On Barsoom and Dublin

It's been about a year since The Merry Blacksmith Press got underway. Before getting down to the nitty-gritty of publishing new books, I wanted to do some tests with the printer, experiment with PayPal and generally do some dry runs. Before I started releasing new books, I did what so many other small publishers do and took a stab at some public domain titles. Obviously, I was happy with the results from the printer which is why I started hawking them on the website, and those four titles I started with are still listed in the catalog, and still available for order.

First up was A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Why? Partly because I started hearing noise again about a film version (anyone know whatever became of that?) but mostly because I was addicted to the Barsoom series when I was a kid. These were fun, action-packed stories with many of the sort of thing that are still popular today. Adventure, Romance. Massive battles. Airships. You know...the works.

After approving the first Merry Blacksmith publication, I went ahead and put together the next two in the series: The Gods of Mars, and its direct sequel, The Warlord of Mars. Every now and then I consider putting together an omnibus edition, but I see a lot of those around, and sometimes folks just need one of the three titles to replace an old, worn-out one. Even if I do decide to go with an omnibus edition, they will always be available as single volumes.

The Christmas before I started Merry Blacksmith Press, my wife had given me an old copy of James Joyce's Dubliners. Of all of Joyce's works, I had always found this the most accessible and enjoyable. This is one of those collections that I feel should be taught in every school or, at the very least, read by everyone at least once in their lives.

And given that "The Merry Blacksmith" is the name of a well-known Irish reel, and Joyce was a celebrated Irish writer, the fit seemed right.

Hence, the Merry Blacksmith Press edition.

Will I put out other public domain titles in the future? Probably. There are some science fiction adventure titles I've had my eye one--real pulp-era sort of yarns. I sometimes consider editions of books from early English literature, which was my major in college. I'm also open to suggestions.

My next post will be about more new releases, but today, I celebrate some classics.

Cheers!