Tag: Catalyst Press | CatalystPress

The Year in Review

This has been quite a year for us! You can read all about it in this wrap-up from Catalyst Press founder/publisher, Jessica Powers. And though we’re nearing the end of the year, there’s still time to support Catalyst and the books and authors you love!

All of our books are 30% when you buy from our website. Just use the code READING at check out. You can also support us through our Bookshop.org shop, which features our books plus our special #ReadingAfrica Week book lists featuring some of our favorites and books from the authors who graced the virtual stage for our #ReadingAfrica panels.

You can also support us with a one-time or recurring tax-deductible donation through Fractured Atlas, a 501(c)(3) arts organization that has offered us fiscal sponsorship.

We’re going to be hanging up our “Gone Reading” sign for the rest of the month, so things will be a little quiet while the Catalyst team gets some much-needed rest. We’ll see you in 2023!

This has been an astonishing year for Catalyst Press. We have now been publishing for six years! Our first books—Dark Traces by Martin Steyn and Sacrificed by Chanette Paul, both translations from Afrikaans into English—came out in November 2017. I’m honored to have started with those two stellar books, and honored by how far we’ve come.

This year marked milestone after milestone for us. From Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, whose critically-acclaimed and award-winning books we’re proud to publish, being named a Windham-Campbell Prize Winner, to finally getting a review in the New York Times Sunday Book section, to most of our children’s books being selected as Junior Library Guild honor books, to publishing this year’s Caine Prize winner, to starred reviews, to other honors, to other awards, to books being named to important lists… It’s been an incredible year. As I keep saying to people when they ask, “It’s all amazing…and now, if the press can just start making money!”

An Update from Catalyst Publisher/Founder Jessica Powers

Dear friends of Catalyst Press,

In just a few short weeks, it feels like the world as we have known it has collapsed. We’re all trying to keep in touch as best we can, and those of us who can work from home are doing so, but we know that a lot of people have lost or will lose their jobs; we know that people will have trouble paying rent or feeding their families. And meanwhile, all of us have to deal with the fear and uncertainty of an illness that can be deadly, and may affect us or our loved ones.

The economic shutdown of the USA has affected book publishers in myriad ways. Amazon is making shipping of books a low priority. Independent booksellers have changed the way they work with customers, and are working to ship online orders as well as provide curbside pickups. But booksellers and publishers alike are going to be dramatically affected by the quarantines and shelter-in-place orders, primarily through loss of sales, but also through loss of marketing opportunities to get the word out about our books through reviews and other outlets that are also not operating under optimal conditions (or at all.)

Catalyst Press is committed to weathering this storm but, as a new small press we are especially vulnerable to a tank in sales. This is true for all small presses, not least for us. For those of you who really want to support us during this time, here are a few ways:

If you’re in North America, you can order new and older books directly from our website or from independent bookstores at this link.
South Africa is in a severe lockdown right now, and deliveries of books aren’t happening. In the meantime, you can order ebooks at Amazon. We always want to support independent bookstores but in this particular case, please do buy ebooks on Amazon! But if you want to buy physical books and you can wait for them to be delivered, you can order copies from LAPA, our distributor in South Africa, and they will resume deliveries when they can.
We are also able to accept one-time or recurring tax-deductible donation through Fractured Atlas, a 501 (c) (3) arts organization that has offered us fiscal sponsorship. This is an option we’d love for you to consider anytime, of course!
Even if ordering books or offering donations is not possible for you at this time, we love hearing from our supporters on social media, this blog, or via email, so please feel free to drop us a kind note anytime. We’d love to hear about past books we published that you loved, future books you’re looking forward to, or suggestions for future books.

Thanks guys. Keep in touch and stay well!

Jessica, Publisher & Founder, Catalyst Press (with imprints Story Press Africa & Powers Squared)

What to Expect When You’re Expecting (to Read a Book from Catalyst Press)

2020 is just around the corner (which, is simply unbelievable. Wasn’t it just summer?!), so we wanted to give you a preview about some of the great books we’ve got planned for the new year. This post will cover, roughly, the first half of 2020 (with one book that’s set for release in late 2019), and part two, covering the rest of the year, is coming soon.

Many of these books are ready for pre-order right now, so if someone (you) were looking to add a few books to the to-be-read pile, someone (you) would be in luck. All right, onward! Continue reading “What to Expect When You’re Expecting (to Read a Book from Catalyst Press)”

We Kiss Them With Rain Selected as a 2019 Outstanding International Book

Huge congratulations to Futhi Ntshingila, whose book We Kiss Them With Rain was just selected as a 2019 Outstanding International Book by The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)!

The awards honors international books for young people that give American readers a unique insight into lives from around the world. Futhi’s book is honored in the grades 9-12 category (although we think it’s an excellent choice for readers of all ages!). You can see the full list of honorees here. And you can order Futhi’s book here.

Congratulations, Futhi!

From the Editor’s Desk: 2018 Reflections

This comes from our newsletter series, From the Editor’s Desk, where Catalyst founder/publisher, Jessica, gives you a peek behind the Catalyst curtain. Subscribe to our newsletter to get more looks inside Catalyst HQ, author Q&As, giveaways, and more!

I have to tell you the truth, I’m feeling kind of tired. But it’s a good tired! 2018 was a whirlwind year (following 2017, its own kind of whirlwind) and included many firsts. For this Editor‘s Desk column, I thought I’d tell you what some of those firsts were–all of them worthy of celebration. And hopefully I’ll find some time to do just that this month–celebrate all the firsts of 2018. Continue reading “From the Editor’s Desk: 2018 Reflections”

#ReadingAfrica Week

Join us for Reading Africa Week December 2-8!

Last year, we launched our first-ever Reading Africa Week. We wanted to bring attention to all of the writers who are doing all kinds of diverse and genre-spanning work from every corner of Africa. And because we’re an indie publisher, we really wanted to spotlight all of the great things our colleagues in the indie publishing world are doing. So if you want to a) highlight the diversity of African writers and b) show off how awesome the indie world is in doing just that, you start a campaign called Reading Africa—at least that’s what we did.

We reached out to a few presses and asked them to use the hashtag #ReadingAfrica on their social media posts to spotlight new books, old favorites, upcoming releases, and gems from their catalogs to show people that in the words of Cassava Republic founder Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, “African writing is not a genre. It encapsulates different genres.” This year, we’re planning an even bigger event, and we’ve reached out to more publishers, literary orgs, and bloggers. Continue reading “#ReadingAfrica Week”

Coming Attractions

We’ve had a good year so far. Since January, we’ve released four books making our current catalog six books deep. We’re really proud of the work we’ve been able to do since we’ve launched, and we’re excited about what the future holds.

Let’s talk about the future.

We can’t wait for you to read our next releases. There are kid’s books, thrillers, sci-fi, graphic novels, memoirs, fiction, non-fiction, you name it. We thought we’d share some of the great Catalyst titles coming to bookstores in the next year. Some are available for pre-order right now, if that’s your thing (we hope it’s your thing). And if you’re looking for any of our current titles, they are for sale right here on this very site, if that’s your thing (we hope that’s your thing, too). You can keep up with us as we share more news about these releases by signing up for our newsletter. Continue reading “Coming Attractions”

Do You Have a Story to Tell?

Story Press Africa, our collaborative imprint with South African media company Jive Media Africa, is looking for submissions from artists and illustrators who want to tell the stories and histories of Africa as part of our African Graphic Novel Series.

The first installment in the series, Shaka Rising—a graphic novel for young readers—told the story of a young Zulu leader’s rise to power against the backdrop of one of southern Africa’s most turbulent times. We want to continue bringing these stories to the page and to readers everywhere. Please read our submission guidelines and get in touch if you have a proposal. We look forward to hearing from you!

Continue reading “Do You Have a Story to Tell?”

Chanette Paul Guest Posts at Crime Thriller Hound

Chanette Paul’s newest release, the continent and era spanning thriller Sacrificed was featured as the book of the week at the site Crime Thriller Hound, a site promoting “the best in crime and thriller fiction.” She was also invited to write a guest post for the site on her experiences of writing and place.

Some highlights:

On writing about Belgium:

Once I started writing, it dawned on me that I wasn’t so much a novelist attempting to set a story in a foreign European country, but rather a novelist from Africa writing from an African perspective.

On bridging the gap between South African and foreign readers:

The historic and political context needed clarification to an international audience without stunting the flow of the story –which is difficult enough – but I also had to avoid boring my South African readers.

On writing about her home:

I learned to look through intercontinental eyes and rediscover the mystery and uniqueness of the continent I live on and love.

Head over to Crime Thriller Hound to read her full essay