I’m passing along this message from The Bloomsbury Review, one of the very few publications that seeks out and reviews quality books that are undeservedly overlooked by other media. (You can read their full mission statement here.) Blooms, as long-time supporters and contributing writers like me refer to it, has been offering up intelligent, often extensive reviews of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books from small, regional, nonprofit, independent, and university presses since 1980. That’s over three decades of commitment to publishers who have struggled to maintain their uniqueness in a period of corporate publishing consolidation–a process that in my view has fostered mediocrity and sameness in every genre these huge multinational entities have touched. For me, Blooms is a worthy cause that deserves the support of thinking people who care about quality books. If that isn’t you, I don’t know who it can be! So please take a moment to consider a contribution.
Hello from The Bloomsbury Review. We hope all is going well in your world.
You have been a supporter of Blooms in the past, so I wanted you to be among the first to hear about our good news.
The Bloomsbury Review is now published by The Bloomsbury Review Foundation, a nonprofit (501c3). This means that all donations are tax-deductible.
There’s another reason I’m contacting you at this particular time, though. A generous benefactor has offered to match all donations to The Bloomsbury Review Foundation up to $5,000 if they’re postmarked by November 5th. So this is your opportunity to double the impact of any amount you are in a position to offer. We sincerely welcome donations in any amount, and trust me, every dollar helps.
The Bloomsbury Review‘s mission, as you know, has always been to introduce new, unknown, or under-appreciated voices to readers, and through the decades we have enjoyed the support of serious readers and writers. Of course, Blooms still has much work to do, especially in today’s publishing environment. So we urge you to help us make the most of this donation opportunity.
Please send your check or money order to:The Bloomsbury Review Foundation
1245 E. Colfax Ave.
Suite 304
Denver, CO 80218-2238Again, any amount is greatly appreciated and will make a difference.
Let me add to this one of example of the approach Blooms has always taken. In 1980, their first year of publication, the editors saw fit to review my first book, a chapbook with the big, compensatory title Weathers, Vistas, Houses, Dust, published by The Juniper Press, a small and sadly now defunct literary press out of LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
This kind of publication by this kind of publisher is what Blooms was created to support. Not that the reviewer loved everything about my little book! But she treated it respectfully, with insight and balance. What more can any of us ask?