Publishing Houses (Online): Boost House

Hi everyone. I’ve been cleaning out my drafts and trying to prep some more information about Space In Your Head, as well as online publishing, and mental health. One of my ideas was this: Publishing Houses Online. A segment where I can talk about different publishing opportunities if you don’t think Space In Your Head is right for you. Obviously our target is any art or writing, from people who suffer from mental illnesses. We are less aesthetic based, whereas if you’re a minimalist or new sincerity writer, for example, you might be suited to different publications. Even if you aren’t a writer and are just someone who likes looking at words and cool arty things, you might like to check these out and give them a follow. I’ll be looking at Illuminati Girl Gang, EmpathLit, Electric Cereal and Faces Of Mental Health too, in upcoming versions of these. I might even put them all up tonight and share them at different times, for anyone who is nosey and can’t wait (totally fine, btw.)

In this first edition, we’ll be talking about Boost House. Founded by Steve Roggenbuck, Boost House a publishing group based around making videos and printing books from contributors, as well as making t-shirts and a heap of other thing. They’re also living in a residency style, which is pretty awesome, as it allows all of these differing creative forces to work together and maximise their conceptualisation strategies. They recently released a book ‘I’M ALIVE/ IT HURTS/ I LOVE IT’ and a video for Joshua Jennifer Espinoza, and have in the past printed one of Steve Roggenbuck’s poem books ‘Crunk Juice’, as well as the lit journal ‘Boost House’, PLUS, a Walt Whitman anthology.

What I love about Boost House (aside from the output) is the way they are ambitious, despite having people coming and going. There’s a huge drive to produce original content for everyone, such as their idea to put up a free online school to talk about current issues facing millennials, which I find super important. Boost House have been doing this since 2013, and I’m so proud of their work so far. I know that they’ve got it in them to make something amazing, that will help legitimise what the online lit scene is and encapsulates. And I guess that’s why they’re succeeding as well – they’re all from the internet, essentially. They’ve seen what this scene is twist and turn for years, and now they’ve tried to make a home for it. Not just an online hub, but a physical home, making physical things. That’s why Boost House are killing it, and I wish them all the best.

Boost House have an online store you can find on their website, http://www.boost-house.com. But you should follow them on twitter, @boosthouse and find them on Facebook. They’re always posting really interesting content, and they’re such approachable, and really hardworking, fantastic people.

RIP HTML Giant

Around a week ago today, HTML Giant ceased operations. HTML Giant were one of the places I was first exposed to online writing, and they’ve been doing good things for the duration of their operation. Space In Your Head has been started because of groups such as this, and with alt lit ‘dying’, we’ve started to find our place more and more important. Maybe not being defined by alt lit, but moving to be defined by something different. HTML Giant proved that getting in the middle of a circle of writers was the best way to find new talent. And for me, it showed that you really don’t need to wait for anyone to write a book, or get published, to notice talent. There’s writing everywhere, and it’s up to a good group to help tap into that.

I find Space In Your Head in a strange situation right now. With this exodus of alt lit writers and writing circles, what does that mean for contemporary publishing? For years before this, I thought that publishing online was the way forward, but how do you avoid creating any problems? Within any circle, there’s going to be influential people, and there’s going to be abusive people. We’ve been lucky or under the radar enough to avoid having anything like that come up, and I’d like to hope we’ve had a good mix of submissions, and as proper representation as possible. We love art, and we use what gets sent our way.

Seeing HTML Giant be affected by this is sobering. But as I mentioned in a previous blog post is that this isn’t a bad thing. This is only going to motivate me to promote a safe space for everyone, and a place where art and writing can get shared no matter what, where no weeds can thrive.

I want to be the gardener of this online community. I want to pay close attention to any beautiful seeds I am fortunate enough to come in contact with, and I want to make this into something big. I want more and more people from all over the world sharing their experiences through art. Because with mental health, sharing experience is so important. But of course, you need the right conditions. If I could control the weather, I’d want to make this as bright and sunny as possible.

We’ve had a fortunate first two months. Here’s to many more, of the same feeling, to come.