“John Madera’s Rhizomatic seeks to do nothing less than redefine the ecology of literary publicity in the same way the proliferation of small presses seeks to redefine the ecology of what literature can be, and how, and why. What’s extraordinary is how well Madera succeeds. He cares deeply about the projects he takes on, reads them with sharp understanding, and makes sure the world has a chance to learn about them—which is to say he’s the dream publicist: committed, professional, prompt, pleasant, a joy to work with…and did I mention committed?”

—Lance Olsen, author of Theories of Forgetting, [[ there. ]], How to Unfeel the Dead: New and Selected Fictions, and Dreamlives of Debris

***

“John Madera is a tireless champion of literary writers and their books. The great pleasure of working with John is that, as a reader, he gets you and as a publicist, he is bent on making sure that others find you and get you too. He cares deeply about every book he takes on.”

—Dawn Raffel, author of The Strange Case of Dr. Couney, Carrying the Body, Further Adventures in the Restless Universe, and In the Year of Long Division

***

“John was wonderful to work with. He was an excellent advocate for my book and I felt that he really cared about both me and my work. He has an extensive network of contacts and he knows exactly how to pitch work to the right people.”

—Laura Ellen Joyce , author of The Luminol Reels (Calamari Press)

***

“John Madera is a real gift to small publishers trying to expand and improve their reach. John took on publicity and marketing for Davis Schneiderman’s highly avant novel, [SIC], published by Jaded Ibis Press. Not only did he work within Jaded Ibis’s specific goals and mission parameters, but he also served as a great and friendly collaborator within our network.  Most importantly, he got us real and tangible results: reviews and interviews related to the book.  In hindsight, I was most impressed with John’s professionalism, his keen sensitivity to deadlines, and his own amicable connections within the publishing and literary media.  I recommend his services to anyone trying to secure a foothold in an increasingly slippery publishing market.”

—Debra Di Blasi, Founding Publisher, Jaded Ibis Productions / Jaded Ibis Press

***

“John Madera’s professionalism, insight, and conscientiousness—whether as a publicist, interviewer, writer, editor, or critic—reveal his deep commitment to innovative writing. He is at once knowledgeable, organized, and connected, all essential traits for navigating the literary scene successfully. It’s a pleasure to work with him.”

—Andi Olsen, Producer, director, assemblage-artist

***

“John Madera’s Rhizomatic helps to fill a gaping hole in the indie literary scene. John is a publicist who understands innovative literature; he knows who to approach and how to make it happen. He’s an editor with a keen eye for detail and opportunity, whose intellectual bona fides make him ideally suited to represent work that he understands and appreciates. If all publicists were like John, well, the world would read better books.”

—Davis Schneiderman, Director, Lake Forest College Press / &NOW Books

***

“I highly recommend John Madera, who did excellent publicity for my novel Natural Wonders. He used his depth of contacts and knowledge to work hard for me as soon as the contract was signed. Our agreement was that most of his work would center on the three months leading up to the book’s release, and the three months after. However, he started work almost nine months in advance of the book’s release. He solicited blurbs for me, he looked over the publicity agreement with my press, he edited copy for me, he liaised with the editors, designers and marketers at the press, and gave me advice and feedback on the difficult cover process. He managed publicity for the release and subsequent readings, coordinating with people at bookstores and at the press, and posting on social media.

John’s work on Natural Wonders resulted in three stellar blurbs, four reviews, a long interview, ‘Research Notes,’ ‘Book Notes,’  and publicity for a series of readings.

He was devoted to my book, and delivered much more than I could have hoped for. I’ve been extremely happy with my decision to hire him.”

—Angela Woodward, author of Natural Wonders

***

“Literary advocacy can be lonely, even isolating, work. Which is odd, given that literature is among the most social of all the arts. But literature’s impactfulness so often exceeds its creators’ capacity for witness. Stories and poems stage their productions in the private reaches of the individual imagination; those notions of what’s possible that make literature both necessary and dangerous spark in dim rooms further shadowed by the mediations of agents, editors, distributors, retailers, reviewers, etc. John Madera’s innovative, principled, and companionable approach to publicity is not just about supporting his clientele—which he does exceptionally well. His approach is concerned with being of service to readers, especially readers whose search for books rewarding of their attention has brought them to a succession of blind alleys. Working with John has helped me to revise my own assumptions, and to appreciate how much the marketplace is able (and even inclined) to hold open bright, welcoming spaces in which literary conversation might grow into literary community.”

—Joe Milazzo, author of Crepuscule w/ Nellie and The Habiliments

***

“John Madera’s diligence on the behalf of my second novel, Live from Medicine Park, brought it to the attention of people I had hoped were out there but didn’t know how to find. John did. The most lasting effect of working with John promises to be growing contact with the world of like-minded writers and readers he has introduced me to. He is not a salesman selling a product or a PR man pushing his brand, but a sincere advocate of writing and writers who believes in the importance of books and giving them the chance they deserve.”

—Constance Squires, author of Live from Medicine Park

***

“I was referred to John Madera by the inimitable Lauren Cerand, who’d told me she was greatly impressed by his ‘taste, dedication, and ambition.’ After having worked with John for six months, I can happily corroborate Lauren’s endorsement and add to it. John’s been not only a tremendous champion and advocate for my novel, having helped garner many reviews, interviews, and multiple profiles on my work, but he’s also helped me immensely in all my other writing endeavors. Whether he’s providing me his incomparable editing services, organizing readings for me, or simply lending me his support as I struggled to navigate the release of my first book, John went above and beyond. Writers who have the opportunity to work with John will consider themselves most fortunate.”

—Matthew Binder author of High in the Streets

***

“I had the great fortune to cross paths with John Madera through the venerable JMWW literary magazine, where we were both staff. When CCM published Addicts & Basements, John agreed to take me on as one of his first clients at Rhizomatic. I was relieved. John has an extensive reach, and my book’s success is due, largely, to his professional, creative, outstanding ethics and dedication. He also became an even closer friend. For all of this, and more, I remain profoundly grateful.”

—Robert Vaughan, co-author of RIFT (with Kathy Fish); and FUNHOUSE (Unknown Press)

***

“John is a consummate professional. We began working together after my novel, Mourner’s Bench was nominated for winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction. He introduced me to a literary audience that I was unaware of and they embraced my novel with unbridled passion. John has continued to represent my book although our contract expired. I appreciate his knowledge and passion for literary fiction.”

—Sanderia Faye, author of Mourner’s Bench, winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction

***

“John is a true literary citizen and an amazing advocate for small press literature. He understands the necessity and unique gifts of independent publishing, but also its limitations and constraints. John has a great network of contacts, is a personable and generous human being, is an insightful reader, and is committed to the continued importance of innovative writing, in all its forms.”

—Janice Lee, writer, publisher, and editor at Civil Coping Mechanisms

***

“John Madera is a joy to work with. Generous, knowledgeable, and filled with a, seemingly, inexhaustible energy for promoting works that excite him. John, for me, is that most valuable member of any literary community: a conversation starter—a gifted reader who loves literature, and for whom reading is an art, a practice.”

—Harold Abramowitz, author of Blind Spot (Civil Coping Mechanisms)

***

“John Madera is a caring and careful lover of literature, astute reader, and publicist, and I feel lucky to have found him to join my hopes to his knowledge in getting the word out in the best of ways. These are times when a small press book needs all the TLC it can have, and he has shown that in all ways. These are times when a book is itself, and also a prayer for a home and a person to open the door. ‘Care’ is not just a noun, it is also, like ‘love,’ a verb. An action. From his first written  response to my book Before the Drought (which I thought to be a writer’s dream review) to his many innovative ideas for how to attract readers, John has helped launch Before the Drought onto the literary landscape. As he is wont to say to the waiting writer, “Excelsior!” Mega thank you, John Madera.

—Margo Berdeshevsky, poet, collagist, author of Before the Drought (Glass Lyre Press) Beautiful Soon Enough (FC2), Between Soul & Stone, and But a Passage in Wilderness (Sheep Meadow Press)

***

“John Madera is a ray of light. His heartfelt passion for, and deep knowledge of, literature and all its vast potential is extraordinary. Thoughtful, analytic and practical, he keeps great company. His vast network of writers and publishers reconnects me with favorite books/writers and introduces me to new ones. What a Good Man He Is.”

—Lynn Crawford, author of Shankus & Kitto: A Saga, Fortification Resort, and Simply Separate People, Two

***

“A publicist? Not real big on the idea. An idea that reduces all others to a self-on-the-shelf commodification of consciousness, right? Don’t publicists just gladhand their way through the shadowland of weaponized egos? Not if they’re John Madera, who approaches writing as transformational not transactional. His rhizomatic desire to promote writers is fueled by his own intelligent enthusiasm for their work, and what those words make possible. He understands the economic and cultural choreography through which writing and publishing occur and is adept at getting even the most out-there poetry and prose into the minds that’d benefit from it. Everyone wants recognition for their work, but more personally, John grasps that my own aspirations are less about prestige or notoriety than the heightened experiences and fellowship that accrue around poetry.”

—Brendan Lorber, author of If This Is Paradise Why Are We Still Driving?

***

“John Madera’s canny and unflagging promotional efforts are rooted in a profound commitment to the kind of literature that’s most alive—the stories that scoff at market risks and scamper giggling across boundaries of genre and type. Working with Rhizomatic: Publicity Services, an author on an independent press feels far less independent, less isolated. Instead, every bit of notice he or she receives gets magnified three or four times, if not more, across social media and beyond. Better yet, editors and critics all over are familiar with Madera’s reputation, and trust his judgement. Whatever early notice I got for The Color Inside a Melon, I owe in large part to John Madera and his Rhizomatic. The man’s smart and sympathetic, and he has contacts from NYC to SF & beyond. If you’ve got a book coming, & it falls outside the Big Six ‘list,’ you won’t find a better & more energetic ally. To connect with Rhizomatic is to feel like you’ve got a lion at your back, ready to roar.”

—John Domini, author of The Color Inside a Melon

***

“John Madera was an absolute pleasure to work with. I’m grateful for his energetic and substantial promotion of Inside the Walls of My Own House, the second installment in my multivolume project, The Complete Dark Shadows (of My Childhood). His understanding of the market for this book—and for the project as a whole—was terrific. He helped secure reviews, interviews, and readings, and he helped create a wider audience for the book and for my writing overall. John understands the necessary interrelationship between art-making and promotion in ways that deeply respect both the art and its potential markets. He was attentive to all of my questions during our work together. We communicated frequently during the process. I highly recommend John, and look forward to working with him again in the future.”

—Tony Trigilio, author of Inside the Walls of My Own House