Pharos Editions, an imprint of Dark Coast Press that re-releases out-of-print and forgotten books chosen by authors, will form a joint venture with Counterpoint Press, effective August 1. Counterpoint Press take over all back-office tasks, such as production, marketing and sales of Pharos Edition titles, from Dark Coast Press, while distribution duties will switch from Ingram Publisher Services to Publishers Group West, by way of Counterpoint's distribution deal with the latter. Harry Kirchner and Jarret Middleton, two of the founders of Pharos Editions, will remain with the young imprint; Aaron Talwar, the third partner, will step away.
"As we were moving through the latter part of last year, we went off to sales conferences and realized that we had had a wonderful reception out in the marketplace," explained Kirchner, who had worked for PGW in its early days and then at IPS before starting Pharos Editions. "We felt there was a lot of potential, and realized that in order to reach that potential we needed more resources. We could either try to find outside investment, muddle along as best we could, or try to find a partnership with a better established, slightly larger independent publisher."
Early this year, Kirchner reached out to Charlie Winton, founder, CEO and editor-at-large at Counterpoint Press. Winton, who had also founded PGW, had worked with Kirchner for many years. "I thought he would be a great person to talk to, in terms of how I would place a value on the company and if he had any advice in regards to a good publisher to partner with," Kirchner recounted. "And in the e-mail I sent to him, I just stuck a little note at the end saying that if you're interested at Counterpoint, we could cut to the chase."
By Kirchner's estimation, the pair went from that first e-mail to handshake agreement in about two weeks. For Winton, bringing in Pharos Editions had a double appeal: one part of it was reuniting with a long-time friend and colleague; the other, larger part was the work that Pharos Editions does.
"There are so many books that have gone out of print that deserve a kind of rebirth," Winton said. "It's certainly a worthy thing. There have been any number of companies and attempts, but what Harry has done, by having an introducer and editor who is an advocate for each book, is a wonderful way to do it."
Each title that Pharos Editions publishes is chosen by and features an introduction from a prominent author or creative figure. To date Pharos Editions has published four books: Land of Plenty by Robert Cantwell, selected and introduced by novelist Jess Walter; You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up by Richard Hallas, selected and introduced by Simpsons creator Matt Groening; McTeague by Frank Norris, selected and introduced by Jonathan Evison; and Inside Moves by Todd Walton, selected and introduced by Sherman Alexie. Two more titles will come out this May, followed by another two in June. In October, after the switch from Dark Coast Press to Counterpoint Press is complete, Pharos will release two last titles for the year.
"Originally we were trying to get a deal together by the fall, to move into 2015 all set. But as we were talking with Counterpoint, we thought why not do it sooner," said Kirchner, explaining the timing of the switch. "Generally speaking, August is kind of a sleepy time in publishing. It allows for the new books to get out, and then we can make the distribution move and move freight during a kind of slow period of the year."
Charlie Winton, meanwhile, looks forward to not only what Counterpoint can help Pharos Editions accomplish, but also what Kirchner and Middleton can bring to Counterpoint. "Harry will also have the ability to acquire titles for Counterpoint and Soft Skull [an imprint of Counterpoint] outside of this program," Winton said. "It's not something that he needs to focus on or start on; there's no requirement. But lots of times books are borne out of just conversations in a bar or at a party or at a dinner. The wonderment of publishing is that you never know where you're going to run into something." --Alex Mutter
