Looking back on 2020, and looking forward to what is to come in 2021

Let’s start with 2021. Specifically, a sneak peek at three Bizarro Pulp Press covers. Feast, eyes, feast…

Pictured above, in order, is CRIMSON KING, LOST LETTERS TO A LOVER’S CARCASS, and IN CONTROL. We do not, as yet, have anything to show off for THE RUN FANTASTIC, since that is currently being worked on. Full cover releases will happen in February, along with small previews from the books themselves. Work on the Bizarro Pulp Press manuscripts, specifically, are done for the time being.

Edits commenced, last week, for the one and only 2021 Strangehouse title, QUEEN OF TEETH. Art for that book is still very, very early days, and we don’t anticipate having anything to show off until January or February. As with our 2020 releases, there will be multiple editions of QUEEN OF TEETH. The hardcover edition will contain interior art, exclusive to that release. The trade paperback will have no interior art, as well as different cover art. There will be a deluxe edition of QUEEN OF TEETH, limited to 15 copies, numbered, and including a signed bookplate (by author/artist) featuring exclusive art. This deluxe edition may come with additional items, but these items are being reviewed by us over the winter months, so we don’t want to step on our own toes. Not yet, anyway.

And, Don Noble has begun assembling his work for PULP TRASH: the Complete Short Works of D.F. Noble, which includes a brand new novella, and the never-before-published ending to his series, TRAILER TRASH SAMURAI, which has had previous entries published in various anthologies. He is also creating all-new art for this release, which we are planning on publishing in an oversized, 8.5″x11″ hardcover, making it so that the collection can also double as a coffee-table art book.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Day continues to chip away at his novella, OCTOBER ANIMALS.

QUEEN OF TEETH is our only traditional release for 2021. Neither PULP TRASH nor OCTOBER ANIMALS will be released in trade paperback; both titles are seeing release only in celebration of our 5th-year anniversary at Rooster Republic. As such, they will only be available through us.

We plan on showing off more from the Strangehouse/Rooster releases during March, after we’ve showcased the Bizarro Pulp Press titles in February.

But… what of 2020?

We released three titles:

The anthology: NOT ALL MONSTERS.

The book of poetry: CRADLELAND OF PARASITES.

The horror novel: FAIREST FLESH.

And, now that enough time has passed, we feel comfortable saying, explicitly, that ALL THREE of these titles were showcased in the December 2020 Night Worms subscription package. What a wonderful opportunity to get these books into the hands of so many readers! Horror for Christmas sounds alright to us. We sincerely hope the subscribers enjoy these titles, and look forward to what these authors bring to the proverbial table in the future.

Word of mouth for all three of our releases have been extremely positive, and each title has performed very well in both their hardcover and trade editions. We look forward to further opening up those sales channels in the New Year, and hopefully getting more books into more hands in 2021. Our expectations have been exceeded in 2020, in no small part because we were gifted with such remarkably talented collaborators.

And that, really, has been the shining light of this last year: the books and the art.

2020 has been extremely trying, to put it mildly, for just about everyone (take a look, for instance, at this announcement from Grindhouse Press) in the indie publishing community. Most all of us are one or two person teams. We are busting our asses for these books during a relatively normal year, to say nothing of 2020, which has been the equivalent of having a port-a-potty on the last day of a four-day outdoor music festival explode into your mouth.

And so… we cautiously look forward to 2021. We (and others) have eaten quite enough shit, thank you.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for the support.

We could not, under any circumstances, do what we do without readers, writers, reviewers, and the folks out there making their own art and putting it out into the world.

TTFN