When we first started our company, we had two goals: to publish books and to remind people of the importance of reading. That was eight years ago, and looking back, the wins and losses to where we are today continue to leave me in awe. We’ve come a long way from the long nights of trying to put a book out into the world. As I sit in our office today, I’m reminded of these first two goals, the ones that built the foundation for our value system as a company and led us down this strange but wonderful path of entrepreneurship.
Running an indie press comes with its mix of isolation (it’s mostly you and email) and community (I am so grateful for all of the mentors and friends in our various publishing groups). However, being able to publish the authors often ignored by the Big 5 (honestly, it’s the Big 5’s loss because our authors are amazingly talented) and focus our efforts on literary activism make the challenges of running a small press absolutely worth it.
The pandemic definitely changed the shape and scope of our company by reminding us why we got into this strange business in the first place. It gave us time to remember what’s important to our mission and what steps we need to take to get there.
Today, Read Furiously is proud to welcome Sequential Underground into our growing family. It’s our newest adventure and one that we cannot wait to share with you. Every week, we plan to focus on new curated reading lists featuring our Read Furiously titles, titles we love, and reading essentials. It’s our opportunity to bring in our second goal from those early days: remind people of the joy and importance of reading.
Think of it as the side quest to your long reading adventure. We do but it’s probably because we’re a bunch of nerds whose favorite memories are planning Dungeons & Dragons, reading one shot comics of our favorite heroes, and seeking out the hidden treasures in our video games. But, seriously, we know your reading journey will be long and unsure, so let us help you with some supplies along the way.
We hope you enjoy discovering the treasures of Sequential Underground.
Until next time: read often, read well, read furiously.