By Matt Dembicki
Rosarium Publishing is a relatively new publisher in Washington, D.C., that delivers
mostly science-fiction stories in array of formats. Its hallmark is diversity,
both among its talent and content. So far, Rosarium has focused on anthologies
and short novels, but publisher Bill Campbell has picked up several comics for
its catalogue. Below, we chat with Bill about Rosarium, its current books and
what’s in store to come in 2015.
Can you give
us a brief background on Rosarium, what inspired you to start it?
This is a long, convoluted story of heartache and pain. But
seriously, I was a self-published author who ended up getting a big, fancy
agent. That agent didn't really work out. Mainstream publishers weren't really
liking what I was doing. However, there were some academics who did. So, I
found myself in the weird position of being a self-published author, basically
selling his books out of the trunk of his car, then running off to some college
or university to lecture about my books, some of which were being taught. I
thought it was utterly ridiculous to not be good enough for a publisher but to
be good enough for academia, and I figured there were probably other authors
out there suffering the same fate. I started Rosarium in order to give those
authors a home.
When
Rosarium started in 2013, you focused on short stories through anthologies and
short novels. Today, you are branching out to include comics. Was that part of
the plan, or did the idea to include comics develop as you were already into
your business?
That's hard to say. Publishing comics was a childhood dream
of mine. So, I'm not really sure if there was a conscious decision. John
Jennings (Pitch Black Rainbow, Kid Code, and Blue Hand Mojo) has
been involved with Rosarium since the beginning. Keith Miller (Manticore)
and I had been talking about turning my one novel, Koontown Killing Kaper,
into a graphic novel before I started Rosarium. So maybe it was always
part of the plan. I don't know. But as soon as I ran across KEEF CROSS's work (DayBlack),
I just knew I had to publish that book.
What type of
comics is and will Rosarium publish in the coming year?
“Type?” Well, that's impossible for me to pin down. As you
pointed out, diversity is a key goal for Rosarium. We have over 20 different
writers and artists living on five different continents. We come in all shapes,
sizes, and hues. And different interests. So, we have slice-of-life (Jennifer's
Journal), kid's adventure (Malice in Ovenland), a vampire tattoo
artist (DayBlack), surrealist sci-fi dystopia (Corporatica), and
a hip-hop Dr. Who (Kid Code); and we've got an Iranian folk tale (Little
Black Fish), a medieval Indian assassin (Chadhiyana), and a prison
horror tale (Manticore) in the works. And don't be surprised if you see
anything from Obeah to Lovecraft coming out of our humble, little factory.
What do you look for
in the comics you publish?
Good question. I'm not exactly sure there is any one “thing”
I do look for. It's definitely not anything market-based or something I can
easily articulate. It basically comes down to what grabs me, and, more and
more, what grabs the Rosarium team. And, as you can tell, what that particular
“thing” is is insanely varied.
I know
that—despite holding a day job and raising a young family—you spend a lot of
time on the road exhibiting at shows. Why is that important?
I once read a biography about Gene Autry. The thing that
impressed me about him (which definitely wasn't his music) was that, no matter
how successful he was, he was always on the road. For a musician, it's a matter
of money. At this early stage, for us, it's more about connecting with people.
We're doing something a little different here (on so many levels). It's really
important for us to introduce ourselves, meet others inside and outside of the
industry, and to connect with the folks who've felt that an experiment like
Rosarium is necessary.
As a
publisher that is still getting its feet wet in the publishing world, what has
been the biggest challenges?
I think the biggest challenge is definitely an
inside-baseball complaint. When you're new, you know that you're going to have
to keep coming out with quality projects for awhile before people start taking
you seriously. That was something that I realized going in and had no problem
with.
The hardest part (especially since I'm dealing with comics
and books) had been dealing with all the monopolies or near-monopolies. There
are a bunch of distribution niches in publishing, and each niche is basically
run by one company. When you're the new kid on the block, they have absolutely no
interest in dealing with you, and it doesn't matter the quality of your work.
They simply don't want to work with you. End of story.
It's a lot better now because we've found a smaller distributor
who really likes what we're doing and is working hard on our behalf. But that
first year was really hard because, even though we were with one of those
monopolies, we could hardly get our books anywhere.
How would
you define “success” for Rosarium?
Beats me! I'll let you know when we've achieved it.
Rosarium publisher Bill Campbell
By Gene Weingarten Columnist
