change your mind: Propaganda Press

Showing posts with label Propaganda Press. Show all posts

Monday, July 21, 2008

CONFESSIONS OF A WHITE HAT REVIEWED BY MICHAEL KRIESEL

Ed Galing's chapbook, Confessions of a White Hat, published by Propaganda Press, has been reviewed by renowned author Michael Kriesel. Michael's review of the book will be printed in Chiron Review, Free Verse, and Small Press Review.

In addition, both Michael and Ed have poems featured in Propaganda Press' latest collection of poetry by various authors, Poiesis #1, available for $4 [which includes shipping] from Alternating Current, PO Box 398058, Cambridge MA 02139, USA. Checks made out to Alternating Current, or Paypal to alt.current@gmail.com [Please send an email to the same address to let us know of your purchase while the website shopping cart is temporarily down. Sorry for the purchasing inconvenience.]

Michael Kriesel's review:

Confessions of a White Hat
By Ed Galing
2008; 36pp; Propaganda Press,
POB 398058 Cambridge,
MA 02139. $5.

Reviewed By Michael Kriesel

Poetry as history is Galing’s specialty. Plus he tells a damn good story.
Ed’s an inspiration to me. He’s 90 years old, lost his wife a year ago, and still keeps writing. Writing well. Even writing cheerful 2 and 3-page letters on an old electric typewriter to any small press poet who drops him a line.
I hope to do as well someday.
Galing’s known for story poems about Depression-era New York, back when teenagers would sneak into burlesque shows. Days when the refrigerator held a giant block of ice. Priceless, entertaining, vivid snapshots of a world long gone.
Confessions of a White Hat recounts Ed’s 17 years in the Naval Reserve, which he joined after his Army discharge at the end of WWII. A few photos interspersed make this a slice of history up close and personal. The poems are on a par with Thomas Michael McDade’s own fine Navy tales.
Highly recommended!

[Thanks Michael]

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

ALTERNATING CURRENT REVIEWS

A list of online reviews of our website, books, music, and all things indie that we produce at Alternating Current Arts Co-op. If you have a review or find one online that we don't have listed, send it to us, please and thank you.

[Reverse chronological, newest on top:]

Confessions of a White Hat by Ed Galing in Chiron Review, Small Press Review, and Free Verse [ours]
Confessions of a White Hat by Ed Galing in The Somerville News [ours]
Confessions of a White Hat by Ed Galing on EdGaling.blogspot.com [ours]
Alternating Current on 45 Nation [ours]
temperance in moderation by leah angstman on Nightwaves [ours]

REVIEWS FOR ED GALING'S NEW CHAPBOOK

The newest release from Propaganda Press, "Confessions of a White Hat" by Ed Galing, has garnered a little local attention. Doug Holder of Ibbetson Street Press, The Somerville News (Arts Editor), and the official blog of author Ed Galing, has reviewed the poetry chapbook on Galing's blog and in the Off The Shelf section of The Somerville News:

I speak to 91 year old Hatboro, Pennsylvania[,] poet Ed Galing on a regular basis, and I am amazed that despite his advanced years his mind is still sharp, and he continues to regale the small press with his prolific output of poetry and prose. Ed at this stage in the game is being discovered and is being published in such top shelf [magazines as]: Pearl, Margie, Rattle[,] and others.

I am also glad that a local press: Propaganda Press, headed by [Cambridge] resident Leah Angstman, has published a new [chapbook] from Ed. Ed has written extensively about his days as a boy on the streets of the Lower East Side of New York City, his stint as an occupation soldier during World War ll, and his life in America as a Jew, family man, and the many other roles he has played in the long expanse of his lifetime.

His latest book "Confessions of a White Hat" deals with his time as a naval reservist in the post World War ll Cold War era. In characteristic Galing style[,] he gives the reader the taste and texture of the Navy-life, as he knew it. Here Galing describes the milieu, and the sensibility of his place and time:

The Beginning

we are a motley
crew
as motley as
you could ever wish
for; fresh out of
other branches
of the service,
after world war
two,
the reserves
wave a silver
platter before
our eyes;
ex-marines
soldiers
coast guard
waves
we all clamber
on board,
not willing to
forget the
military yet;
the cold war
is still on;
unrest in other
parts of the
world,
the russian bear,
i had to be nuts
but six months
after i get out
of the Army
i am now a
member of the
naval air
on active duty
at an air station
four miles from
home,
and the fat is in
the fire once
again.

Ed tells me that Leah Angstman is going to publish more of his work so that he can speak to us well after his death. Let's hope that Ed stays around on this earthly plain for some years to come.

Nipping the rumors: We are, in fact, publishing more of Ed's work. Due out Friday we have:

Diner, reprinted poems from 1999, $5.
Bargain Basement and other selected poems, reprinted poems from 2001, $4.
Out On A Limb, reprinted poems from 2002, $5.
Shadows On The Wall, reprinted poems from 2006, $4.
Chasing The World Never Catching Up, a new chapbook of collected works, $4.

Chapbooks of Ed's due out before the end of the month:

Loose Ends, reprinted poems from 1999, $6.
Raising The Roof (and other poems), reprinted poems, $4.
Rooftops (A Poetry Collection), reprinted poems, $5.
Senior Center, reprinted poems from 2001, $5.
Lower East Side Poems, a new chapbook of collected works, $5.

All of these chapbooks are available by sending check or money order made out to Alternating Current to Alternating Current, PO Box 398058, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA, or electronically via Paypal, sent to the address alt.current@gmail.com. Please send us an email to the same email address letting us know your purchasing wishes. Advanced orders are accepted. We are sorry for the purchasing inconvenience while the website is down. If you wish to review any of these publications, please let us know the details, and we will send you a press kit.

Friday, March 21, 2008

SEVEN PUBLISHING SECRETS THAT CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED

I recently got an email from the pool of peeps over at Outskirts Press that detailed the "Seven Publishing Secrets That Can Help You Succeed." I just thought it was interesting and quick, so I am passing it along:

1.) Keep all your rights and get a non-exclusive contract.
2.) Set your own royalty and retail price for your book.
3.) Professional interior formatting and typesetting should be included.
4.) Personal marketing guidance after publication should be included.
5.) Have access to flexible print runs from 1 to 1000s.
6.) Be sure your author price is below wholesale, regardless of quantity.
7.) Receive distribution through Ingram; Baker & Taylor; and Amazon.

Outskirts Press is a print-on-demand publisher, and apparently, they do all these things, or they wouldn't be telling me that a good print place does all these things. What I will add is this:

1.) Be sure you get rights to an eBook. EBooks are the future of the world.
2.) I would also say you should get distribution through Barnes & Noble and Borders, too, since those are huge booksellers, and ultimately, it costs the printers beans to go through them.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

NEW EVENTS CALENDAR

We have incorporated a new events calendar into our sidebar. It will feature all kinds of events, color-coded by subject [click on arrow in top right of calendar to see a dropdown list of all subjects]. You can subscribe to the calendar or individual subjects within the calendar, and it will be updated constantly. The calendar is accessible by clicking on the calendar in the sidebar, or by following the link below.

VIEW THE CALENDAR.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

LINKS TO OUR OTHER NETWORKING SITES

Alternating Current: Sites, Projects, Coordinators, & Editors:

This list grows as we add new social networking profiles, feed readers, and general ways to stay informed, connected, and... well... out there. Check them all out, add us as a friend, subscribe to our blogs and feeds, and stay tuned to the growing revolution.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

TEMPERANCE IN MODERATION BY LEAH ANGSTMAN REVIEWED ON NIGHTWAVES WEBSITE

Although it isn't the best review we have ever seen, since it focuses more on the theme of the book, rather than the actual writing content, we are still always happy to get reviews! The book reviewed is a chapbook of poetry centering around a particular love interest: temperance in moderation by leah angstman, published by us and featuring the work of an Alternating Current poet. The reviewer is Nightwaves Website, a reviewer we do not know [we stumbled upon it in a Google search], and whom has thusfar not returned our contact emails.

---

Temperance in Moderation- 2002- Propaganda Press, PO Box 304, Mason, MI, 48854, USA, indiearts@hotmail.com

This is a collection of poetry by Leah Angstman (is that her real name?... sounds like a pen name if I ever heard one!). From what I can tell, every poem in this book is dedicated to Andrew McCauley, whom I'm assuming is very special to Leah. In fact, after a while this sort of became a bit too obsessive for my tastes. Poem after poem dedicated to the greatness of Andrew. I'm sure Andrew is a swell guy, but come on, this sounds like the gushing of a 14 year old with a severe crush. Don't get me wrong, this poetry is far from stupid, in fact Leah does show an able pen, but the subject matter is just too one-sided. I mean, there's one poem called "Andrew is Everything"!!! On one hand, I do hope that Leah and Andrew get married someday, they have kids, and spend the rest of their lives happy. But I also think it is very possible that this young lady will one day regret the fact that she ever wrote this zine. I get rather leery whenever I see anyone being put on a pedestal.

---

A few things, and not just a rebuttal, but just a few things for those who want a more in-depth review:

The book can no longer be purchased from this listed address. Propaganda Press can now be reached at Alternating Current, PO Box 398058, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA, alt-current.com, alternating-current.blogspot.com, alt.current@gmail.com.
leah angstman does not capitalize her name, which is an anti-proper noun statement that urges the reader to focus more on the writing and the words than the importance of the author. In addition, leah does not capitalize any of her poetry, titles, or poem lines, nor use punctuation in her poems. This is her way of allowing you to take from each poem a unique and personalized experience that is individualized by each reader's differing analysis and perception of each line.
Yes, angstman is the author's given last name from her father's German ancestry. No, it is not a pen name.
Most of leah's poetry collections center around an individual theme or a group of themes, people, cities, ideas, conceptions: this particular one centers around a particular love at the time. If you do not like themed poetry collections, especially about individual people, character sketches, or personality dissections, then I would suggest reading an anthology of leah's work [aftermath, a woman among the wolves], rather than an individual themed chapbook. She really does have very many different styles: poetry about life on an Indian Reservation [a thousand ghosts], poetry about big cities [chicago in winter, fancy that of london], poetry about travels [next exit], and more. Explore, and you will find something you like.
[A slight rebuttal:] leah is not 14 years old, nor does the writing suggest that. Tack on double that amount, and actually read the words, rather than getting hooked up on the subject matter. The works in this particular collection contain some of leah's best words to date.
leah does not and will not ever regret writing her poetry collections. They center around a place, moment, person, idea in time; and that feeling in that moment is chronicled forever in words. leah and Andrew are not married and not together, nor were they at the time the book was written. The work, however, does not put the person on a pedestal so much as it shows the passion and wanting of human beings in a certain situation.
The chapbook is only available now in short supply while copies last. It is slated for release in the upcoming paperback by leah angstman, january girl, which is a collection of fifteen chapbooks compiled into one that will be available through Propaganda Press upon release.

Friday, January 18, 2008

CHAPBOOK GUIDELINES BROCHURE NOW AVAILABLE

Interested in printing a poetry or short story chapbook with Propaganda Press?

We now have guideline and promotional services brochures that detail all the information, prices, additional options, marketing materials, and distribution services that we provide for you to publish your chapbook with us. If you are a writer and are interested in getting your work published with one of the leading presses in the underground, then email us your mailing address, and we will send you the guidelines/services brochure and a sample copy of one of our printed chapbooks FREE!

What have you got to lose? It's FREE to find out if it's right for you! Find out how we can help give you added exposure for your art today!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

"CONFESSIONS OF A WHITE HAT" BY ED GALING

NOW AVAILABLE

CONFESSIONS OF A WHITE HAT
by Ed Galing

$6.87
[which includes shipping]

Full of tales of Ed's younger life in the U.S. Navy in the late 1950's/early 1960's, this concept chapbook follows Ed, now 90 years old, on a spiraling tale of self-discovery and self-worth in the Naval ranks. In poetry full of secrets revealed, losses recounted, friendships made, and bridges burned, Ed talks of the struggle to gain status, economic stability, and self-importance in the eyes of peers, chiefs, captains, home, and society. The poems are touching, honest, painful, and reflective, as you feel for knowing that most of the men in these ranks are gone now. Ed is one of the last of his breed, and this poetry chapbook proves he has staying power and that his memories on paper will linger as long as the history and tales of his now-defunct Naval air station.

Poetry chapbook now available from Propaganda Press. $6.87 [which includes shipping]. Mail check or money order made out to Alternating Current, along with your mailing address and description of what you are purchasing, to: Alternating Current, PO Box 398058, Cambridge MA 02139, USA. Or send Paypal payments using the email address alt.current@gmail.com and email us a description of what you are purchasing and your full mailing address to alt.current@gmail.com. Sorry for the purchasing inconvenience while our website is down.

MONTHLY POSTCARD MAILINGS

We are now mailing out monthly postcards to let people know what's new, in lieu of making catalogs to send in the mail. With internet being as widespread as it is, there is just no need to keep printing catalogs. We will send a postcard with all our new offerings to anyone who has made a purchase or contacted us within the previous month. Twice a year we will send out mass mailings to everyone on our list. If you want to receive the next postcard for January 2008, please email us with your full mailing address, including full name, and the best email address at which to reach you to let you know of new offerings.

Friday, December 7, 2007

PRINT YOUR CHAPBOOK WITH PROPAGANDA PRESS

We are back to printing your chapbooks! After a brief hiatus, we are back with a vengeance, with the ultimate goal being to make Propaganda Press the number one place underground authors come to get noticed. I know we can do it, but it takes all of us.

We have reduced the price in our chapbook printing: reduced by $42 for small lots and $30 for larger lots, to bring you absolutely the lowest price we possibly could. In addition to this, we have added more royalties to our distribution. We now automatically distribute for all of our publications [save a $10 website maintenance fee per author per book published], and we pay each author of individual publications a 75¢ royalty per book sold [previously, we did not pay any royalties; in our goal of promoting artists, we have decided to eat the costs and to help support the authors, while still giving them low prices on publishing. It's the best of both worlds!]. You keep ALL of the books you buy from us and can sell them for ANY amount; we print ADDITIONAL books that we distribute on our website, and you get royalties off EACH one of those distributed books sold FOR LIFE!

Why print with us?

Our chapbooks are now 10 double-sided printed pages each, totaling 40 pages, and including a flashy colored-paper cover. You can easily fit 20-40 poems inside, still sell your books for $2.10 to break even [for larger lots], AND make a 75¢ royalty on all books we print and sell FOR LIFE! We distribute the book for free on our website, market it, make advertisements for it, give you an author profile on our website, and help promote your book in the underground scene. We also offer additional promotional products at super discount deals, such as vinyl stickers and glossy postcard advertisements.

Currently our chapbook printing prices [which covers the labor, shipping, printing, inks, CD-RWs, advertisements, copying, layout/typesetting, proofs/release forms, color covers, etc.] are:

50 chapbooks for $118
100 chapbooks for $210

Additional costs: $18 if you want us to design your cover using the help of local artists who read through your book and make a cover design to fit the material; $5 additional typesetting, if you send the material on paper and not on CD-R or CD-RW; $15 additional if we have to ship your package out of the U.S.

There is also an additional fee for the royalties, which is just a necessity due to the cost of checks, postage, transaction fees, and envelopes. This fee, however, comes out of your initial check, so you don't actually have to physically pay it, but we want to let you know about it. There is a $2.50 fee taken out of your first check of each year if we have to physically mail you a check, and there is a $1.50 fee taken out of your first transaction of each year if we pay you via your Paypal account. Royalties are cumulated and paid out quarterly, in March, June, September, and December of each year.

WE WILL BE GLAD TO MAIL YOU A FREE SAMPLE KIT!!

Since the website is currently down for construction, please email us at alt.current@gmail.com if you are interested in having a chapbook printed!