Quirk Books Launching Normal Books, A New Imprint
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2013
QUIRK BOOKS GOES “NORMAL.”
Quirk Books, the independent publisher known for its irreverent reference guides and innovative works of fiction, has gone and done the unexpected once again. Effective immediately, the company is launching a new imprint that will give readers exactly what they expect. Book-lovers of the world, meet Normal Books.
"We think that becoming more conventional is truly the most 'strikingly unconventional' move we could make," says President and Publisher David Borgenicht. "Readers have come to expect the unexpected from us, and I'm pretty sure no one was expecting this."
The Normal Books imprint will offer a completely retooled frontlist of regular, completely straightforward books, with titles including Breakfast for Breakfast, Miss Peregrine's Home for Regular Children, and Pride and Prejudice without Zombies.
This groundbreaking, daringly creative move was engineered with readers in mind, says Associate Publisher and Creative Director Jason Rekulak. "We’re convinced there’s an audience out there that craves the same-old, same-old,” he says. “We're excited to stop pushing the envelope, and start nudging it back into the desk drawer next to the pens and rubber bands." The concept is expected to yield a more manageable workflow as well. “The sales reps have been clamoring for less buzzworthy titles,” notes Moneka Hewlett, Senior Sales Director.
Besides its new catalog of traditional print titles, Normal Books intends to release all subsequent books in eBook format: as plain text with no pictures and in a single small, non-dynamic font. Says Vice President Brett Cohen: "In the digital age, Normal Books will be square in the middle of the pack when it comes to using new, innovative technology. There’s no need to show off."
Below are the titles that Normal Books will be releasing in the coming months:
Bedsheets: A Novel of Laundry
From the author of such gripping titles as The Last Policeman and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters comes this psychologically taut tale of temporary fear, mild discomfort, and proper use of the gentle cycle. Witness how one woman's struggle for sanity and clean sheets couldn’t be easier, when it turns out her fears of a terrible bedbug infestation were completely unfounded.
Field Guide to Birds
The traditional "field guide" genre gets an unexpected twist with the subversive subject matter of ornithology. This one-of-a-kind and truly unconventional reference book, a follow-up to Quirk titles Field Guide to Cookies and Field Guide to Stains, strikes new ground as it helps you learn your falcons from your flamingos. Sure, being able to identify different bird species is a practically useless skill of little interest to anyone but…well, let’s move on.
Breakfast for Breakfast
You've had breakfast for dinner. You've had brunch. You’ve even had supper. But have you ever had breakfast like this before? Probably, and that’s why this book is for you. Whether it's fried eggs, corn flakes and milk, or a tall stack of pancakes, you'll find all your favorite morning-time foods exactly as you already know how to prepare them. It’s a fresh and inventive collection of classic breakfast recipes, carefully chosen to avoid startling you since you just got out of bed.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Regular Children
An ordinary town. A typical school building. An average collection of yesteryear's photos. A protagonist whose healthy grandfather lives a quiet life and was never involved with supernaturally-empowered orphans as a child. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for Regular Children, a mildly intriguing YA novel illustrated with normal-looking pictures of characters you'll recognize instantly and never quite be able to remember.
Reasonably Cute Crochet
Pocket-sized piglets? Bitty bears? Teeny-weeny chicks and ducks? Cute, but maybe…too cute? Normal Books dials back the cute factor with dozens of sorta-dorable crotchet projects. Each has been uglied up just enough to make you say “aw,” instead of “awwwwwwwww.” Because kinda cute is cute enough, thank you very much.
Pride and Prejudice without Zombies
In perhaps the most creative and controversial title on its list, Normal Books offers a whole new take on a classic novel that’s been a favorite of millions for nearly four years. Incredibly, removing the zombies from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies reveals a not-too-bad story about landed gentry, social standing, and the search for self in a 19th-century England bereft of the walking dead. You’ll barely notice the missing gore and lack of decapitations. Features a shockingly provocative cover by Art Director Doug Horner.
Rick Chillot
RICK CHILLOT is a former baby and current writer and editor at Quirk Books. He has contributed to magazines such as Psychology Today, Parenting, Mental Floss, and Prevention. In his twenty-plus years in publishing he’s interviewed about a jillion scientists and doctors and therefore had no need to consult any of them for this book.
