The Milkweed Story, Part 2: Champion Books
Writer Ada Limón recently said, “Poems have always been a place of questions for me. Not answers. And I have a lot of questions these days.”
We all turn to literature for different reasons, but that act of reaching for a book is one we each know intimately. The appeal of a beautiful cover, the feel of a book’s weight and texture; the anticipation of what joy, comfort, truth, or new curiosity might be waiting inside.
Milkweed Editions publishes some twenty books each year, and a passionate, generous community supports every one of them. You support editorial collaboration to help writers develop their books to their highest potential. You support the creation of artful book covers and interiors, thoughtfully designed to open up each book and draw readers in. And you support the innovative efforts it takes to ensure literary books find their readership.
In other words, supporters of Milkweed champion books!
In addition to creating books, Milkweed seeks to build a community that values and sustains them. To that end, over eight hundred of you invested last year in opening Milkweed Books, our small but mighty mission-driven bookstore!
We are delighted to report that collections of poems have been some of our best sellers. Readers have also been scooping up short story collections and cookbooks that double as works of art. The emerging writers bookcase has introduced readers to first or second booksby important new voices. Audiences have packed the store for over fifty events featuring authors. And, we recently launched an annual subscription program where we mail the bestbooks published by independent presses to readers all across the country. We’re proud to share that Milkweed Books was named the BEST BOOKSTORE OF 2017 by City Pages, the arts and culture weekly in Minneapolis.
At the bottom of every receipt we print, “The book is not dead. Long live the book!” This statement—this rallying cry—is true because of YOU, because you value and invest in books.
LONG LIVE THE BOOK—AND THE INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE!
Will you champion books by making a year-end donation to Milkweed today?
Stay tuned for more stories this month about how your gifts enable transformation for authors, books, and readers. Did you miss part one of the Milkweed story? Read it here!
With gratitude,
The Milkweed Editions Team