January 31, 2015

An Amazing Ride!


An Amazing Ride!

At nine p.m. this evening – an arbitrary time we set a month and a half ago – our Kickstarter project to support publication of Red Star Tales came to an end.

It has been an amazing ride! 

We sought to raise $16,000 – just enough to cover the costs of translation, rights, editing and initial production of this 450+ page book. We projected we might need 250-300 backers to reach our goal. In the end, we "overfulfilled the plan" by 33% – raising $21,444 from 424 backers! 

The results have left me speechless. Almost...

It was great to share with the world a project we have been working on, shaping, developing for months. We were not sure that a volume of never-before-published Russian science fiction would resonate. But it did! As the support slowly built and then started to pour in over the course of the project, we felt as if we had tapped into something really significant.

Yes, there are people out there who want quality fiction in translation.

Yes, there are people out there interested in Russian science fiction.

Yes, there are people who still read books!!!

A huge thank you to all the backers and boosters. Your special gifts will be in the mail shortly, just as soon as we can get everyone to supply their mailing address.

In case you missed it, here's the video describing the project.

Filmmaker Victoria Savchenko did a superb job, and we just love the cover that Taisiya Kulygina designed. We can't wait to see it on thousands of copies of the book.

Again, thank you to everyone.

 

Paul Richardson
Publisher

 

p.s. You may be asking what we plan to do with all the "extra" raised on this project? Well it will go fast. The two stretch goals (both met and exceeded) have us sending about 400 wall calendars to all corners of the Earth. And we'll be printing an extra 400 copies of the book and mailing them to over 200 universities and schools that teach Russian. And we are even thinking of trying to put these books in bookstores (not normally a profitable venture for a niche publisher). But then, people don't go to bookstores any more, do they?

 

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Some of our Books

Little Golden Calf
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Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.

Murder and the Muse
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Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas
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The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.

 
Moscow and Muscovites
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Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices
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Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.

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