Insert Press is pleased to share our Publisher Questionnaire with Asterism! Insert Press Founder, Editor, and Publisher Mathew Timmons discusses good advice, bad advice, literary influences, Insert Press's particular relationship to place, and our path to becoming an independent publisher in Los Angeles (among many other things).
Read it now on the Asterism Blog!
A brief account of your path to publishing:
"Insert Press began in 2005 out of a desire to champion experimental writing and contemporary art in LA. At the time, there weren’t many presses dedicated to interdisciplinary or hybrid work in print. What started as a chapbook press that focused primarily on poetry grew into a home for translation, poetics, artist books, and ongoing conversations across literary and visual fields. Over the years, we’ve published works that engage language and form in challenging and unexpected ways—projects shaped as much by their content as by the conversations and collaborations behind them."
Your thoughts re: the greatest challenges facing readers, writers, and publishers now:
"Time and attention, yes—but also sustaining the relationships that make this work matter. Readers, writers, publishers, artists, and little galleries are all part of a shared ecosystem, one that only thrives when generosity flows across the gaps and cracks that inevitably crop up. This, of course, means showing up for each other, championing the work of peers, making time to read closely and respond thoughtfully, and knowing that attention is a kind of care. Long Live the Literary Citizen. Long Live the Generous Artist. In a moment when everything feels extractive and fast, recommitting to a practice rooted in exchange and reciprocity might be the most radical thing we can do. The publishing world asks so much of everyone involved—and the noise-to-signal ratio is real. Supporting each other across disciplines feels vital."
Read more here.
Insert Press titles are distributed with Ingram and Asterism Books.