The American Reader goes print, Full Fathom Five launches digital

As if to prove there are no right answers in publishing these days, this week come two contradictory announcements: The literary journal The American Reader is going print-only, while James Frey’s blockbuster-focused publisher Full Fathom Five is launching a digital-only arm.

The American Reader, now 2 years old, has been lauded for its ambitions. Driven by a young editorial staff -- editor-in-chief and co-founder Uzoamaka “Max” Maduka is 26 -- the literary journal balances on mainstream literary fiction’s avant-garde edge, publishing work by Ben Marcus, Stephanie La Cava, Brian Evenson, Anne Carson and more.

“We have big growth in our print edition that hasn’t necessarily been reflected online,” Maduka told Capital New York. The bi-monthly journal has a print circulation of 6,000.

“Our audience for print is more aligned with our mission to be a truly national publication,” Maduka added.

Meanwhile, James Frey’s 5-year-old Full Fathom Five announced this week that it will launch an e-book-only division. Full Fathom Five Digital will publish an e-book a week starting Oct. 1. It’s currently running a contest for fiction manuscripts with a $10,000 grand prize.

“We are really excited for the launch of FFF Digital,” Frey, best known for the controversial book “A Million Little Pieces,” told Publishers Weekly. “We are looking forward to discovering unconventional projects that have the potential to connect with a wider community of readers that haven’t been available to them before.”

Full Fathom Five will continue to work with major publishers and film companies to bring projects like “I Am Number Four” to audiences, while The American Reader will still have an online presence with its “This Day in Lettres” blog, and of course, online ordering for its print edition.

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