Since the 1980s, Everett True has been dividing music fans with his highly opinionated music writing – graduating from the DIY zine scene to write for nationals including The NME, Vox and Melody Maker, where he played a key role in bringing the burgeoning grunge and riot grrrl scenes to public attention (he’s even said to have first introduced Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love), before forging his own path with the excellent Careless Talk Costs Lives and Plan B magazines.
He’s also had books on Nirvana, The White Stripes and The Ramones published, but when his latest project, based on Daniel Johnston’s Hi, How Are You? album, was rejected by Bloomsbury Books, he started to wonder about the projects that other writers might be struggling to find an outlet for; “I know that brilliant writers, such as Jack Sargeant and Karren Ablaze, had proposals rejected, too. Absurd, I hear you cry! Absurd! Will no one do anything about this travesty of taste!?”
And so the idea for Rejected Unknown was formed with the view of bringing such works to light, those considered too unconventional for the major publishers. Earlier this month he released an invitation on social media: “I am starting a book company for the rejects and the misfits of this world. Please see my Facebook feed for more details. We’re moving fast.”
A week later nearly 200 people: writers, artists, musicians, illustrators, academics, lawyers, marketing professionals and more had signed onto the project, which by now had a simple ethos: “We have two inviolate rules at Rejected Unknown: 1) All contributors are paid, and, 2) Equal gender representation.” Plans for the first release were quickly formed. Titled 101 Albums You Should Die Before You Hear, and described as “a collection of funny, cruel, clever, brutally honest, purely vitriolic and poetic criticisms of history’s most loved and most hated albums.” they plan to release it within six weeks of the company’s creation.
Article by Paul Maps
facebook.com/wearerejectedunknown