On The Lessons…

The wonderful (begin with flattery when possible) Roxane Gay wrote a great, and boldly honest, piece at HTMLGIANT about what she’s learned running a micropress. I’ve never been a fan of that defining term micropress though it does sprinkles the same idea of an “indie record label” vs a “record label”: this shit is getting done by a few, if not one. 

She details the harshness, the tight budgets, and the hardships of selling bound words to a small but focused audience. But she wrote this Goddamn beauty (flattery) I adore and say as a publisher myself that it’s all too true — and as a publisher you hug to this fact as if it pumps your blood with more strength than your own heart.

“There are people out there who will support your press unconditionally. It’s amazing. That kind of support makes me extra committed to publishing books that are beautifully written, look good, are well edited.”

Belief that gives trust is an engulfing inspiration. It’s a note to go further, to push your own bounds. Whether you write, publish, paint (whatever the creation is) embrace the unwavering ones and reward their assurance by never slowing down. 

On The Lessons…

The wonderful (begin with flattery when possible) Roxane Gay wrote a great, and boldly honest, piece at HTMLGIANT about what she’s learned running a micropress. I’ve never been a fan of that defining term micropress though it does sprinkles the same idea of an “indie record label” vs a “record label”: this shit is getting done by a few, if not one. 

She details the harshness, the tight budgets, and the hardships of selling bound words to a small but focused audience. But she wrote this Goddamn beauty (flattery) I adore and say as a publisher myself that it’s all too true — and as a publisher you hug to this fact as if it pumps your blood with more strength than your own heart.

“There are people out there who will support your press unconditionally. It’s amazing. That kind of support makes me extra committed to publishing books that are beautifully written, look good, are well edited.”

Belief that gives trust is an engulfing inspiration. It’s a note to go further, to push your own bounds. Whether you write, publish, paint (whatever the creation is) embrace the unwavering ones and reward their assurance by never slowing down. 

Posted 1 month ago

About:

Matt DeBenedictis is a freelance music journalist and blogger. Generally Matt wraps and coils words around the more abrasive sides of music—the ones where missed beats are deemed permissible and the frowned upon mistake is to sound like the record live. Matt's first ever concert was in the bottom of a church, a carpeted basement decorated with punch stains and pictures of a lord in different saving poses. A hardcore band and a speed metal band played. It was a shaved hair vs. permed long hair kind of night. Currently Matt is a freelance writer for Noisecreep.

Matt's fiction and literary work has been featured in journals like Lamination Colony, decomP, The Ampersand Review, and Thrist for Fire. A review once called his now out of print Chapbook A Perfect Disgrace “A Drunkin' mix of Bukowski and Palahniuk”. At the time Matt had never read a single line of Charles Bukowski aside from the occasional references glued in bridges of songs. "That story was the result of me leaving the church and finally coming to a place of celebration over not being a pastor anymore,” Matt said. “Though I’m not sure how a story that began from the idea of not being able to feel yourself masturbate connects to that part of my life, but it does."

The love of stories and words for Matt came not from a big library of books but from bars, the pulpit, and stand up comedy. Not being the most social child Matt spent lots of hours just watching TV, and what fascinated him the most in the solitude of his early years were stand up comedians. "Stand up comedians put days, months, and years into what can be a one minute joke and that simple joke can speak two books full of philosophy and years of discontent with the world," Matt explained quite excited by the topic. When Matt used to be on the road, within the realms of music and as a touring pastor—which did include being a "character" on the reality show One Punk Under God that aired on The Sundance Channel—he created stories to tell people in order to break odd silences between people who barely knew each other. He would practice these stories in voice and by pen making sure the rhythm was strong and the words forming were cut clean, dark, and unforgiving. He wanted the stories to be retold. While on these tours and trips Matt was introduced to books and works that inspired him to begin writing more.

Matt Debenedictis lives in Atlanta, GA with his partner, three small dogs, and a painting of a monster eating a mountain.

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