Grove/Atlantic Revives Black Cat Imprint

by Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 5/17/2004

Grove/Atlantic is reviving its Black Cat imprint, originally launched in 1961 by Grove founder Barney Rosset, as a line of paperback originals that will feature the kind of cutting-edge fiction associated with Grove during that period.

Judy Hottenson, Grove v-p, marketing and publicity, said Black Cat's first list of four paperback originals will be released in the fall. "We're doing it to get booksellers' attention," said Hottenson. The four titles are Too Weird for Ziggy by Sylvie Simmons, Fortune's Bastard by Robert Chalmers, 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed by Melissa P. and Layer Cake by J.J. Connolly.

In a letter to retailers, Grove/Atlantic publisher Morgan Entrekin pointed out that the original Black Cat list featured such books as Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer and William Burroughs's Naked Lunch, books that "defined their era." Entrekin noted that the new Black Cat is an effort to make its list "as accessible and affordable as possible in a challenging market." Grove, he said, will support the titles with "the same aggressive marketing campaigns as our hardcovers—galleys, advance reading copies, tours, publicity, promotion and advertising."

Hottenson said the new novels, whose topics range from fictionalized sexual memoir to the gritty world of rock 'n' roll, are "in the Grove tradition of edgy, unusual fiction. They wouldn't sell as well in hardcover, but they're perfect in paperback for a younger, hipper audience. We think the market is calling out for something like this."