Many independent presses produce vital literary art, offering innovative approaches to form, style, and content, often compellingly blurring the borders between these elements. Unfortunately, these presses face great obstacles against having their work critically recognized.

In 2013, John Madera promoted two books published by independent presses: Davis Schneiderman’s [SIC] (Jaded Ibis Press) and Elizabeth Gentry’s Housebound (Lake Forest College Press/&Now Books). Discovering firsthand how a strategic publicity campaign results in reviews and interviews spotlighting authors, books, and their presses, while also helping increase readership and sales, Madera launched Rhizomatic: Publicity Services for Small Presses with Big Ideas.

Rhizomatic draws inspiration from the philosophic concept of the rhizome as formulated by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, who posited that “the rhizome connects any point to any other point”; “is always in the middle, between things, interbeing, intermezzo”; and “operates by variation, expansion, capture, offshoots.”

John Madera actively promotes work by underrepresented writers, artists, and presses, who produce formally and/or stylistically innovative work, whose work challenges the commercial sphere and transforms global culture, writers, artists, and presses typically ignored by print and online media outlets.

John Madera’s secured reviews and/or interviews, etc., at Publishers Weekly, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, American Book Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, San Francisco Book Review, Kirkus Reviews,  Newsweek, Foreword Reviews, Vice, Rain Taxi: Review of Books, Knoxville News Sentinel Review, The Brooklyn Rail, Largehearted Boy, and many more venues.

2016 was a banner year for Madera’s clients. Some highlights: Sanderia Faye won a Hurston/Wright Foundation Award for her novel, Mourner’s  Bench. Jesse Bradley’s The Adventures of Jesus Christ, Boy Detective is a runner-up for Shelf Unbound Magazine‘s 2016 Best Indie Book Award. Laurie Stone’s My Life as an Animal was the subject of unusual attention. Be sure to visit our Press page for more media coverage.

Contact: johnmadera [at] gmail [dot] com