Marcos y Marcos

Marcos y Marcos is a 30 year old Italian, independent and stimulating editor. Based in Milan, founded by Marco Franza and Marco Zapparoli it is now managed by Marco Zapparoli and Claudia Tarolo.

From 2000, with the help of Claudia Tarolo, Marcos y Marcos starts to grow proposing contemporary authors  and side activities such as
Corso di Editoria, a course in publishing, 2000
Piccola Scuola di Arti Narrative, a course in creative writing, 2011
Ventiquattro per Ventiquattro, a workshop for translators, 2013

Starting from 2006 Marcos y Marcos decided to focus on quality rather than quantity:
to publish maximum one new book per month and to start an economic series: miniMARCOS.

Lately Marcos y Marcos focused on new authors and new reading and writing promotional initiatives.
Letteratura Rinnovabile: new interpretations of classical passages
Parole Illuminanti: a literary prize for beginners sponsored by Eni
La Nostra Energia: workshops for high-schools
Libri a Teatro: a series of theater pieces/readings of Marcos y Marcos titles, in cooperation with Quelli di Grock

I'd like to focus here on initiatives highlighting the aim of Marcos y Marcos to create synergies involving both  bookstores and readers.

Andare in Libreria (Going to Bookstores)

In March 2012, with the collaboration of Letteratura Rinnovabile, Cartiere Fabriano and Fahrenheit Radio3 Rai, Andare in Libreria was launched through a national competition inviting to complete the slogan "Going to bookstores is ... " The authors of the 4 best slogan then challenged each other with a Praise of the Bookstore at the Salone del Libro di Torino. More than 200 bookstores participated.


Letti di Notte (Read at night)

Launched the 21th June 2012, Letti di Notte  was the first 'notte bianca' (promotional night) for Italian indie bookstores. Each participating bookstore organized its own timetable with presentations, meetings with authors, talks, auction sales, contests, exhibitions, shows and music.
Some of the events were published in streaming, others through an indie radio, and there is an archive on You Tube. The project had its own Facebook page which will eventually serve future dates.


Among the most intriguing initiatives, there is one based on Skype. All the participating bookstores contacted each other on Skype. Any client, in any bookstore, was welcomed to ask for advice to any networked bookseller, from all over Italy.

Bookup!

Launched in Autumn 2012, it is a promotional week for new authors, supported by 90 bookstores and 22 editors. It followed Letti di Notte so the website where to find information about it is the same.
Again there is a competition supporting the involvement of the readers:
Who will better suggest her own favourite beginner's piece will win a series of books by Marcos y Marcos.

reference 1