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 | |
| Industry | Publishing |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction/fantasy |
| Founder | Chris Roberson Allison Baker |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Books |
| Website | Official website |
MonkeyBrain Books (MonkeyBrain, Inc.) is an independent Americanpublishing house based inAustin, Texas, specialising in books comprising both new content and reprinting online, international, or out-of-print content, which show "an academic interest," but which "reach a popular audience as well."[1]
Founded by science-fiction authorChris Roberson with his business partner and spouse Allison Baker, MonkeyBrain Books specializes in "genre fiction and nonfiction genre studies" after two years focusing solely on non-fiction.[2]
After dabbling in self-publication andPrint On Demand, Roberson said he wanted to ensure that his books were distributed widely.[3]
The first project MonkeyBrain Books published was a collection of companion notes toAlan Moore andKevin O'Neill's 1999 comic book seriesThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I:Heroes & Monsters: The Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, compiled by Texas-nativeJess Nevins.[4] It was nominated for anInternational Horror Guild Award and favorably reviewed in bothLocus andThe Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, among other publications.[5] The companion toThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II followed in 2004, and in 2006,Titan Books published the UK versions of both titles. In 2008, the guide toThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier was released.
Continuing its self-imposed remit to publish works of non-fiction genre studies, MonkeyBrain's debut titles (in December, 2003) also included a collection of short essays by Matthew Rossi, comprising a wide-ranging guide to numerous weird, odd, imaginary, and mythical places and things:Things That Never Were: Fantasies, Lunacies & Entertaining Lies, and a collection of articles/essays byRick Klaw (many of which had appeared on his "Geeks with Books" column at SF Site) ruminating on everything from book-selling & signings, comics & science fiction and censorship:Geek Confidential: Echoes from the 21st Century. In 2004, MonkeyBrain's output included a substantially updated (around 25% new material[1]) printing ofMichael Moorcock's guide to Epic Fantasy, andThe Discontinuity Guide, author and writerPaul Cornell (withMartin Day &Keith Topping)'s attempt to form a coherent narrative from decades ofDoctor Who continuity. In 2005, alongsidePhilip Jose Farmer commentatorWin Scott Eckert's guide to theWold Newton Universe, theLocus award-nominatedMyths for the Modern Age (whose contributors include Philip Jose Farmer and Jess Nevins, among others), Chris Roberson edited the first volume in a projected annual series ofAdventure anthologies, comprising "original fiction in the spirit of early twentieth-century pulp fiction magazines" across the genres, featuring contributions from (among others)Lou Anders,Paul Di Filippo,Mark Finn,Michael Moorcock andKim Newman.[citation needed]
In 2005 MonkeyBrain also published Jess Nevins'World Fantasy Award-nominatedEncyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana, the first comprehensive reference encyclopedia to the fantastic literature of the nineteenth century, while 2006 debuted MonkeyBrain's first art book, covering the work of John Picacio, MonkeyBrain's primary cover artist. Cementing MonkeyBrain's leap from non-fiction and reference genre works to include fiction, 2006 also saw publication of a collection of science fiction authorKim Newman'sRichard Jeperson stories (a distillation of British spy-fi television) inThe Man from the Diogenes Club, with a follow-up published the following year alongsidePaul Cornell's imaginative science fiction novelBritish Summertime.[citation needed]
Robert E. Howard scholar Mark Finn's 2006 biography,Blood & Thunder: The Life & Art of Robert E. Howard, met with considerable critical praise, and not only won the 2007 Cimmerian Award,The Atlantean, but was also nominated for Locus andWorld Fantasy Awards.[6][7][8]
In 2012, MonkeyBrain launched anew publishing arm for creator-owned comics that would focus solely ondigital distribution throughComixology.[9][10]