FROM RANT TO ZINE TO PUBLISHED BOOK
April 21, 2008: Hate Mail Wins Design Award (pdf)
May 14, 2007: Hate Mail Launch / Press Release (pdf)
Local writer M. M. Garcia’s previously self-published zine, Hate Mail, has been picked up for national publication by Dame Rocket Press. Hate Mail will be released June 13, 2007. Authors Aimee Bender (The Girl in the Flammable Skirt), Zoe Trope (Please Don’t Kill the Freshman), and sublimely controversial cartoonist John Callahan have already expressed interest in reviewing the book.
Citing the gap in the greeting card industry regarding cards that express feelings of annoyance and cynicism, Garcia declares: “My mission is to quell the anger, and my product is Hate Mail.” Garcia takes the notion that “mean people suck” to a different level. In Hate Mail she tells them why they suck. The book contains a collection of stories with corresponding "anti-greeting cardsTM".
The zine version of Hate Mail was first released in 2006 at the Portland Zine Symposium—a yearly event that showcases independently created art. The initial inspiration for the book sprung from the positive feedback Garcia received after posting a rant on craigslist.org. “I was frustrated with my job and I started writing a rant on craigslist...I was just writing to keep myself from screaming at someone... [then] I started getting emails from strangers commending me on my rant. Most people just said I was hilarious, but one even offered to help find me a new job! It turned out that my rant had made it onto ‘the best of craigslist,’ and I probably got more than fifty messages from people all over the country. I guess I realized that I was on to something.”
When the deal with Dame Rocket was finalized, Garcia says she went on a “two-day freak-out” knowing that people from her past would read her book. “It’s a little bit scary to relinquish control of my project,” Garcia said. Now, however, she’s very excited about the publication, and is relieved that she no longer has to worry about the production of the books herself.
Eight specially designed cards accompany the stories collected in Hate Mail. Portland-area readers of Hate Mail will recognize several references of cultural significance such as the Willamette River, Tanya Harding, and The Satyricon, where Courtney Love’s band, Hole, got its start.
The book launch will take place at The Someday Lounge, June 13, at 7:30. After her reading, M. M. Garcia will sign copies of her book while local bands, Pocket Parade and Yoyodyne, play a free concert.
Eclectic and passionate, the press publishes works that emphasize pioneers in all walks of life and time. From nonfiction biographies to children’s books and women’s stories, it seeks to share the voice of lived-and-learned experience—a connection among readers and nature alike. Dame Rocket Press is an imprint of Ink & Paper Group, LLC.
