11:11 Press by: Clifford Brooks A conversation with Andrew from 11:11 Press Let’s begin at the beginning: What gave you the drive to create your press? How did you decide on the name?
The name is an echo from our collective childhoods. Although the three of us founding members (Me, Megan, and James) grew up in different corners of the Midwest, we all vividly remember playing a game—and like everything in childhood, there was something magical about it. Passed down as folklore from the older kids, we learned to watch the second hand slowly make its way around the old elementary school clocks. Later, running around the neighborhood on those long muggy summer days, a stolen glance of an adult’s wristwatch could turn a group of children into a screaming torrent of chaos, yelling: “11:11, make a wish! It’s 11:11! Make a wish, quick!” According to kid legend, if you make a wish before 11:11 tuns into 11:12, it will come true. Like many secrets of childhood (underarm farts, the ringing *pop* of a finger snapped against a cheek, shooting a rubber band, and skillfully spinning a pen with your index finger around the middle joint of your thumb) we don’t know exactly how we learned it, but it was for the taking, and 11:11 remains tattooed into our childhood. To this day, when I pass the digital clock in my kitchen on my way to bed, if it’s 11:11 PM I think to myself: “make a wish”. And sometimes I do. We named our press “11:11” because it reminds us of a time when we were all truer to ourselves, when we had the guts to follow wherever our spirit took us, and that’s the type of writing we aim to publish. With age, this intrinsic boldness wanes, and our actions become about what society expects and demands. The tough part about middle school and high school is figuring out which parts to give up and which parts to keep. This continues post-school as we grow older; the belief is that materialism will calm an unsettled ego, and with this will come acceptance and respect, or at the least validation from our peers. I’ll have meetings with clients in my 9-5 job and leave thinking: there’s nothing left of what was once a truly unique and creative human being; they’ve taken on another identity. It’s the same all over, including the Arts. I think there’s a toxic belief about publishing that begins with authors believing that publishers only want books that fit their computer-generated model of success, so authors fold themselves accordingly to fit into a box, hoping at least a glimmer of their true selves can shine in published form. At 11:11, we think this limits an author’s true genius. 11:11 is a call back to a time of innocence when the author was more confident in being themselves. We believe everyone has a story, and you are the only one who can tell it exactly the way it needs to be told. Sometimes this means throwing out the Heroes Journey because not every poem or story has a “happily ever after” ending. Most stories don’t. In real life, there is more life after “happily ever after,” and we want to hear these stories, because they are a true and honest reflection of the soul. What niche does 11:11 Press fill that you found lacking in publishing? How do you see it expanding in the future?
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