After lengthy discussion with several poets and small-press publishers, we’ve decided to return to using ISBNs for all our open-run chapbooks. This means that all Seven Kitchens chapbooks, unless published in a limited print run (no reprint option) will receive ISBN numbers. The Summer Kitchen Series, for example, is limited to a 49-copy print run and will not have ISBNs, but almost every other title we’ve published since 2007 will be assigned an ISBN. (It’s worth noting that 40 titles were already assigned ISBNs upon publication.)

Chapbooks with ISBNs are more easily sold and distributed to bookstores; moreover, they help authors meet eligibility criteria when applying for certain grants and awards. We’re in favor of helping our authors as much as we can. 

From our very start in 2007, Seven Kitchens has operated on a tiny budget; as soon as we were able to jettison the reading-fee model, we did so gladly, but extras like ISBNs became prohibitively costly as we eked along for a few more years. Our operating budget is funded entirely by chapbook sales and by the generous donations, large and small, from our supporters. We are nearly halfway toward our goal of $575 to purchase a block of one hundred ISBNs–enough for every eligible chapbook in print plus a surplus to carry us through the next two years–and hope to reach this goal by the end of June. To that end, we are designating June as Seven Kitchens Giving Month:

• $1 from everyone who reads this post would surpass our goal!
• Give $5 and receive a public thank you on our Giving Month page.
• Give $10 and receive a complimentary chapbook from our ReBound Series (your choice) as well as a thank you on our Giving Month page.
• Give $15 and receive as your complimentary chapbook any title we’ve published during 2018 (your choice), as well as a thank you on our Giving Month page.
• Give $25 and receive any two titles from our Editor’s Series (your choice) as well as a thank you on our Giving Month page. 
• If you wish to make an anonymous gift, we’re fine with that, too. 

We hope that you’ll consider making a donation to support the press and our goal. Truly, no amount is too small. We’re so thankful to the folks who have donated this spring to support the press and the Robin Becker Series, and to everyone who purchases our chapbooks. Thank you for helping to keep small press literature alive and well!

–Ron Mohring, for the editors