I am very pleased that our Spring poetry books have finally published! It’s been a long and satisfying road working with the authors and translators who created some really exceptional books. I hope you will check out more information about their books on the website and our Spring 2014 Catalog for the full roundup.
We had wanted the books available for April 2014, during National Poetry Month, but frankly, sometimes we can’t get where we thought we were going in the time that was allotted. We ran into scheduling problems, and rather than rush to publish books before they were ready, we held out for perfection (or as close to it as possible) as our authors can attest to.
Our tag line “We are a small press with big ideas!” is accurate. While we pride ourselves in publishing beautiful, well-designed, readable books, we are a young press with a volunteer staff, with most of our authors teaching at colleges and universities across the country. Planning is key in all aspects of our lives, and while we planned out what we believed was a solid schedule, it didn’t quite happen as we anticipated.
In fact, very few publishers put out a book before it’s ready and will delay a book until it’s right. That’s a professional decision. I cannot tell you how many times authors have told me delaying is unprofessional, but smart business people do not put out a product that isn’t ready, especially books. My worst nightmare? Imagining readers and literary aficionados with big red pens inking our books because they are loaded with mistakes, and then receiving tons of emails chastising me and the authors for putting out cruddy work, a recipe for disaster (no books sold and/or a book that looks like a third grader put it out), so we thought it prudent to take time to get it right.
I often have to remind myself that 2Leaf Press is less than two years old (our second anniversary is on October 19, 2014), and that we have published 15 books in a very short period of time. Yet as time goes on, there is always room for improvement, so any time we miss the mark, we’re looking for ways to learn and grow from it. So I thank all of the authors for their patience and understanding, and hope our readers will forgive our lateness and continue to support 2Leaf Press and its authors.
— Gabrielle David
Publisher
