Burning Shore Links

Family and Friends

Burning Shore Review: The arts journal of Burning Shore Press. It features poetry, prose, and images from writers/artists from around the world.

King of Long Beach: The blog of Rob Woodard. In addition to his rants, poetry, and other writing, the site features links to Woodard's work on line. A read that's as fun, interesting, and sometimes strange as the author himself.

Dan Fante: Novelist poet, short story writer, and playwright extraordinaire ... champion of the underdog, and tireless worker for an honest American literature. If you haven't read him, you probably don't understand where post-modern writing has been and where it's going.

Tony O'Neill: Novelist and poet, Tony is another writer out on the true edge that everyone should read. Check out his novel Digging The Vein on Contemporary Press, and of course Songs From The Shooting Gallery, his fanastic book of poetry put out by us.

Rose Hunter: Whoever Brought Me Here is Going to have to Bring Me Home is the blog page for this wonderful Australian novelist and short-story writer. Though she's originally from down under, Rose lived for years in Canada and now makes her home in Mexico. Fascinating stuff from an international author who deserves to see her audience expand.

Mark SaFranko: New Jersey's Mark SaFranko the author of the wonderful novels Hating Olivia and Lounge Lizard, as well as a whole mess of excellent short stories spread out over many venues. This is a homepage set up by Murder Slim, his U.K. publisher.

Jim Hall: Blog of Long Beach-based poet, short story writer, and journalist. Right now the site's a combination of Jim's writing and ranting. A fun and worthwhile read.

Words

Richard Hell: An icon who refuses to be one. If you don't who know he is, shame on you. Read his novels and other writings, listen to his albums, and then, whether you love or hate him, you'll understand why he's starting this part of the list.

Open: Long beach, California's hot spot for underground literature and art in general. Located on 4th street, between Junipero and Cherry, Open embodies what our counter-mainstream movement is all about.

Ben Myers: Blog of the always interesting U.K.-based novelist, poet, journalist, and music writer. Definitely worth checking out.

Mike Ferraro: A Musician and writer, Mike is Burning Shore Press' eyes and ears on the east coast. Check out his site and see what he's about.

City Lights Books: Still the mack daddy of west coast counter-mainstream publishing. They started it all in the 1950s and still do it far better than most.

Scarecrow: A great U.K.-based on-line lit journal, which features some of the best writing around. It's run by a very cool cat named Lee Rourke who has fantastic taste. Anyone interested in modern writing should bookmark this site.

Dogmatika: Another excellent on-line lit journal. This one is based out of Ireland and is run by a woman named Susan Tomaselli, who really knows what she's doing. Great words, great design, great people--need we say more?

Laura Hird: The website of Scottish writer/blogger laura Hird. Her lit zine features some of the best writing out there. Check it out!

Black Bile Press: Run by writer Matthew Firth, Black Bile is a small Canadian press that specializes in chapbooks and also puts out the wonderful lit journal Front & Center.

Sun Dog Press: Based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, this small press has put out important work by Dan Fante, Billy Childish, Steve Richmond, among others. A very gutty independent publisher.

Wrecking Ball Press: A very interesting U.K. publisher. They've got a truly ugly website and are apparently loathe to answer any correspondence (at least from us), but they've put out some damn good books.

Michel Houellebecq: An English language fan's site about the great French writer. Agree or disagree with his conclusions, Houellebecq must be dealt with.

Knut Hamsun: A links site for the impossibly controversial Norwegian master. The site's only OK, but there's so little on the net about this man in English that, for the moment, this will have to do.

Music

Mike Watt: Official website for the mighty Watt. Bassist and songwriter for the Minutemen, fIREHOSE, Dos, Banyan, Hellride, The Stooges, and many other musical assemblages, Mike Watt's music and econo-jam philosophy has changed our lives. Makin' that Long Beach-San Pedro connection, Mr. Watt -- brothers across the bridge ...

Ed Kuepper: MySpace page for the criminally underappreciated Austrailian guitarist-singer-songwriter. If you haven't heard of Ed, he's been blasting away with some of the finest and most original rock-and-roll ever made for over three decades. Check out his vast catalogue of solo material, as well as his work with The Saints, Laughing Clowns, and The Aint's--it will all blow your mind.

Slippers: Long Beach, California's premier jazz-funk-rock fusion group. They rarely play outside of the L.A. Basin, but their music is well worth a trip into So Cal--for a Slippers' show is true event. If nothing else, obtain one of their albums and get your groove on in a very serious way.

Paul Westerberg: A nice fan's page for the amazing Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter-guitarist. From the Replacements to the solo albums to Grandpa Boy, Paul has provided a big chunk of the soundtrack for our lives (God, that sounds corny -- still it's true, though).

Elliot Smith: Official page for the late great songwriter. We'd wax more eloquent about this one, except that we're still in mourning. Check out his music and you'll understand what a huge loss this was.

Jonathan Richman: "Unofficial Blog Page" for the oh so cool and oh so weird singer/songwriter. This is a great page for talking to other fans and finding out about JoJo's many ramblings.

Places

Portfolio Coffee House: Arguably the center of Long Beach, California's hip and pseudo hip culture. Great coffee, good eats, and an interesting atmosphere. Come down and hang out with some cool people and a whole bunch more people who aren't anywhere near as cool as they like to think they are.

Politics

Ian Masters: With his radio programs Background Briefing and Live From The Left Coast former BBC journalist Ian Masters has created what are simply the best public affairs forums in the U.S. In Southern California they can be heard on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles/98.7 FM in Santa Barbara and KURC 88.3 FM in the Inland Empire. They can also be heard on KITR 101.5 FM Kettle Falls, Washington. If you live outside these broadcast areas you can listen to it streaming over the net.

Start Your Own Publishing House

If you're a reader or writer who thinks the mainstream publishing is world is just a bunch of Oprah-scented idiocy then why not become a publisher yourself? ­ That's how we felt and that's what we did. Here's some links that will help get you started.

Bang Printers: There are a number of excellent book printers out there, but these guys might be the best. High quality at reasonable prices -- and they don't take forever and a day to get the work done! Plus, they're really enjoyable to work with. Highly recommended.

Bar Code Graphics: You're going to have to buy bar codes for whatever you publish. These guys have the best prices around and are super easy to work with.

U.S. Copyright Office: Authors need to copyright their material. Here's where you go to get that done.

Bowker: You will need ISBN numers and register your work with "Books in Print." Here's where you go for these services.

Library of Congress: A Control Number is also needed for each book. Here's where you go for that. This site is a pain in the butt, but after going in circles for awhile you'll figure it out.

State of California: If you're based in California you'll need a Sellers Permit to do business. It's easy to get and free. Most other states require some sort license as well, so if you're based elsewhere in the country you should figure this out early in the game. Also, many municipalities require a business license, so check that out too. Before you do any of this, though, you'll need to hit the IRS site and get a tax number for your company. All of this is a major pain in the ass, but it has to be done.

Good Luck!