Consortium Book Sales & Distribution (Consortium), exclusive distributor of leading independent publishers and a member of the Perseus Books Group, is pleased to announce it reached a deal to distribute Third Man Books in the United States and Canada effective March 1, 2015.Third Man Books is an extension both philosophically and literally of Third Man Records, founded by musician Jack White in 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee. The physical location opened in 2009 and quickly evolved from a music label into a complete in-house hub for art-making and dream-chasing. Third Man’s mission is to support the creation and distribution of any and every form of expression, from music to poetry, fiction to film. In this spirit, Third Man Books was established in 2014 to further explore the music of language.
“Third Man Books will continue in the manufacture and sale of beautiful things. Those things being books,” note co-founders Chet Weise and Ben Swank (also co-founder of Third Man Records). “Much like the identity of our multiple Grammy-winning record label, Third Man Books will be based on adventure, bordering on recklessness, yet bound by craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail.” The press plans to print contemporary poetry, literary fiction, photography, biography, and more. With all TMB titles, there will be audio/video components and also craftsmanship to complement the work and love the author has paid to her/his words.
TMB’s first book was the ambitious Language Lessons, published last summer. A hardbound anthology comprised of three hundred pages of poetry and prose from notables ranging from Pulitzer and National Book Award finalists C.D. Wright, Adrian Matejka, and Dale Ray Phillips, to punk rock progenitors Richard Hell and Tav Falco, the collection also features two vinyl LPs of music and five frame-worthy broadsides. Upcoming Fall books include Hidden Water by Frank Stanford, a companion to Copper Canyon Press’ highly anticipated poetry collection, What About This. Described as “outtakes,”Hidden Water: From the Frank Stanford Archive includes a selection of unpublished poems and features facsimiles of drafts, letters, and artwork, plus a download of Stanford reading his poem “The Boathouse.” Both books will be the subject of a major feature in the May issue of Men’s Journal.
Another upcoming title is The Truth is We Are Perfect by Janaka Stucky, an ex-mortician, 2010 National Haiku Champion, and “Boston’s Best Poet” (the Boston Phoenix). Stucky will be reading on multiple dates with bestselling author Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket). Also publishing in the Fall isPain: The Board Game by Sampson Starkweather. A book of poetry featuring a board game called “Pain,”Pain is dark, with touches of hysterical humor, and is modeled on the popular 1970s board game Life.
“While some may believe Third Man’s devil-may-care celebration of enduring artistry a recipe for twenty-first century disaster, Jack White, myself, and Chet Weise consider it natural,” affirms Ben Swank, co-founder, Third Man Records and Third Man Books. “Many thought Third Man Records’ dedication to the The Rise and Fall of Paramount Records Volume 1–2 project was borderline funny-farm, but we only saw it as necessary, and won a 2015 Grammy Award. The same ethos drives TMR’s involvement in the renaissance of vinyl records, which are now breaking sales records. Our hope is that Third Man Books creates a new kind of literary community that we can learn from and add something back. In Consortium we find a kindred, independent partner who has a far reach and gets the job done, and also answers the phone to say, ‘Hello, how are you.'”
Julie Schaper, president and COO of Consortium, comments: “I love the bridge Third Man is trying to create between records and books. We’ve often thought indie music fans overlap with indie fiction fans and Third Man Books is proving that notion true. I look forward to a long, fruitful partnership that generates lots of new ideas and creative collaboration.”
“It’s a great honor to welcome Third Man Books into the Perseus and Consortium family,” notes David Steinberger, president and CEO of the Perseus Books Group. “We, and the publishing industry, just got a lot hipper with their foray into the literary world. I am confident Consortium can offer the best springboard for Third Man to continue to surprise audiences and defy expectations.”
Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, home to a community of award-winning publishers, believes in the power of independent voices. We strive to share new ideas—some that may otherwise not be discovered—with the world.
Consortium—Where Independent Publishers Live
About Third Man Books
Multi-Grammy-winning musician Jack White, along with Ben Swank (co-founders of Third Man Records), and Chet Weise (co-founder, Third Man Books) all shared the stage in their respective rock bands in the not-so-distant past. With the August 2014 release of Third Man Books’ first literary publication, Language Lessons: Volume I, a multimedia box set of prose, poetry, and music, Third Man Books launched for the future. Echoing Third Man Records’ reverence for music and commitment to innovation, Third Man Books is dedicated to publishing the best in language with the same level of respect, skill, and audaciousness. TMR & TMB: Where your turntable’s not dead & your page still turns.
About Consortium
Consortium grew out of a small book wholesaling cooperative in 1985 to become a full-service distributor, quickly earning a reputation as an advocate for independent publishers. Consortium now represents more than one hundred independent publishers from the United States, Canada, Europe, India, and Australia, enabling them to successfully reach the trade, library, and academic markets for their books. Consortium understands the importance of ideas, and our goal as a distributor is to introduce those ideas—some that may otherwise not be heard—to the widest possible audience. For more information, visit www.cbsd.com.
About the Perseus Books Group
The Perseus Books Group is an independent company committed to enabling independent book publishers to reach their potential, whether those publishers are Perseus-owned, joint ventures, or owned by third parties. Perseus publishing imprints include Avalon Travel, Basic Books, Basic Civitas, Da Capo Press, Da Capo Lifelong Books, PublicAffairs, Running Press, Seal Press, and Westview Press, as well as partnerships with The Daily Beast, The Nation Institute, and The Weinstein Company. Through Consortium Book Sales & Distribution, Perseus Distribution, Publishers Group West, and Legato Publishers Group, as well as through its Constellation digital service offering which also supports Argo Navis Author Services and Faber Factory Powered by Constellation, the Perseus Books Group is the leading provider of sales, marketing, distribution, and digital services, serving four hundred independent publishers. For more information, visit our websites at www.perseusbooks.com and www.constellationdigital.com.
Contact:
Consortium
Jennifer Swihart, Marketing Director
tel: 612.746.2633/fax: 612.746.2606
e-mail: jswihart@cbsd.com
Third Man Books
Chet Weise, Co-founder
tel: 615.891.4393 x 327
e-mail: chet@thirdmanrecords.com