Rare Bird Books
FounderTyson Cornell
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationLos Angeles
DistributionPublishers Group West
Publication typesBooks
ImprintsCalifornia Coldblood, Barnacle Book, Vireo, Archer
Official websitewww.rarebirdbooks.com

Rare Bird Books is an American publishing house. It was founded by Tyson Cornell, the former director of publicity and marketing at Book Soup.[1][2][3] Rare Bird has five imprints: California Coldblood, which is focused on sci-fi and similar genres; A Barnacle Book, which produces crime fiction, memoirs, and Hollywood literature; A Vireo Book; Archer; and Rare Bird Books itself.[1]

Cornell, who published Bonnie Weinstein's 2014 book, To the Far Right Christian Hater ... You Can Be a Good Speller or a Hater, But You Can't Be Both: Official Hate Mail, Threats, and Criticism From the Archives of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, told an interviewer in that he is "disgusted" by hate mail.[4]

Book cancellation

In 2019, Rare Bird became the subject of national attention when it cancelled a book by first time novelist Natasha Tynes. Tynes, a writer in Washington, D.C., had tweeted out an image of a uniformed black female Washington Metro employee eating on the train.[5] Social media users criticized Tynes, accusing her of racism, linking the episode to other famous cases of black people reported to the police for everyday actions.[5] Rare Books called Tynes' actions "truly horrible" and cancelled distribution of her novel, telling the author that "did something truly horrible today in tweeting a picture of a metro worker eating her breakfast on the train this morning and drawing attention to her employer. Black women face a constant barrage of this kind of inappropriate behavior directed toward them and a constant policing of their bodies... We think this is unacceptable and have no desire to be involved with anyone who thinks it’s acceptable to jeopardize a person’s safety and employment in this way.”[6][7] Amidst the controversy, Texas multimedia company Cinestate acquired the book to be the first title launched under their new Rebeller literary imprint, part of a larger lifestyle brand that also encompassed an action movie label and website. The book was released in April 2020, two months before Cinestate shut down amidst a sexual abuse scandal.[8][9]

References

  1. 1 2 Locasio, Lisa (23 December 2014). "5 Indie L.A. Presses You Should Know". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  2. Joe, Ryan; Daniel, Alex (26 June 2015). "The Indie Authors Guide to DIY Audiobooks". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  3. Ulin, David (16 April 2018). "How Small, Scrappy Local Book Presses Have Turned L.A. Into a Publishing Town". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  4. Lingar, Edwin (1 December 2014). "Christian right's rage problem: How white fundamentalists are roiling America". Salon. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  5. 1 2 Bever, Lindsey (12 May 2019). "A D.C. author shamed a Metro worker for eating on the train. Now her book deal is in jeopardy". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  6. Miller, Joshua Rhett (13 May 2019). "Author may lose book deal after shaming black transit worker". New York Post. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  7. "An author was close to publishing her debut novel. Then she tweeted about a public transit worker eating on a train". CBS News. AP. 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  8. "Cinestate's #MeToo Scandal and the Upheaval of the Dallas Film Scene". D Magazine. 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2020-10-06.
  9. @SonnyBunch (June 10, 2020). "Sonny Bunch's Announcement of Rebeller Shutting Down" (Tweet) via Twitter.
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