So far, writers have been very happy to do so.<\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

The Path to the Free Press<\/h4>\n

Founder Stona Fitch’s “Oh, I see” moment<\/strong> came, as so many do, when he faced a serious setback:<\/p>\n

“My fourth novel, Give + Take,<\/em> was orphaned by a major US publisher right before publication, when my editor left,” he explains. “I had a few options, none of them very good—start over and shop the book elsewhere or put the book away and move on.”<\/p>\n

Instead of choosing the discouragement of the familiar, Fitch branched out into unknown territory.<\/p>\n

“For about ten years, I had been running a local non-profit farm, Gaining Ground,<\/a> which grows organic produce and gives it away for free. So I knew the power of giving away something for free.”<\/p>\n

“One night I woke up with the idea of designing and producing a nice paperback edition of Give + Take,<\/em> giving it away, and asking readers to support a cause they cared about or a person in need.<\/p>\n

The first Concord Free Press title marked the start
of a radical new publishing model.
\u00a9 The Concord Free Press<\/p><\/div>\n

When Fitch shared the idea with his wife Ann, she laughed, saying “I think you’ve found a new way for writers to not make money.” But they started production the next day.<\/p>\n

“Response was quick and overwhelming—from readers, newspapers, publishers. Most of it was incredibly positive and supportive of a new way of publishing.”<\/p>\n

A Wicked Writer’s Perspective<\/h4>\n

One writer who got involved is Gregory Maguire, author of the much-loved Wicked<\/em><\/a> series, as well as many other popular books. He decided to let the Concord Free Press give away the first edition of his novel The Next Queen of Heaven <\/em>for free.<\/p>\n

“CFP appealed to me by its daring premise: that the value of literature cannot be determined by a sticker price,” says Maguire.<\/p>\n

“For decades I worked (and still do) at children’s literacy efforts, and for most kids a book comes from the library, which has no charge. I think of CFP publications as a library for adults trying to untether themselves from impedimenta, which I understand was the Latin word for luggage<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

\n

We may not have to wait for heaven to find charity.
\u00a9 The Concord Free Press<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Working with the small group also had significant rewards for an author accustomed to the schedule pressures and profit expectations of big publishing houses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“Being involved with CFP reminds me a little bit of being in fifth grade and saying, ‘Let’s have a club! (or a battle, or put on a play, or go push our little siblings into puddles).’ Think the idea, and it smacks into action without waiting for committee approval. Small IS beautiful.”<\/p>\n

A Good Idea Sets Down Roots and Grows<\/h4>\n

Projects continue to grow and vary as the CFP expands. Last year, the press published The Rockaways,<\/em> its first art book, a collection of eloquent photos by Gilles Peress<\/a> documenting the ravages of Hurricane Sandy.<\/p>\n

In addition to the usual distribution, the CFP offered free books to locals at Roger’s Irish Tavern at Rockaway Park., including a second shipment to meet demand.<\/p>\n

A stirring tribute to some of the people and places caught in the path of Hurricane Sandy
\u00a9 The Concord Free Press<\/p><\/div>\n

Concord Free Press encourages new acts of generosity with every title it publishes. A simple idea has shown surprising strength, challenging people to remember that personal values are worth more than the value set by the price tag.<\/p>\n

Comment<\/i><\/a>\u00a0on this post below, or inspire insight with your own\u00a0OIC Moment\u00a0<\/em>here<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Visit Concord Free Press<\/a> to request a free copy of Zig-Zag Wanderer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Readers of CFP books have given donations to a huge range of organizations, including Accion<\/a>, the American Red Cross<\/a>, Doctors Without Borders,<\/a> Habitat for Humanity,<\/a>\u00a0 Heifer International<\/a>, and Room to Read<\/a> as well as to individuals needing help in local communities.<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":null,"protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":17333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108,128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ideas-creative","category-literature-creative"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17253"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40686,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17253\/revisions\/40686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oh-i-see.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}