Collection: HALF LETTER PRESS

We first learned of the existence of Half Letter Press when a customer sent us the link and said we should carry some of their publications. Upon visiting the site, we were so charmed that we promptly signed up for their totally unobtrusive and equally charming email newsletter.

In their own words, Half Letter Press is "a publishing imprint and online store initiated by Temporary Services. Temporary Services is now two people—Brett Bloom & Marc Fischer. We have published booklets as an element of our collaborative work since 1998. We created Half Letter Press to publish and distribute book and booklet length works by ourselves and others. We are interested in using this endeavor to build long-term support and expanded audiences for people that work creatively in experimental ways. We are particularly interested in supporting people and projects that have had difficulty finding financial and promotional assistance through mainstream commercial channels."

Often, when discussing the relative merits and drawbacks of sticking to your principles, folks who assume they're in the know will insist that being true to yourself and supporting your community isn't "sustainable." Well, you have to sell your books on Am@zon, they'll say. That's just where the customers are!

We're happy to report what you may already suspect or know: that Marc & Brett not only print many of their rad artists' books and booklets themselves, using all available and creative means, but also refuse to give any of the corporate bastards insinuating themselves into the book industry a piece of their business. Happily, this model has proven to be quite sustainable. Imagine: over two decades in the biz and they still haven't sold out! That's Gen X for you.

Because they're based in Chicago and Fort Wayne, a lot of the work they publish is inspired by those cities. In addition to publishing as Half Letter Press and Temporary Services, Brett and Marc also make books under two other solo imprints: Breakdown Break Down Press (Brett) and Public Collectors (Marc). Those publications are included in this collection as well.

The model Marc and Brett have sustained all these years is worth taking seriously, and we are inspired by their approach. If you catch us tabling in western Mass. we will likely have at least one of these titles on display. Come check them out IRL, or browse URL below.