Dark Coast Press is an independent publisher of books by both established & unknown authors, specializing in Literary Fiction, Poetry, Essay, & Avant-Garde works, seeking overall invention & innovation in writing from all genres.

The world of publishing is changing—declining sales, boring books, and a massive loss of money and public confidence. Yet, in this last year’s recession book sales still rose by 1%. The public is still reading amidst the industry’s flaws, and they deserve literature that they can enjoy and respect. Dark Coast Press will bring new writers to the public’s attention, and as well forge new relationships with established authors who have new ideas that deserve fresh attention and support.

Today’s literary landscape provides an enormous precedent for invention and growth. For example, corporate publishers and major reviews maintain, on average, a 90% rejection rate. While this upholds both their means and the quality of their publications it also says to us that an overwhelming number of new writers have yet to be discovered. The work is there, the good books are being written, so why, for the most part, are readers not seeing them? Corporate book sales are down because the right writers aren’t being published. We will publish them.

Readers want the same thing that we want from our writers: intelligence, daring, method, creativity, and freedom. For a company founded by experienced authors and editors these values are of utmost importance. Our authors are encouraged to take risks.  With us they have an opportunity to be successful while maintaining integrity in a market rife with compromise. We want to give them the chance to be award-winning authors, to let their full vision reach its highest expression, and to bring that expression straight to the reading public.

The trust established between Dark Coast Press and its writers is evident in the quality of works released—this trust is passed on to readers. We hope to attract the many readers who are disinterested in the books currently being released, those who may read but have yet to know how captivating literature can truly be, & the open but critical readers who wait patiently for those books that in some fashion address the qualities, peculiarities, virtues, & paradoxes of life’s experiences. We will be a consistent source for excellent, high-quality literature for years to come.

Dark Coast Press Co. was officially started in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle in October of 2009. The press was co-founded by two friends with very different experiences in the world of literature, Aaron Talwar and Jarret Middleton. Aaron Talwar, Dark Coast’s publisher, left his editorial post at Wiley & Sons and his home state of New Jersey with an idea for a new company that would publish artistic literature and provide it to as many people as possible.  Author Jarret Middleton departed from the forested shore of New Hampshire to join him, and is now Dark Coast’s editor-in-chief.

Still in its first year, Dark Coast is focused on starting correctly, only releasing a small amount of titles. We promise to work hard to publish more titles as quickly as we can. We are offering The Gallery at darkcoastpress.com, free monthly material from some of the best new writers in the country.  Our focus is on intelligence, experimentation, and creativity in new works of literary fiction, poetry, essay, drama, and avant-garde. We strive for openness and trust with readers and writers, and a sincere dedication to a culture of literary expression strange, festive, and meaningful for everyone we have the privilege of meeting and working with.