The CUNY Journalism Press is the academic publishing arm of the City of New York Graduate School of Journalism. The Press was launched in the autumn of 2012 with the mission of publishing serious books about journalism and the news media – history, theory, criticism, craft, memoir and more. The Press is organized, in conjunction with OR Books, as a new model for publishing – some call it co-publishing – in response to changes in the publishing marketplace and publishing technology. Our aim is to publish books by, for and about journalists that might not otherwise be published in the commercial marketplace.

The CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, the only public graduate school of journalism in the Northeast, opened its doors in 2006 under Dean Stephen Shepard, formerly the editor of Business Week. Widely known for its emphasis on multimedia, interactive and cross-platform reporting and storytelling, the school’s intensive three-semester program offers a Master of Arts in Journalism. The school is also known for its innovative training in emerging technology and for its Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism, dedicated to finding new business models. The school is the first in the world to offer an M.A. in Entrepreneurial Journalism.

The aim of East & West Publishing is predominantly, but not exclusively, to probe more deeply into the perceived separation between East and West that has grown out of all proportion in recent years. We hope to offer a different vision that will show the cultural, historical and artistic links between the two amorphous geographical areas and to bring to light areas of influence and interaction rather than conflict and wars.

Mischief + Mayhem’s noteworthy founders are Lisa Dierbeck (One Pill Makes You Smaller), Joshua Furst (Short People, The Sabotage Café), DW Gibson, executive director of Ledig House and Sangam House, Dale Peck (Martin and John, What We Lost, Hatchet Jobs), and Choire Sicha, co-owner of The Awl, whose first book of nonfiction is forthcoming from HarperCollins. Utilizing OR Books’ groundbreaking publishing methods, the collective intends to promulgate fiction that is formally inventive, socially irresponsible, and sometimes just plain reckless without having to worry about pleasing conservative editorial boards or corporate bookstore executives. It will also help writers earn a living wage without compromising their radical aesthetics.

“Mainstream publishers are more risk-averse than ever,” said Peck. “Instead of courting a mass audience with formulaic, commercial books, Mischief + Mayhem will look for weird, wild voices and writers of idiosyncratic, even skewed, vision. We don’t just want the new, we want the strange, the unsettling, the scary.”

The imprint’s lead title, Dierbeck’s The Autobiography of Jenny X, forthcoming in November 2010, has already been hailed as “Fast, funny, and twisted,” by Netherland author Joseph O’Neill, while Pagan Kennedy, author of The First Man-Made Man, dubbed it “Baader Meinhof meets Marvel comics.” Dierbeck’s novel will be followed by DW Gibson’s debut, An All-American Field Guide to the Outside World. Other writers on the M+M docket include Calvin Baker (Once Two Heroes, Dominion), Helen DeWitt (The Last Samurai), and Mike Heppner (The Egg Code, Pike’s Folly).

Like OR Books, Mischief + Mayhem’s titles will be produced only in electronic or print-on-demand editions, and will be available, initially at least, exclusively for purchase online from the publisher. This arrangement avoids the enormous waste of the current publishing system, which ships books to stores, fails to promote them, and then sees many of them returned, unsold, to the publisher.

The company’s publishing mission is supported by Wild Rag, a blog and webzine whose regular contributors include such well-respected writers as New Yorker editor Ben Greenman, journalist and editor Zia Jaffrey, and New York Times art critic Martha Schwendener, each of whom will offer a challenging, rambunctious perspective on things literary, cultural, and political. Additionally, the company plans to host readings, performances and other social gatherings in order to build a literary community in the real world as well as online.

Rimal Publications, an independent publishing house, established by Nora Shawwa in Nicosia, Cyprus in 1993, specializes in history, art, culture, travel and children books.

Over the years, Rimal has come to be recognized for publishing books in both the English and Arabic languages that introduce readers to the unique cultural richness of the MENA region and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Rimal’s underlying objective is to build bridges between cultures and enlighten the world at large about the rich history and traditions of this part of the world. Quality is Rimal’s trademark, and the foundation of the reputation it enjoys as an independent publishing house.

Through select partnerships, Rimal Publications reaches a worldwide audience through focused distribution, special events and launches, direct online marketing campaigns, as well as books sold through traditional means including bookstores and major online outlets.