What Is Trunk Press?

[As stated earlier, Trunk Press was a one-man operation run by Judson Jerome, and it no longer exists. However, I include this chapter because it is interesting.]

I answer the question only because it is bound to arise. I am not looking for manuscripts. In fact, Trunk Press is a one-man operation, conducted in m spare time, and I wouldn't be able to cope with many more books than I am handling now.

In part Trunk Press is a device for distributing my own work, most of which the publishers have not been very successful in distributing. I have now reacquired control of copyright from trade publishers such as McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin for some of my books which have gone out of print, so I can sell them as Trunk Press books.

From time to time I have tried to help other writers of poetry and prose to get out their books – so have published a few titles by such authors under the name of Trunk Press. But I have no printing equipment: I sent out the manuscripts of such books to mail-order printers (such as advertise in Writer's Digest). And I have poor facilities for and little interest in distribution – and have no capital, so had to ask these writers to pay for their own printing costs. In general, it was a poor idea. I now recommend that writers arrange to have their own work printed. You can use your own name as publisher, or make up on, as I made up that of Trunk Press. There is no more to it than that. For information on self-publishing, write COSMEP [address deleted]. [COSMEP (Committee of Small Magazine Editors and Publishers) was an umbrella organization for small publishers which folded in 1996 – I don't know if any other organization has taken its place.] If you join you get a packet of pamphlets on various aspects of printing and a regular newsletter for small publishers. There are also a number of useful books which COSMEP can guide you to. How to Get Happily Published (Harper & Row) is a good general guide.