Gold Coast Editions

If you haven’t seen by now, I’m starting a small press, Gold Coast Editions. I debated between starting a magazine and starting a press, and ultimately decided to go this route because it feels to me like there are so many literary magazines and not enough presses. So many great manuscripts end up getting shelved before publication simply because the indie publishing doesn’t have enough outlets through which to put them out.

In many ways, publishing is in my DNA. My mom, who died in 2001, was a writer and editor at Sports Illustrated before becoming an editor at a small press called Bishop Books, which was started by a coworker of hers at SI. Before her, my great aunt Sarah worked her way up the chain from secretary to editor at SI, bringing my mom into the publication after she graduated from Middlebury with an English degree. I remember visiting her at work in the late 90s, being family friends with all these writers and editors. Although that time of my life ended right as I was gaining sentience, at age five, it left an impact. Publishing, I feel, is in my blood.

I’m not alone in my nostalgia for that era. A time when magazines were robust and being a writer felt like a viable, sexy career option. Many writers I know decry the state of modern publishing, and yearn for the days when the industry was thriving. Growing up, I heard stories of generous expense accounts — trips paid for by the magazine to cover sporting events in far flung corners of the globe. As kids, my sister and I had subscriptions to print editions of Teen Vogue, Nylon, Girls’ Life, etc. To this day, I’m a print subscriber to New York Magazine, and still get a small thrill from getting it in my mailbox every other Monday. Down the road, I may expand Gold Coast into a magazine as well, but I’m going to start with the press and see where that takes me.

Although I myself am a millenial-gen Z cusper, my vision for the press is a distinctly gen X one. Many of my cutural touchstones are those of my mother’s generation: Bret Easton Ellis, Whit Stillman, Doug Copeland, so many musicians. I’ve written about my identification with that generation for Hobart and Zona Motel. That time in American history (and in New York specifically) — the late 90s and early 2000s — felt so literary.

All this is to say, I’m extremely energized by this new company, and am honored by some of the early enthusiasm I’ve received regarding the press. Already, I’m starting to get submissions, and am beginning to go through them. If you have a manuscript you’ve been sitting on that seems like it could be a good fit, please send it to emma@goldcoasteditions.com. I can’t wait to read more, and am thrilled to share my vision with a wider audience.