Inspired by their work in the community as artists and educators, Marci Klane and Margo Perin joined forces to create Whoa Nelly Press. Their mission is to provide an arena for the voices of unrecognized writers to be heard and celebrated in their rodeo. Ride on up and enjoy what they're kicking up in their corral. Whoaaaaaa Nelly!
MISSION STATEMENT
We publish writers whose voices we love and need to be heard. These include writers with unconventional stories who express social and cultural realities not often in the public eye, new poets and personal essayists, teenagers, incarcerated youth and adults, the children of gangsters and others who live between the cracks of "normal" experience, and a host of others.
We publish adult and youth fiction, narrative nonfiction, and poetry, and anthologies that emerge from our community-based projects. We publish printed books, e-books, and chapbooks, and feature emerging writers on our website.
Our inaugural publication is The Opposite of Hollywood by Margo Perin that tells the story of a child growing up on the lam with her criminal father. We are also delighted to have lassoed onto the website our currently featured (Un)heard Voices: Bay Area writers Andrea Torres, Dominic Lim, Sanam Sulveen, a poet live from London, Remi Graves, and the voices of youth in essays by Tajae Brown and Tiana Altman and in our anthologies, Poems from Below and Why Does This Poem Have to End?
Our mission includes creating an arena for new writers to share their voices, develop their talent and writing skills, and build bridges across communities through the written and spoken word. We lead community-based writing workshops to nurture and allow their unheard voices to emerge. Some of our publications originate from these workshops.
100% of the proceeds from our publications, after costs, go directly into our community-based writing programs.
We support independent bookstores! You can order our books from your local bookstore and public library.
Currently featured at:
Bay Area: Bird & Beckett, Christopher's Books, Books, Inc. (Castro, Laurel Village, Opera Plaza, SFO Airport), Browser Books, Folio Books, Bookshop West Portal, Pegasus Books, Bay Books, The Booksmith, Green Apple Books, Alexander Book Company, Alley Cat Books, Contemporary Jewish Museum Store, San Francisco Public Library and South San Francisco Public Library.
New York City: Three Lives & Company, St. Marks Bookshop, The Corner Bookstore, and Jewish Museum Shop.
Connecticut: Westport Public Library
You can also find our print books on amazon.com and distributed through Ingram.