Into the red: A love of literature - and each other - is at the core of Kate Gale and Mark Gill's Red Hen Press, a small non-profit publisher of books examining Los Angeles. (Small Business).

Los Angeles has always had its detractors in the literary world -- a reputation for being too sunny, too close to the ocean and simply too far away from New York to matter much.

Red Hen Press, a small, non-profit publisher based in Granada Hills, is attempting to change that stereotype, one book at a time.

In May, the nine-year-old press published 'The Misread City: New Literary Los Angeles," a collection of essays and articles about L.A. Its mission: demonstrate that this sprawling and inclusive city can never be tied down or entirely defined by Hollywood.

Red Hen is a labor of love for Kate Gale, a poet, novelist and college professor, and Mark Gill, a former aerospace engineer who changed careers to become a book designer.

Like so many others who come to California, the pair arrived with the dream of leaving behind old lives and forging a new identity.

Gale, 40, exited a difficult upbringing in Pennsylvania when she was 18. The two met in L.A., and a romance evolved into plans for a literary press. The pair, now married, co-founded Red Hen in 1994 by publishing a couple of books in their spare time. It grew slowly from there.

"Deciding to start a press was a moment of madness on our part," said Gale, who is managing editor of Red Hen, and also teaches journalism at Loyola Marymount University and English at Cal State Dominguez Hills. She has published four books of poetry, a novel and a children's book.

Gill, 43, spent 17 years with aerospace concern Crissair Inc. in Palmdale. He is the publisher.

Turning a page

To get started, they listed Red Hen in Writer's Market and Poet's Market, the "bibles" for the publishing industry. These days, submissions number about 100 a week.

"You get far more manuscripts than you can ever publish and there are hundreds of very good manuscripts out there," she said. "Part of deciding what to publish is your own taste."

Nevertheless, it's a crowded field.

Len Fulton, editor and publisher of Dusthooks, a Paradise, Calif.-based publisher of a directory of small presses, estimates there are 150 small presses in Los Angeles and dozens of small magazines.

"Small publishers have just exploded," said Fulton, who traces the niche publishing movement to the mid-l960s when there were few independent publishers and advances in printing, book design and political change fostered new art forms.

Like most small presses, Red Hen puts out only a handful of books a year. With a press run of 2,500, "The Misread City" is considered a bestseller in the genre. (The company farms out its printing to Hignell Book Printing in Canada.)

There have been several reviews, but aside from unpaid publicity, marketing is a huge challenge -- particularly when it comes to large booksellers like Barnes & Nobles or Borders. Small presses generally rely on independent bookstores that cater to a niche market, such as feminist poets or hip urban fiction.

Most literary presses have budgets under $10,000 a year, said Jeffrey Lependorf, executive director of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses. Many publish just one or two titles annually aimed at a niche audience such as feminist poets or hip urban fiction.

"None of them are making a lot of money. They are mission-driven and really committed to publishing literature," Lependorf said.

To create more buzz, Red Hen plans to launch a literary magazine in January called The Los Angeles Review, billed as "the voice of Los Angeles" which will include critical essays, fiction and poetry.

So far this year, Red Hen has published 10 books with eight more in the pipeline. Gale said her goal is to have a steady publishing stream of 20 books a year, which would allow it to donate more books to needy schools.

Funding gloom

This year, revenues at Red Hen are projected to reach $110,000, based in part on book sales, but mostly from grants and donations. Donors include the California Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and a handful of local arts programs.

Several fiction and poetry award programs bring in additional revenue, and the press recently initiated a contest that will offer a $5,000 award for a book dealing solely with the environment. The publisher also receives funds from individual donors.

While the finances can be difficult, small presses allow the editors to nurture long-term relationships with writers, who generally have more control over their work in lieu of large advances.

"I have people call me asking if they need a license to start a magazine," said Fulton. "I give them my lecture on how it's the best expression of the First Amendment I've ever seen."

RELATED ARTICLE: PROFILE

Red Hen Press

Year Founded: 1994

Core Business: Book publishing 

Revenues in 2002: $6,000

Revenues in 2003: $110,000 (projected)

Employees in 2002: Two full time, one part-time

Employees in 2003: One full time, three part-time

Goal: To publish 20 books a year and promote cultural literacy 

Driving Force: Helping put L.A. on the literary map