Press Release: DORPIE BOOKS DISRUPTS PUBLISHING’S LACK OF BLACK AUTHORS

Dorpie means small town or village, and it perfectly describes Dorpie Books, a community of journalists, academics, and public figures. Dorpie will perform all the functions associated with a traditional publisher — editing, marketing, design, and distribution. Most authors will be published in hardcover and provided a touring budget. Dorpie will also submit its books for appropriate awards and recognitions. Dorpie, however, adds a twist: in lieu of an advance, authors will receive up to 50% of their titles’ crowdfunded pre-orders, which will determine the print-run.

“Important voices will no longer be denied book contracts due to concerns their books may not have crossover appeal. Dorpie’s business model is designed to support authors whose audiences are primarily black and are likely to buy 1000 to 5000 books. We are also able to support the best-seller by partnering with Ingram to make our books available in libraries and bookstores.” said Dorpie Books publisher, Yolanda Young.

Young was inspired to start the trade publishing house after a fellow journalist approached her about publishing a cookbook anthology written by members of a black literary collective in Washington, D.C. Young, who previously served on the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, had worked with offset printing companies to publish books marketed at legal professionals. Though the cookbook project didn’t materialize, Dorpie Books did.

Dorpie will publish its first title March 15, 2018. “That’s What Friends Are For,” is part memoir, part culture critique, part photojournalism. In it, Patrick L. Riley, a former field producer for The Oprah Winfrey Show, chronicles his thirty years as an entertainment reporter. The project is being overseen by Clarence Haynes, a former associate editor with the Doubleday Broadway division of Random House who currently handles developmental editing projects for individual clients, agents and publishing houses. The pre-order crowdfunded campaign begins December 5th and ends December 22nd.

Initially, editors will be contracted per project. Other trade and textbook industry veterans assigned to projects include Tamu Wright, who was an Assistant Managing Editor for Bloomberg BNA where she worked for 20 years and Shawn Williams who previously worked for Scholastic Inc. and Sesame Street Workshop.

Dorpie expects to publish at least a dozen books in 2018. Projects in the pipeline include an anthology of social justice writing, reflections on hip-hop by international DJ and radio host, Christopher Washington, and the memoir of Dr. Harry Blake, who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the first field secretary of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and currently serves as pastor of Mt. Canaan Missionary Baptist Church and president emeritus of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.

Young, who is also a contributor to USA TODAY, has been on both sides of the table. Her memoir, On Our Way to Beautiful was previously published by Random House and her essays have been published in several trade anthologies.

“Random House was lovely to me. In addition to my $250,000 advance, they sent me on a two-week, 10-city book tour and were responsible for about 20 media placements,” said Young. “I confess. I didn’t understand their media spend, which included limousines, five-star hotels, and expensive dinners with booksellers.”

After the sponsored tour ended, Young visited an additional 30 cities on her own, racking up 50 additional print, radio and television placements including, The Washington Post and local television news segments.

“I felt as though I hand sold every single book, and this is the story I hear over and over from nonfiction authors. Those are very respectable numbers and with our model, would earn an author royalties of six-figures.”

The author, editor, and publisher are available for interviews. Contact Yolanda Young at yolanda@dorpiebooks.com or 202-255-4824 to schedule.