Our values: What is an Atthis Arts title?
We love the breadth of creative expression, so an Atthis Arts title could be a lot of things. But there are a few things you should expect, centered around our core values of authenticity, thoughtfulness, and community.
- Respect for the author’s voice: We encourage writers to express themselves in their most genuine voice. We need to sell the books to stay in business, but we don’t ask the writers to compromise on their artistic voice for something we think will sell better. Voice first.
- Thoughtfulness in publishing: We strive for thoughtfulness to content and impact in publishing. In our actions as well as our pages. We stand by our values
- Support to community: We believe in community, are grateful for all the ways ours supports us, and are thrilled when we can support a network of writers, illustrators, designers, and editors through our projects. Paying appropriate rates, giving back, and lifting each other up are important to us.
- Gentleness: We try not to center violence in our works, nor leverage it for entertainment. This includes non-physical and emotional violence. We present difficult material with thoughtfulness to trauma. We publish content notes for all of our titles. We understand the value of loud and horror genres, but it is not our space in the room.
- Quality: We believe in the details. As best we can, we take the time and resources and love that it takes to create a book that is beautiful and aesthetic, in appearance as well as in content.
Black Lives Matter. Black Trans Lives Matter. Protect Trans People. Be kind to yourself and each other.
We stand with our neighbors: BIPOC, AAPI, LGBTQIAP+, disabled, neurodivergent, intersectional, and otherwise marginalized by structural inequality. We welcome and seek to amplify voices under occupation globally, including Palestinian and Ukrainian. Body autonomy, including reproductive rights, is essential.
Our little hummingbird, the Atthis Ellioti (the wine-throated hummingbird), reminds us of hope, and sun, and that the smallest birds can add unique beauty to the world.
From where does the name Atthis Arts originate?
Atthis is a character in the poetry of Sappho, a Greek poet who lived about 2500 years ago. Her poetry was mostly destroyed over time, including the nine collected volumes created by the Library of Alexandria. The fragments that remain have been collected over the centuries, often from decorative items or from being quoted in other books. In the fragments that remain, Sappho expresses great affection for Atthis, saying, “Atthis, I loved you long ago while you still seemed to me a small ungracious child. I was proud of you too. In skill I think you need never bow to any girl – not one who may see the sunlight in time to come.” Then Atthis leaves her, and Sappho says, “After all this Atthis, you hate even the thought of me.” She laments the “venom” with which love has struck her down. The fragments end with, “You may forget but let me tell you this: someone in some future time will think of us.” And finally, “Pain penetrates me drop by drop.”
We can’t know whether Atthis was literally as such in Sappho’s life, but with ideas so powerful, we believe that she was. Atthis has been dead for over 2500 years now and every book that recorded Sappho’s poems was destroyed, but yet through scraps and fragments, now you remember her. You remember the love that Sappho felt for her, and the pain at her rejection. “You may forget but let me tell you this: someone in some future time will think of us.”
Atthis Arts believes in the power of the written word. The power to carry as simple a thought as, “I love you, Atthis” over the millennia. It is this power that we strive to share with you.
Who are we?
We are an indie press out of Detroit, Michigan who honors the author’s authentic voice as the core of our projects, strives for thoughtfulness in writing and publishing, and loves to connect with our community of readers.
The Executive Editor is author E.D.E. Bell, working alongside Managing Editor Chris Bell and a whole team of friends and associates. The Bells are quirky and nerdy and they like each other, and they’ve put their hearts and souls (and a lot more) into this business.
Atthis Arts operates on the land of the Three Fires Confederacy.
If you’re a reader:
We strive to deliver heartfelt, artistic titles that you will enjoy. We hope you’ll check out our stories.
If you’re an author seeking to publish:
Information on our submission status and process is located at https://atthisarts.com/submissions/.