My Biz: Prairie Lights in Iowa City starts its own small press

Prairie Lights, Iowa City's downtown independent bookstore, is expanding its literary reach by moving into the world of book publishing.

But this new venture - a small press called Prairie Lights Books - won't affect the day-to-day operations at the bookstore, said co-owner Jan Weissmiller.

“We are hopeful that this is a revenue stream which would be good for the store,” she said.

Weissmiller, who operates the store with co-owner Jane Mead, said they began looking into starting a small press to deal with the developing bookselling market.

“It's a changing world for bookstores,” she said. “so we are always looking at ways to evolve.”

The key to Prairie Lights Books taking shape, Weissmiller said, is a crucial partnership with the University of Iowa Press - a unique arrangement in a world where more independent bookstores are stepping into the publishing business. Weissmiller credits UI Press director Jim McCoy with truly understanding bookstores and helping make the idea a reality.

“University of Iowa Press is making it so easy for us,” she said. “We help choose the cover but don't design the inside of the book. We (Weissmiller and Mead) do work selecting manuscripts and editing because both Jane and I have some background in that.”

The UI Press, in turn, handles all other aspects of the publishing process for Prairie Lights, such as the contracts, book design and distribution - which Weissmiller explained is distinctly different from book selling.

Weissmiller and Mead - both poets and graduates of the Iowa Writer's Workshop - also believe as owners of Prairie Lights they have distinct advantages in starting a small press.

“We are so connected to the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop,” Weissmiller said, noting that the store's reading series - started 22 years ago - is almost like a rite of passage for graduates of the program. “We have a lot of people to tap for ideas.

“We are also connected to book sellers across the country and have an immediate marketing network. Publishers still recognize the importance of hand-selling in bookstores.”

Prairie Lights Books has acquired its first two books that will come out in spring 2013 - “Sweet Will” by Philip Levine, a reprint of a 1985 Macmillan publication, and “Coming Close: 40 Essays on Philip Levine,” edited by Mari L'Esperance and Tomas Q. Morin.

Levine is best known for his poems about the working-class of Detroit.

She said moving forward the acquisition process could prove to be challenging for her and Mead, simply because of the time they may need to dedicate to it. “It's a process that takes time,” Weissmiller said.

“We are only going to be able to do two to four books a year,” she added.

Weissmiller added that Prairie Lights Books hopes to publish short fiction next.

“We are really interested in novella fiction. It's a form that is being tossed around a lot in the publishing world now and it is also historically popular, dating back to the 19th century.”

While Weissmiller and Mead may be challenged on time, they aren't short on enthusiasm this new element of their passion for books.

“It's so exciting just having things you feel really good about out there and having your stamp on them,” Weissmiller said.

“Having a connection to a book because you've read it or you would recommend that someone buy it in your bookstore is one thing. It's a completely different connection when you've published it.”

Co-owners: Jan Weissmiller, Jane Mead

Company: Prairie Lights Books

Address:  15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City

Phone: (319) 337-2681

Website: www.prairielights.com

Know a manager or company in business for at least a year that should be considered for “My Biz”? Contact business editor Michael Chevy Castranova at michael.castranova@sourcemedia.net.