Pharos Editions has had a long gestation period: 35 years, beginning when Harry Kirchner, working at Seattle University Bookstore, met Jamie Angell. One day he was putting out an eclectic collection of books, and Jamie started picking up the books; over the course of the next few weeks they continued to meet and talk books, and became friends. Soon, the idea of reissuing out-of-print books with author introductions was born.
Two years ago, Kirchner met Aaron Talwar and Jarret Middleton from Dark Coast Press, in his role as director of national accounts for Ingram Publisher Services, Dark Coast Press's distributor. They were curious about how to build a backlist, and Kirchner still had this dream. Talwer and Middleton liked it--a partnership was born. They refined the idea into a distinct publishing format: they would find authors to select books and write the introductions; they would emphasize print (obviously the way to go in the age of e-books); and the books would be highly designed (heavy stock, jacketed paperbacks, interior design work) yet affordable.
Jonathan Evison, a good friend of Dark Coast Press, came on board immediately. His pick was McTeague by Frank Norris, a true classic of American realism. The next author to join in was Sherman Alexie, who chose the iconic basketball novel Inside Moves by Todd Walton. When Kirchner contacted Walton about the project, the author thought about it for maybe two seconds and replied: "Hell, yes!"
Kirchner wanted to do four to six books at the beginning--enough titles to have a story, but few enough to control. He called his friend Jamie Angell, who suggested Matt Groening, a friend since high school. Groening agreed, and chose a '30s Hollywood noir-ish book called You Play the Black and the Red Comes Up by Richard Hallas, aka Eric Knight (yes, Lassie, Come Home. Really).
Last summer, Kirchner was still trying to pin down the fourth book--it's not easy to find the right combination of authors, books and rights. He e-mailed Jess Walter, who chose The Land of Plenty, written in 1934 by Robert Cantwell--the gripping story of a Washington lumber mill town and worker unrest. After writing the novel, Cantwell went on to work at Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated. It was difficult to locate his family, but Walter is a former reporter and offered to dig around. He found Cantwell's grandson, who steered him to Cantwell's daughter, and Kirchner wrapped up this last deal just in time for his retirement from Ingram.
June 5 is the publication date for the first four books, and they will be at the low-low price of $16--a price chosen after extensive market research ("the number looks classy. We didn't overthink it."). Pharos Editions is encouraging booksellers to see this as a series and to display them together; the marketing is geared to the series. The personalities of the selectors really come across in the introductions, as does their enthusiasm for the titles they chose. It's as if you were sitting across from Evison, Alexie, Groening or Walter over coffee or a beer, listening to them reply to the question readers ask each other whenever they meet, "Read any good books lately?"
Kirchner started in the book business as a clerk at the University of Wisconsin bookstore in Milwaukee. He moved to Seattle and the SU bookstore, then became an independent commission sales rep with some obscure lines. He later segued into a rep job with early-days PGW, where he stayed until he moved to Ingram to be the director of national accounts. These days he spends his time nurturing Pharos Editions and sailing. He says with a smile, "Now I get to be the guy who harasses the sales reps!"--although he knows one thing about sales reps: leave them alone and let them do their job.
Pharos plans on another four to six books in early spring of 2014. To aid Kirchner in his quest for good books, he's offering $75 to any bookseller who has contact with an author who'd like to do this, as long as a deal can be put together. (Having to search out rights from a hermit in Tibet would probably be a non-starter.) Pharos has the e-book rights, and will publish the titles in that format under the Dark Coast Press imprint, without the introductions; Kirchner said, "We wanted the print books to have added value, make them more compelling to bookstores and customers." With a classy logo designed by Steve Angell of Primal Screens (Jamie's brother. More synchronicity.), classy authors and classy classics, Pharos Editions will be added value to the book world. --Marilyn Dahl, editor, Shelf Awareness for Readers