Ig Publishing is a New York-based press devoted to publishing original literary fiction and political and cultural nonfiction. The editor is writer Robert Lasner, and the publisher is Elizabeth Clementson. The press was founded in 2002. Among Ig's awards are a PEN/Hemingway Honorable Mention for Damn Love by Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, an Indie Next selection for Rachel Weaver's ''Point of Direction'', a Sydney Taylor Honor book selection for ''Isabel's War'' by Lila Perl, a 5 Under 35 pick for ''The Hopeful'', an ALA Notable pick in fiction for ''Missile Paradise'', a Montana Book Award Honorable Mention for ''A Bloom of Bones'', a Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Shortlist Selection a 2018 CLMP Firecracker nomination for ''Empire of Glass'', a Center For Fiction longlist selection for ''Restless Souls'', a Great Group Reads selection for ''Unfurled''. Ig's titles have been reviewed in ''The New York Times, Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Oprah Magazine, the Chicago Tribune'', NPR, and many other places.

History

Ig was founded in 2002 with the release of Robert Lasner's novel ''For Fucks Sake''. The press also released a series of Dive Bar guides to select cities – New York, Chicago and San Francisco – from 2002 to 2004. Ig also released several literary novels, including Grant Bailie's ''Cloud 8'' and Richard Madelin's ''Careful!'' Inspired by the rise of the progressive political blogosphere, Ig began publishing political non-fiction, along with literary fiction. Among the blog books that Ig released were ''Confessions of a Former Dittohead'' (2006), ''Framing the Debate'' by Jeffrey Feldman, ''Moving A Nation to Care'' by Ilona Meagher, and ''Steeplejacking: How the Christian Right is Hijacking Mainstream Religion'' by John Dorhauer and Sheldon Culver (all in 2007). During this time, Ig also re-published several non-fiction classics, including

Edward Bernays Edward Louis Bernays ( , ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American theorist, considered a pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, and referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". His best-known ca ...

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Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...

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Vance Packard Vance Oakley Packard (May 22, 1914 – December 12, 1996) was an American journalist and social critic. He was the author of several books, including ''The Hidden Persuaders'' and ''The Naked Society''. He was a critic of consumerism. Early life ...

's '' The Hidden Persuaders'', and ''Empire As A Way of Life'' by

William Appleman Williams William Appleman Williams (June 12, 1921 – March 5, 1990) was one of the 20th century's most prominent revisionist historians of American diplomacy. He achieved the height of his influence while on the faculty of the department of history at th ...

Increasing reputation in politics

Ig's political list continued to grow, as the press gained a reputation as an important voice in progressive political publishing. In December 2007, ''Moving A Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops'' was highlighted before Congress when its author was called to testify at a House Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing. And, in the lead-up to the 2008 election, Ig published ''Loser Take All: Election Fraud and The Subversion of Democracy, 2000-2008'', highlighting the vast electoral fraud in the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and 2006 elections. The collection was edited by Mark Crispin Miller. Other political highlights for the press were Jill Richardson's ''Recipe for America'' (2009) on the American

food system The term food system describes the interconnected systems and processes that influence nutrition, food, health, community development, and agriculture. A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population: grow ...

; union activist Joe Burns on the need for the labor movement to bring back the production-halting strike, ''Reviving the Strike'' (2011), and its companion title, ''Strike Back'' (2014) on the rising public employee labor upsurge; ''Crow After Roe'', on the state-level war against abortion; and ''Part of the Family'', about the rising movement to gain rights for domestic workers. In 2013, Ig released ''The Terror Factory: Inside the FBI's Manufactured War on Terrorism'' by award-winning investigative journalist Trevor Aaronson. An outgrowth of Aaronson's article for '' Mother Jones'' magazine, The Terror Factory exposed how the FBI, under the guise of engaging in counterterrorism since 9/11, built a network of more than 15,000 informants whose primary purpose is to infiltrate Muslim communities to create and facilitate phony terrorist plots so that the Bureau can then claim it is winning the war on terror. In 2016, Ig published Boy With A Knife by Jean Trounstine. ''Boy With A Knife'' tells the story of Karter Kane Reed, who, at the age of sixteen, was sentenced to life in an adult prison for a murder he committed in 1993 in a high school classroom. Twenty years later, in 2013, he became one of the few men in Massachusetts to sue the Parole Board and win his freedom. Recent political/current affairs titles have included ''American Apartheid: The Native American Struggle for Self-Determination and Inclusion'' by Stephanie Woodard, which offers the most comprehensive and compelling account of the issues and threats that Native Americans face today, as well as their heroic battle to overcome them; ''The Tribalization of Politics'' by Ian Reifowitz, which explores how the conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh “tribalized” American politics through his racially divisive, falsehood-ridden portrayal of President Obama; an updated edition of ''Strike Back'' by Joe Burns; ''The End of Roe v. Wade'' by Robin Marty and Jessica Mason Pieklo; and ''Why America Needs Socialism'' by G.S. Griffin. In 2021, Ig released ''The Heartbeat of Iran'' by Tara Kangarlou, and in 2022, ''Putin's Trolls: On the Frontlines of Russia's Disinformation War Against the World'' by Jessikka Aro. In the book, the author, a Finnish journalist, writes about being targeted by Russian social media trolls.

Literary fiction

Ig is particularly known for its literary fiction. In 2012, the press released ''The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets'' by Diana Wagman, which was named a Barnes and Noble Discover pick. In 2014, Ig released ''Point of Direction'' by Rachel Weaver, which was named an Indie Next selection. Ig has had multiple titles reviewed by prestigious publications including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', NPR, ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'', ''

Oprah Magazine ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. Overview It was first published on April 19, 2000. , its average paid circulation wa ...

,'' '' Kirkus Reviews'' and ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

''. ''Damn Love'', a short story collection by Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, received a PEN/Hemingway Honorable Mention in 2014. In 2015, Tracy O'Neill's ''The Hopeful'' was named a 5 Under 35 pick by the National Book Foundation. The press's fiction list has won several more awards since then, including the CLMP Firecracker Award in Fiction in 2022 for Celeste Mohammed's ''Pleasantview,'' a novel-in-stories set in Trinidad.

Bookmarked

In 2016, Ig launched its Bookmarked series, where an author writes on a book that had a profound impact on their writing and life. Kirby Gann authored the first book in the series, on John Knowles' ''

A Separate Peace ''A Separate Peace'' is a coming-of-age novel by John Knowles, published in 1958. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", published in the May 1956 issue of ''Cosmopolitan'', it was Knowles's first published novel and became his best-kno ...

''. Other titles that first year included Curtis Smith on

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

's ''

Slaughterhouse-Five ''Slaughterhouse-Five, or, The Children's Crusade: A Duty-Dance with Death'' is a 1969 semi-autobiographic science fiction-infused anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut. It follows the life and experiences of Billy Pilgrim, from his early years, to h ...

'', and Hobart editor Aaron Burch on

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high ...

's '' The Body.'' Titles in the series since then include

Jaime Clarke Jaime Clarke is an American novelist and editor. He is a founding editor of the literary journal '' Post Road'' and co-owner, with his wife, of Newtonville Books, an independent bookstore in Boston. Early life and education Clarke was born in ...

on Fitzgerald's ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsb ...

'', David Ryan on

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel '' Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

's '' Under the Volcano'', Steve Yarbrough on

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

's ''

The Last Picture Show ''The Last Picture Show'' is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film directed and co-written by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from the semi-autobiographical 1966 novel ''The Last Picture Show'' by Larry McMurtry. The film's ensemble cast includes T ...

,'' Michael Seidlinger on Mark Danielewski's '' House of Leaves,'' Brian Evenson on

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He contributed to the revitalization of the American short story during the 1980s. Early life Carver was born in Clatskanie, Oregon, a mi ...

's ''

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love ''What We Talk About When We Talk About Love'' is a 1981 collection of short stories by American writer Raymond Carver, as well as the title of one of the stories in the collection. Content "Why Don't You Dance?" In 1977, Carver submitted a stor ...

'', Charles Holdefer on

George Saunders George Saunders (born December 2, 1958) is an American writer of short stories, essays, novellas, children's books, and novels. His writing has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', '' Harper's'', ''McSweeney's'', and '' GQ''. He also contributed a w ...

' ''Pastoralia,'' Steve Almond on John Williams's ''Stoner,'' Kim McLarin on James Baldwin's ''Another Country,'' Sven Birkerts on Nabokov's ''Speak, Memory,'' Pamela Erens on George Eliot's ''Middlemarch,'' and Robin Black on Virginia Woolf's ''Mrs. Dalloway''.

History

Increasing reputation in politics

Literary fiction

Bookmarked

References

Further reading