by Jim Pascoe
Tom and Jim kept the overheated pulp look for their own stuff, but all the UglyTown books had great covers—clever and classy designs that set them apart from the mainstream. Endpapers even. Like I said, classy.
And for a few glorious years, UglyTown rode the buzz. Tom and Jim, he of the ever-changing hair hues, were the Belles of the Bouchercon Balls, the Abbott and Costello of Crime Publishing, the Clown Princes of Pulpitude. The future looked bright.
Sadly, distribution was a real bitch. Or maybe they were simply too hip for the room. Whatever. Like Puff, UglyTown simply slipped into its cave.
And now Akashic has gone spelunking, and has dragged By the Balls: The Complete Collection up into the light . . .
What can I tell you? Like Tars Tarkas once said, “You are ugly, but you are beautiful.”
Welcome back, boys . . .
Benjamin LeRoy
Publisher of Tyrus Books, former publisher of Bleak House Books
Back when things were starting to get off the ground at Bleak House Books, the publishing world felt vast and isolating. My business partner and I were two kids in the middle of flyover country. For a guy who had grown up on a steady diet of punk rock and middle fingers, the big-office, white-gloved approach to literature that I assumed was the domain of folks in NYC was not exactly what I wanted to do. It was my parents. I was an unruly kid.
Metaphorically speaking, salvation would ultimately come in the form of a bus ride west to Los Angeles, like it had for so many aspiring actors and musicians in the past.
It wasn’t until I met with Jon and Ruth Jordan of CrimeSpree Magazine at an event in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin that somebody introduced me to the work of UglyTown, an independent press with a home in LA.
Jon told me stories of these two brash but brilliant characters cutting a larger-than-life swath through the crime fiction community. Outrageous suits. Theatrics. Jon told these stories with a gleam in his eye, a clear indication that whatever magic the UglyTown folks were conjuring was contagious in its aftereffects. It was enough to make me go back to the office and hop on the dial-up to see what all the fuss was about.
Let’s be honest—American pop culture is littered with gimmicky marketing angles, often enough as a sleight of hand to hide the fact that the end product isn’t actually good. Any trip to Book Expo America, complete with its collection of people dressed up in gorilla costumes or pacing the show floor with toilet seats around their necks, will show you that the publishing industry is not immune from this, no matter how literate it hopes to be. It was possible Jim and Tom’s antics were merely cheap parlor tricks to attract a reading crowd that would ultimately end up disappointed by the books they purchased.
But a quick glance at their website then, and a scan of the authors they published who are still working in today’s crime fiction world, would let you know they were on to something and had a genuine eye for talent. Sean Doolittle, Gary Phillips, Victor Gischler (who I would later have the good fortune of publishing at Tyrus), and the list goes on and on. The books published by UglyTown are a lasting testament to their genius.
Without the long distance and, to Tom and Jim, unknowing guidance of UglyTown, I’m not sure that I’d be here today. I needed to know that it was okay to be different in the business world, to carry over a love and appreciation for fringe culture with confidence. In the end, what ultimately mattered was producing books that resonate with others. Jim and Tom set the model for me, and for that, I am forever grateful.
Acknowledgments
In no particular order, we humbly give our heartfelt thanks to:
Our families, for standing by us through the years and tolerating our eccentricities: Gabrielle, Samantha, Poppy, Frankie, Blaise, and Jackie—you are all very precious to us.
Paul Pope, our blood brother.
The gang at Akashic: Johnny, Johanna, Ibrahim, and Aaron. Great partners, collaborators, and friends.
Chad Hermann, original editor of our first two novels. And the many folks who proofread those works, especially Jackie Estrada and Liesel Schulz.
Adam Waldman, the unsung hero of UglyTown design, who patiently oversaw—and sometimes completely redid—almost all of our book covers, teaching us invaluable lessons along the way.
Leisa Mock, Ryn Speich, Judy Wheeler, and Jeff Scott of Words, our first distributor. They brought us in from the cold, hard world of the wholesaler shuffle to the warm embrace of direct distribution. Words was a family, one we were very proud and honored to be part of.
Our favorite ink-slingers from Publishers Weekly: Calvin Reid (who was, is, and will continue to be, the man) and Steven Zeitchik (now with the Los Angeles Times).
Heather Harrison, who, upon bumping into us in the elevator of the Westin Bonaventure, gave us our first-ever publishing industry drink tickets. How can you not love that?
Kristin Keith, the first sales rep who really got us.
Dawn Bestafka, our very first printer rep.
Comrades-in-arms Adam Parfrey (Feral House/Process Media), Jodi Wille (Dilettante Press/Process Media), James Walsh (Silver Lake Press), and Mark Anderson (Ten Speed Press).
The three Sarahs (it was a very confusing time around the office): Sarah Ciston, our beleaguered editorial intern (and the best intern two guys could have asked for); Sara Frank, our dedicated and creative Phoenix Color printer rep; and Sarah Rosenberg, our tireless advocate at PGW.
UglyTown was fortunate to have a lot of support from booksellers all over the world. Independent bookstores, especially mystery stores, kept us going and inspired us to tell great stories and make great books. There is a small group of booksellers who backed us from day one, and each has our eternal thanks: Malcolm and Christine Bell of Mystery and Imagination; Barry Martin of Book’Em; Sheldon McArthur of the Mystery Bookstore; Kerry Slattery of Skylight Books; J.B. Dickey of the Seattle Mystery Bookshop, who we never met face-to-face but rallied behind us anyway; Linda Bivens of Crime Time Books, now closed, but it’s where we held our first signing; Maryelizabeth Hart of Mysterious Galaxy; and Ed Kaufman of M is for Mystery.
And finally, we thank all of the people who took the time to write some kind words about us. If you haven’t read them, please do.
Jim Pascoe is a writer, designer, and an Emmy Award–winning creative director. He is responsible for the packaging design of over 100 DVDs, including Mad Men, the 2010 Kubrick Collection, and Coraline, which won Best in Show at the Hollywood Reporter's Key Art Awards. He has written comics and books featuring Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kim Possible, and Hellboy. His graphic novel series Undertown was serialized in over fifty newspapers worldwide, and his recent crime fiction has appeared in Los Angeles Noir and Florida Heat Wave.
Tom Fassbender is a writer, editor, and content strategist who has written, edited, and published both novels and comics. By day he manages the creative team at a Southern California financial institution. He fills the rest of his time by being a father, tending beehives, running long distances (preferably in the Angeles National Forest), and seeking new adventures in and around Los Angeles.
Together, they cofounded UglyTown, the acclaimed independent crime fiction publishing company. They gave voice to then-newcomers Sean Doolittle, Victor Gischler, Curt Colbert, and Rodney Johnson as well as veterans Eddie Muller, Gary Phillips, and Nathan Walpow.
About Akashic Books
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Akashic Books is an award-winning independent company dedicated to publishing urban literary fiction and political nonfiction by authors who are either ignored by the mainstream, or who have no interest in working within th
e ever-consolidating ranks of the major corporate publishers. Akashic Books hosts additional imprints, including the Akashic Noir Series, the Akashic Drug Chronicles Series, the Akashic Urban Surreal Series, Punk Planet Books, Dennis Cooper's Little House on the Bowery Series, Open Lens, Chris Abani's Black Goat Poetry Series, and AkashiClassics: Renegade Reprint Series.
Our books are available from our website and at online and brick & mortar bookstores everywhere.
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