authors and individual stories.
“We've always had a keen interest in finding new and better ways to promote short literature, and have just been waiting for the right catalyst—the right change in the environment—before deciding to try something bold,” says founder Bryan Ibeas.
The press also prizes the beauty of literary works that uphold the possibility that less is/can be more. “We feel that short-form literary works are underappreciated,” says Bryan. “In our opinion, they're every bit as powerful and meaningful as any novel. Found Press is a platform for short works to be treated with the same gravity and legitimacy as other forms of literature.”
Ibeas formed Found Press Media with Jacqueline Lee Olynyk in 2010. Both were classmates in the Creative Book Publishing program at Humber College, and after interning at the same publishing house, continued to keep in touch over the years.
Named after the slogan/central philosophy of “stories everywhere,” Found Press recognizes the importance of the internet and mobile technologies for widening readership. “People can purchase and read our stories pretty much everywhere," Bryan asserts. "Moreover, the internet has made it much easier to find good stories and good storytellers; the way we see it, stories really are everywhere."
Found Press is a keeper, and here to stay.
The Moment We Came Alive is FP’s first quarterly collection: a neat and tidy package of short stories fresh off the electronic press. Found Press is now accepting submissions for the Spring 2011 edition of Found Press Quarterly.
To learn more about Found Press’s titles, authors and submission process, click here.
