January 31, 2015

An Amazing Ride!


An Amazing Ride!

At nine p.m. this evening – an arbitrary time we set a month and a half ago – our Kickstarter project to support publication of Red Star Tales came to an end.

It has been an amazing ride! 

We sought to raise $16,000 – just enough to cover the costs of translation, rights, editing and initial production of this 450+ page book. We projected we might need 250-300 backers to reach our goal. In the end, we "overfulfilled the plan" by 33% – raising $21,444 from 424 backers! 

The results have left me speechless. Almost...

It was great to share with the world a project we have been working on, shaping, developing for months. We were not sure that a volume of never-before-published Russian science fiction would resonate. But it did! As the support slowly built and then started to pour in over the course of the project, we felt as if we had tapped into something really significant.

Yes, there are people out there who want quality fiction in translation.

Yes, there are people out there interested in Russian science fiction.

Yes, there are people who still read books!!!

A huge thank you to all the backers and boosters. Your special gifts will be in the mail shortly, just as soon as we can get everyone to supply their mailing address.

In case you missed it, here's the video describing the project.

Filmmaker Victoria Savchenko did a superb job, and we just love the cover that Taisiya Kulygina designed. We can't wait to see it on thousands of copies of the book.

Again, thank you to everyone.

 

Paul Richardson
Publisher

 

p.s. You may be asking what we plan to do with all the "extra" raised on this project? Well it will go fast. The two stretch goals (both met and exceeded) have us sending about 400 wall calendars to all corners of the Earth. And we'll be printing an extra 400 copies of the book and mailing them to over 200 universities and schools that teach Russian. And we are even thinking of trying to put these books in bookstores (not normally a profitable venture for a niche publisher). But then, people don't go to bookstores any more, do they?

 

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Some of Our Books

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The Little Golden Calf

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The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
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This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
A Taste of Chekhov

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This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

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The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

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Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.

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