Publisher’s Statement

From the owner of New Forest Books:

New Forest Books is an independent publisher of unusual, new and classic nonfiction.  Currently, we publish paperback books  in selected niches.

As the company owner and senior editor, I want authors and artists to choose New Forest Books when they have something unique to share with the world.  Commercial viability is less important to us than the extraordinary nature of the work.

We’re an independent publishing house, not a vanity press. Our authors pay nothing to be published by us, beyond the price of a proof copy (usually less than $15, including postage).

We also place fewer limits on our authors.  For example, you are not limited to the traditional 15 illustrations per book.

In addition, we’re flipping the traditional publishing model so our authors receive the bulk of the income from their books.  That’s usually around 80% of the wholesale price, or about 10 times as much as traditional publishers pay their authors.

From the start, the vision for New Forest Books has been distinct:  I want New Forest to publish exceptional, amazing people.

I want our books to be raw, perhaps slightly untidy (but also undiluted), creativity and originality… the most direct connection possible with uniquely talented researchers, visionaries, artists and writers.

Of course, we publish traditional books… but they usually contain innovative ideas and intriguing ways of looking at them.  None of our books are truly mainstream.

I’m looking for books that are stunning because of their originality.

I’d like to see people carry our books around in their backpacks, take out very worn copies, and show them to a bazillion friends & strangers, saying, “Have you seen this?”

I also want art books that look like bound volumes of zines.  I want books that are the visual/written equivalent of the earliest music of U2, and today’s indie groups.

Other New Forest books will be elegant, like coffee-table books… when elegance and dazzle are the best vehicles for the individual artist and/or writer.

In time, I’d like each New Forest author/artist to be represented by both the raw, backpack version of their works, as well as books displayed on coffee tables and at the front desk of galleries, museums and clubs.

With New Forest, I have a clear creative vision.  We’re starting small.

We’ll grow because we’re successful and everyone is having fun with these projects… not because we’re hijacking income that should go to the creative people we’re representing.

We take pride in our personal working relationship with our authors.

At this moment,  our business is about three things, in this order:

1. Getting basic books out, representing insightful, talented and creative people, and getting those books into the hands of as many people as possible.

2. Being sure that the bulk of the profits go to the creative people whose works and originality are exceptional and brilliant.

3. Improving the production quality, distribution, marketing and PR with each book, as we grow.