Meet Christina De Paris

Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina De Paris. 

Hi Christina, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I pitched the idea to my brothers of starting an independent press, I’d just written a travel guide for a publishing house for next to no money and wasn’t going to earn any royalties. I thought about how my experience working in short bursts as a journalist, book editor, copywriter, and graphic designer could help me become the mechanics behind the press and thought, why not cut out the middle person and start our own company? With the help of my siblings, Michael and Brent, I figured we could read up on how others have formed publishing companies and learn from their guidance while establishing our own goals, brand identity, and preferences. The first year and a half consisted of extensive research and rabbit holes. We did take some online industry courses and independently studied but building the company from scratch has genuinely been our business schooling. I also knew I wanted to put out the first book as a sort of “guinea pig” in case things didn’t pan out, so I wrote feverishly for about six months, and my brothers helped me finalize the first collection of stories called Around the Cul-de-sac. We launched 8th & Atlas Publishing in the summer of 2021, sharing the website and promoting our first two works, the other being Sacando Mis Papeles, a Spanish-language memoir by a stateless woman of Haitian descent who grew up in the Dominican Republic. Reactions, I think, were quite mixed, with some real excitement, some surprise, and even some doubt, but because my brothers and I have such a strong bond and enjoy being creative and enterprising together, we didn’t let the fact that we didn’t attain instant success and recognition dissuade us from continuing. Many of our family members have started their own businesses, and we’ve observed that steady work ethic throughout our lives. Furthermore, about a decade ago, our dad suggested we start a yet-to-be-determined family business, and now we’ve made it happen. At times, it’s still very much trial and error in determining what angles and engagements coincide with our expectations, and we’re still learning about additional aspects of the literary world and running a company. It took about a month after we launched to receive our first submission from a writer unknown to us. Now a year later, after hundreds of submissions, we’ve published two more books, Just Be. and Voices of Freedom: Contemporary Writing From Ukraine, getting the pleasure of working with tremendously talented writers and editors. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When mentioning to people that I was starting a publishing house, some of them called me brave. I wasn’t sure how to take that, but after launching 8th & Atlas Publishing and having those sentiments of feeling unqualified or feeling out of place, and just sharing personal work with the public, I understood that it does take bravery to put yourself in a vulnerable position by trying something new and perhaps unconventional to some. It also takes time and money to start a new enterprise, so we really had to gamble on ourselves, and of course, at times, we weren’t sure if we were making the right decisions. There were plenty of times when we allocated resources to approaches that didn’t pay off, or we learned about something too late and missed deadlines, so in that sense, the road hasn’t always been smooth. But these sorts of missteps have allowed us to anticipate roadblocks and have helped us improve our problem-solving (and coping) skills. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
For my bachelor’s program, I studied Journalism, and I also earned a Master’s in Global Studies, so I feel like I have a solid foundation to not only identify gifted storytellers but to help them share their stories. In general, my approach to work life has been really scrappy, so I’d pounce on any interesting opportunities I could; for example, I taught English in Seoul, South Korea for a year and helped a Korean author edit the English translation of her sci-fi novel, Rodeo, as my first gig in the book publishing world. Furthermore, I’ve always been keen on donating my time and broadening my capabilities, so for many years, I volunteered online for the United Nations, doing proofreading, translation, and graphic design tasks for the organization. Leading up to starting the publishing company and for some time after, I was an academic editor and worked on research papers submitted to scholarly journals, which really sharpened my language abilities. I’m one of those types who has engaged in many different occupations and activities in my adult life, which at times I thought was a disadvantage, but now I’ve come to realize that it’s helped me be dynamic and open to trying new things. 

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
My childhood years were some of the most enjoyable and pure moments of my life. Growing up in the 90s was such a blessing because I witnessed an exhilarating time technologically but also maintained steady roots by playing in nature and absorbing a new era of pop culture that was developing before me. I was fiercely independent, and because I grew up with brothers and boy cousins, I thought I had to be tough to keep up. Both sides of my family were hilarious and witty, so early on, I identified with humor and would employ it often, especially observational humor. Grappling with perfectionism worked against me at times but also helped me excel in school—I really loved school from all angles, academics, the arts, athletics. Oftentimes, I would get hyper-focused on some scheme I’d want to hatch up, likely getting the idea from reading a book or seeing something on TV, and it would get to the point of near obsession until I had either replicated the activity the best I could or got frustrated and gave up. The short story collection I wrote is essentially a homage to the lifestyle and idiosyncracies of a kid growing up in Central Florida who had nearly free neighborhood range, tapping into some of the best components of 90s nostalgia and friendships. 

Pricing:

• $1.99
• $9.99
• $19.99

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.8thandatlaspublishing.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/8thandatlaspublishing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/8thandatlaspublishing
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/8thandAtlas

Image Credits
Angela De Paris