Impetus folds, Gina Frangello seeks a new publisher

With every bit of good news in publishing, comes a little bit of bad news. A few months back Chicago novelist Gina Frangello (at right) received word that her next novel, London Calling, would receive support from the Literary Ventures Fund, a nonprofit that lends much-needed marketing help to literary works published on small presses. Good news. The bad news came when LVF required a larger print run to maximize its efforts, and the publisher, Impetus Press didn't have the cash flexibility to up the number of copies. Still, more good news came when Frangello and pals were able to put together a fundraiser, "An Impetus to Taste," for November 10, featuring free wine, and an appearance by sommelier wunderkind Alpana Singh. The event would raise money for Impetus, to accommodate the larger print run. But then, the final boulder of bad news dropped: The fundraiser would come too late. Impetus folded. London Calling, which was scheduled for a Spring 2009 release, no longer has a publisher.

Frangello has kept in remarkably good spirits, though on the phone she has the air of someone who's been on the roller coaster for a long time. She cited distribution troubles for Impetus's demise, something she's sympathetic to as publisher of Chicago's OV Books. "With Borders having so much financial trouble, we [OV] got socked with returns, which really eats up your revenue," she says. "I know [Impetus co-founders] Jennifer [Banash] and Willy [Blackmore], did all that they could."

Blackmore, on the phone from Los Angeles, confirmed that the press had been suffering some financial strain due to returns and distribution snafus.

"It sucks," he says. "We really love and believe in the work that we planned to publish. We’ll be releasing everybody from their contracts, doing our best to find new publishers for them. We don’t want everybody to be completely at sea."

Impetus had six books on the roster, including Nick Antosca's second novel, Midnight Picnic, which has been pushed back from its scheduled October release. Blackmore says Impetus will still publish it, but for now it's indefinitely delayed.

London Calling, which follows Frangello's 2005 debut novel My Sister's Continent, has already created some buzz. As part of the deal with LVF, the foundation took the book to the Frankfurt Book Fair, and has shopped it around to find a publisher for its foreign rights. They'd also worked with Frangello on setting up tour dates for the spring, and had been setting up various other marketing initiatives, online and other. LVF is sticking with Frangello, working with her to find a new publisher. Frangello says the second novel is a bit of a departure for her, a literary thriller set in 1989 London among the "traveler's subculture." "It's a much different story than my other novel, but it has a lot of similar themes, like sexuality, the power dynamics in relationships," she says.

The party is still on. It costs $35/per person or $60 per couple, and it all happens on Monday, November 10, from 6-9pm at Tallulah. Frangello says the money raised will either help her new publisher, if one steps forward in time, or will go to a charity of Singh's choosing. "I just hope that people still come to the party and have a good time," she says. Here's hoping there's a willing publisher in attendance, with some good news.