The Outsider Manifesto Part 2- Why Outsider Publishing
Another Indy publisher, why should we care? While dismissive and kinda arseface thing to say it is a valid question. In today’s flooded market you do need a reason for people to care and we get that. We feel that if we can not offer something unique then we shouldn’t be offering anything. So then the question becomes what do we offer that others do not…. That is somehow both an easy question to answer and an incredibly complex one to explain.
The first thing that we need to establish is that all creators deserve the outlet to get themselves seen. This is one of the founding principles we set our foundation upon. Not every creator has a chance with big publishers who have shareholders to answer to about what they print. Here at Outsider we have two shareholders, both of whom are also creators and are willing to publish a story for the sake of it getting read and not worry if it will sell more or less than this other story that is more “mainstream.” Artistic merit and reader enjoyment will forever be more important than turning a profit, with the obvious caveat that if we do not profit the platform we have disappears.
That raises the 2nd relevant point, we respect that we have a platform. We intend on publishing many anthologies, using our platform to give voice to stories that might have never been given a chance otherwise. We want those that feel like they are like us Outsiders to have a place to “fit in”, to belong. Im a straight white christian male, I’m not an Outsider from a sociological stand point, but I do not belong with most that fit my description, so I will still have an Outsider’s perspective, but Ill forever be looking further outside to see those stories that need to be platformed. We understand that the words we publish effect those that read it and we understand that we have a responsibility to not publish things that insult, degrade or otherwise hurt anyone, be that based on race, religion, sexual identity, gender or any other reason. Yes we will write characters who have those traits, yes we will have characters that express illogical or hateful feelings towards those characters but we will never treat those that show those feelings as though they should be emulated or seen in positive light. We are not going to use our platform to spread hate.
Ok that’s what you won’t do, what will you do then? Well first we intend on having open submissions for our anthologies for the foreseeable future. We want every person who has a story that fits the theme to have a chance to get their story heard. We want to read the stories the big publishers might shy away from, we want that perspective you can only get from standing outside the norm. We are open to any creative ideas, any new takes on old ideas anything that is outside the ordinary. We want to work with established creators and discover new ones.
Outsider Publishing promises to always treat our readers with respect, we do not promise that we wont ever annoy you or create a product you think is perfect every single time, those are unrealistic and dishonest goals. We promise to always have the best intent and to listen to our community and to address every concern we can. We also promise to always produce the best version of the work we can. We will give the best we can every time, that’s not an unrealistic promise, its the way we do things. We know that short term sales is not actual growth and will always place growing our reader base over growing sales.
A guy once said “If it looks good, you’ll see it. If it sounds good, you’ll hear it. If its marketed right, you’ll buy it. But… If its real… you’ll feel it.” now that guy is a dumbass but that quote is true. I want you to know why we matter, why you should care, I want to tell you every reason why Outsider Publishing Company is different or better, but the truth is that I cant explain to you what sets us apart, its something that you will only understand once you have experienced it. I think our work will convince you that we are the things we say we are. Join us on the journey, we going to make it one way or the other, we would love the company along the way, but if we have to go alone we will, WE ARE OUTSIDER.
To find Part one click here
