Kunati Books Named Independent Publisher of the Year
June 6th, 2008ForeWord Magazine named Kunati Books as the first “Independent Publisher of the Year” at its prestigious Book of the Year Awards at BEA in L.A. ForeWord’s Publisher Victoria Sutherland said, “In a word, or eight, Kunati inspired us to create this award. I hope the recognition inspires others to follow in their new but large and welcoming footsteps.”
The award is well-deserved. Kunati has exceeded all my expectations for a publisher. Unholy Domain is a startling work of speculative fiction, and only an exceptional publisher could provide proper support. Check out the video trailer to see what I mean.
The award was kept “top secret,” Kunati Publisher Derek Armstrong said. “We had no idea this award was in the works. We were surprised and delighted at the recognition, and credit most of our success to our authors.”
Victoria Sutherland explained the rationale for this important award: “The convergence in the industry led to the independent press community, where interesting and extraordinary moments still happen because creativity and provocativeness are allowed to flourish without beaucratic overhead. We felt those publishers should be recognized for their vitality and entrepreneurialism in spite of overwhelming odds not to get involved in the business. And who better to recognize them than the magazine created to cover them exclusively?”
Kunati has been called “a publisher to watch” by Booklist and “impressive” by Publishers Weekly for innovative marketing, stunning book covers, daring online initiatives and very provocative and controversial titles. “We hope the Independent Publisher of the Year award will inspire other innovative small presses to take on debut authors, fight for good memoirs and fiction, and challenge readers with provocative non-fiction,” said Armstrong.
Amen, brother.