Guest Post: Atomic Fez Publishing and Bringing Fun Back

House Name: Atomic Fez Publishing
Manager: Ian Alexander Martin (although he does everything short of write the books and create the covers, so "Manager" seems a tad limiting).
Date Est.: May 2009
Submissions: I've got more than enough right now...let's say "not accepting" and be safe.
Genre: ...is "yes" an acceptable answer? Anything with a touch of humour and a bit of uniqueness, really. Mystery, Slip-stream, Steapmpunk, SF, and fiction. No poetry; no romance. Non-fiction slightly possible, but it's gotta be different.
Size: Tiny. One man. Shallow pockets (actually, no pockets at all). Both e-books and paper.
Contact: ian@atomicfez.com

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You probably haven’t heard of Atomic Fez Publishing before because it’s fairly new. Atomic Fez is a Vancouver, BC-based Canadian publisher founded in May 2009. The publishing company formally launched in March 2010 at the World Horror Convention in Brighton, UK. Given the long lead time required to produce books, Atomic Fez is still a relatively new publisher. We published five books in 2010 and plan to release another four in 2011.

Atomic Fez publishes ‘eclectic, genre-busting fiction. This sounds neat, but confuses some people. To explain, the five titles published in 2010 span a variety of genres and combine elements of several in each book. For example, The Terror and the Tortoiseshell, John Travis’s first in the Benji Spriteman Series, combines elements of fantasy, mystery, noir, and science fiction as the animal kingdom moves from four legs to two and banishes the human population. Benji Spriteman is a sentient, six-foot tall, suit-wearing tortoiseshell cat. And one heck of a detective too. Thus, you get four styles of fiction in one book, plus a cat.

Why this seemingly un-focused approach to things? Because it’s more interesting. Not all books are ‘serious works of ahrt.’ When I started Atomic Fez, I wanted to bring some of the fun back into the publishing business and produce books whose primary purpose was to entertain rather than instruct.

Take, for example, the logo: the absurdity of the fez as a piece of headgear in combination with the hope of the dawning of the 'atomic age’ – that kind of retro glam – made me laugh. Books should surprise, entertain, and occasionally elevate your mood. Why not, for instance, cross Mad Men with The Jetsons and see what happens?

Atomic Fez believes eBooks should never cost more than the average price of a mass-market paperback, and has always released its titles in both printed and eBook format simultaneously. This year we're going to experiment with the publishing schedule a bit.

Two of our five 2010 titles were published in jacket-less hardcover format; the other three as trade paperbacks. We're going to do our best this year to reduce production costs so we can also reduce the cost to the consumer. We're also going to consider more trade paperback publishing and – potentially – publishing of eBooks prior to printed versions.

Late in 2010 we reduced our eBook pricing by 33%. Most eBook titles are now $6.99, while shorter books like Andrew Hook’s Ponthe Oldenguine are only $4.99. We'd like to achieve similar price reductions for our paper books – while still managing to pay the printer, the authors and ourselves.

Atomic Fez does not believe – regardless of any issues relating to piracy or illegal downloading – that eBook sales 'cannibalize' printed book sales. In fact, eBooks actually allow for simultaneous worldwide distribution and save consumers both time and money on shipping costs.

Follow and interact with me on Twitter using @AtomicFez, ‘like’ the Facebook page at facebook.com/AtomicFezPublishing, and visit the site at AtomicFez.com. Or join our Goodreads group to see interviews with the Atomic Fez authors: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/40127.Atomic_Fez_Publishing