Why us, why now?

The same reason we have provided free content, ranging from our e-zine, festivals, workshops, and author interviews, since 2018: we want to celebrate creativity and help promote storytelling.

As we’ve seen, up front and close and despite the efforts of other awesome nonprofits, publishers, magazines, and individuals, the landscape for writers has only become less hospitable and more challenging. As such, particularly during our contemporary climate which seems poised to make things much worse on a global scale, 1455 wants to champion underrepresented voices in a meaningful, permanent way.

We will approach this endeavor with our usual mix of passion, modest resources, and vision: our team has decades of collective experience, not only as creatives, but as entrepreneurs and rebels who have worked within various industries. We’ve observed, personally and repeatedly, why outdated and exclusive publishing and promotional models are failing, and ripe for disruption.

1455 is uniquely positioned to assist storytellers, providing tested strategies and, where desired, offer hands-on assistance to work with writers to get their manuscripts available as print and electronic manuscripts. We not only will help authors level up and give their book the best chance to be seen in a crowded, chaotic landscape, we will provide them with the one resource worth more than money: time.

We will publish books that people can hold, read, and share; we will promote worthy writers and artists to give them the sort of guidance and assistance that is increasingly in short supply via a consolidating, moribund literary establishment.

An enclave, an incubator,
a haven for creative engagement

The cultural battle of the 21st Century is not necessarily between good and evil; it’s between chaos and silence. This is why we must choose sides.

Everything is changing, but not much has changed: the winners do write history, and the good guys don’t always win. As ever, more authentic voices will be the antidote to impersonal technologies and the people using them to disempower those without access. All of which is to say, the need for personal narrative is as imperative and empowering as ever, and the ability to share these stories has never been more accessible, more possible.

1455 Books is committed to publishing work from voices often excluded from traditional publishing, including writers of color, gender non-conforming and LGBTQ+ writers, and those living with disabilities. To create an accessible platform for marginalized voices, we offer fee-free submissions to writers who request a fee waiver via email at info@1455litarts.org.

1455 is a non-profit publisher of literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. All net profits are funneled directly into the business to maintain operations.