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  • ScenesWrite Bloody Publishing an interview with Derrick Brown

Could you briefly describe your press's history?

Write Bloody Publishing was started in 2004 by traveling poet and former paratrooper, Derrick C. Brown.

After spending the mid 1990s and early 2000s book touring throughout Europe and the US, (I) Brown realized the untapped potential in the contemporary poetry market for authors who were hitting the road reading in bars, theaters, and clubs. Authors had to learn the art of building fanbases by putting on entertaining readings.

I was seeing young, smart, page savvy poets, prose writers and poetry performers sell out shows, with only self-published, junky looking chapbooks available for sale. It seemed ridiculous and fateful that publishing houses—both mainstream or independent—hadn't signed on some of the best known, hardest working touring authors on the scene today.

I envisioned a publishing house that celebrated touring authors, a press that would give gorgeous, modern, ISBN-kissed books to those hard-working authors who rocked stages, crashed on couches and slept in vans. It also had to take only the best authors and market them to the world with a solid distribution plan.

This has been the guiding philosophy of Write Bloody: Let the poets and authors who tour be the marketing; let this publishing house be the source for a movement.

Write Bloody is now partnered with authors of over 135 titles, who are working together to make this vision come true. Brown's background in the independent music and indie arts heavily influenced the look and feel of Write Bloody. Utilizing rock album designers and photographers, Write Bloody's look is as fresh, hard-charging and unapologetic as its writers are.

Our authors are diverse and out there—in small record shops and large colleges, in strange theaters and swampy bars—doing readings all across Europe, Australia, Canada, UK and the United States. Going to a reading will one day be as common as going to the movies or to see a band and Write Bloody is currently paving the way. Our books are found in bookstores around the world from Guam to Berlin.

I started it in 2004 and had no idea what to expect. I am a pretty organized person due to my time as a paratrooper. Few realize what it takes to run a successful publishing company. I love the desperation that comes from having to sell books or face starvation.

How would you characterize the work you publish?

The work we publish goes for the gut. Our poetry is not afraid to be accessible poetry, funny poetry, queer poetry, haunting poetry, working class poetry.

We have no board, so all the decisions are made by Derrick. This allows us to make bolder decisions on who we publish. It also allows us to have total control of design, which is based on Derrick's taste in music. He uses a staff of freelance, editors, designers, proofers, and media marketers to push the work internationally. We are looking for that unique blend of authors who really care about their craft but are talented at sharing their work as well. It is much rarer than you think.


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Presses who have really boring readings tend to think our work is gimmicky or not to be taken seriously, but we are serious as a heart attack. We are one of the top-selling poetry presses in the nation because we care about the audience and are on their side. We never had a boost from academia. Our authors should care about finely tuned edits as well as building their following through live, engaging readings.

As a touring author, you learn a lot from having tour dates mandated into your contract. I've learned to address hecklers and most of our poets learn great performance skills the more they tour. Hecklers are common at comedy shows, sometimes now, poetry readings. To stop the show and to address them in a way that gets the audience on your side is key. It is such a fine line between making the audience feel awkward and making them feel like you know they care...

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