Zig Zag Wanderer is the ninth ebook Open Road has published from Madison Smartt Bell.
Book helps Concord Free Press reach $500,000 in donations.
(New York, NY—September 17, 2015)—Open Road Integrated Media, a digital publisher and multimedia content company, announced today an agreement with Madison Smartt Bell to publish his story collection Zig Zag Wanderer: Stories from Here, Stories from There as an ebook on September 29, 2015. The book’s print edition was published in 2014 by Concord Free Press, the Massachusetts publisher that gives away high-quality original paperback books and encourages readers to donate to outside organizations or individuals in need in exchange for a free book. The Concord Free Press edition of Zig Zag Wanderer has inspired more than $45,000 in generosity around the world, helping the publisher to reach the $500,000 mark in donations raised. With this new agreement, Bell will donate at least 15% of his earnings from the Open Road ebook edition to Concord Free Press.
Open Road has previously published eight Madison Smartt Bell titles, including The Washington Square Ensemble, Straight Cut, The Year of Silence, and Soldier’s Joy.
Stretching from New York to Haiti to Paris to London, Zig Zag Wanderer is a collection of eighteen stories informed by Bell’s eye for revealing detail and empathy for his characters—most of them outsiders in one way or another. All of the stories is influenced by music, and by Bell’s interest in the musicality of prose.
“We are excited to welcome Zig Zag Wanderer into our Open Road catalogue of Madison Smartt Bell ebooks,” said Jane Friedman, CEO and Cofounder of Open Road Integrated Media. “This addition is a prime example of Open Road’s commitment to reinvigorating the backlist catalogs of great writers.”
“We’re proud to see Madison’s fantastic collection Zig Zag Wanderer published in an ebook edition with the innovative team at Open Road,” said Stona Fitch, Editor-in-Chief of Concord Free Press. “It’s a great example of how books can have many lives, moving seamlessly from one format and approach to another—all to reach new readers.”
Madison Smartt Bell is a critically acclaimed writer of more than a dozen novels and story collections, as well as numerous essays and reviews for publications such as Harper’s and the New York Times Book Review. His books have been finalists for both the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, among others. He is well known for his Haitian Revolutionary trilogy: All Souls Rising, Master of the Crossroads, and The Stone That the Builder Refused.
About Concord Free Press
We publish original trade paperback books and give them away, asking only that readers donate money to a cause they believe in or a person in need—then pass their book along so others can give. Our unconventional, author-led, all-volunteer approach has attracted attention throughout the world and created a new publishing model—generosity-based publishing. Our advisory board includes Megan Abbott, Russell Banks, Stona Fitch, Stephen McCauley, Joyce Carol Oates, Tom Perrotta, Francine Prose, Ron Slate, and other authors and artists.
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Contact for Open Road Integrated Media:
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Hiltzik Strategies
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