News outlets determine relevant information about current events; mainstream music is manipulated to create the illusion of trends; the fashion industry has literally created the the constructs that embolden and embarrass millions each "season"; major publishing houses, too, have amassed the resources and distribution that allows them to monopolize the definition of literature. Exploring the canon
and investigating the state of current world literature, one finds that a narrative exists beyond the texts themselves, and it has tightened its grip on the reading populous. Literature, like news and popular culture, has been compromised. At quietonetowatchpress, the goal is to give voice to the voiceless, to tell the stories that those in control deem unworthy of physical preservation. We disagree with them. History has shown that many great books faced opposition from the mediocre popular opinion of the time. From Melville to James Joyce, Kafka, Kleist, Beckett, Wolfe and Faulkner, the assumption of what makes literature has historically daunted writers and worked to repress the only literature that is truly great. Imagine all of the masterpieces, so far ahead of their time, that had not had such opportune circumstances surrounding them as Ulysses had. They have rotted and are rotting away as you read this. We wish to annihilate the constructs that have so watered down our literature and have degraded so many creative artists to obscurity and self-loathing. Let them be heard. Let them free! The vacuum exists within mainstream publication, not outside of it. The quiet will roar, and the brave will list, but for most, it will be as if nothing happened at all. We will seek out these voices from the dark corners of our society, bring them to the light and serve them up for public scrutiny. We will publish the non-literary, the experimental, the depraved and the woefully self-conscious. We will publish books for their content not their authorship. We will accept submissions from all writers who write in the shadow, and publish hard copies and distribute them at our shared expense. Accepted authors will join our company and share in the profits from their own work, as well as the work of others. We invite submissions from those who believe that the business of publishing should not be profit, rather profit should come as a result of sharing your principles effectively and honestly. We wish to create a publishing house that does no harm to literary history, as so many of the profit driven houses have done such great harm. We wish to augment and expand literature beyond its present limits. Join us by allowing your voice to be heard. Thank you,
quietonetowatch press
