Hello Steemit!
We are Working Class Publishing, an independent book publisher based in Stevens Point, WI. We specialize in high-quality photography books in the pinup/ vintage lifestyle/ kustom kulture scene.
We're a small company - just two people working out of their home, carrying books across the country in a cargo van. We started this indie publishing adventure in 2012 with a little novel called "Mercy" by DH Rodriguez. Back then we thought we'd focus solely on literary fiction, but chance encounters and twists of fate have led us to where we are now. In 2014 we met Shannon Brooke at Viva Las Vegas and pitched a photography book idea. After turning down two other well-known publishers in this genre, she took an amazing leap of faith with us and we haven't looked back.
We've had 3 major releases:
"Girls" by Shannon Brooke - the essential photography book for contemporary pinup portraiture.
"Stocking Seams & Lipstick Queens" by Claire Seville - a collection of portraiture from British pinup photographer Claire Seville. A two-part collection - the "good girls" and the "bad girls", SSLQ compares classic cheesecake looks with latex and fetish favorites by English pinup photography sensation Claire Seville.
"Vroom!" by Shannon Brooke - Shannon's second book, an updated take on hotrod books. Highly stylized/ editorial images of beautiful women with kustom cars in a variety of makes/ models.
We'll have a new release for Christmas 2017 - "Vintage Dollface" by Cherry Dollface. It's a guide to vintage/ pinup hair, makeup, and lifestyle by one of the truly great people in the scene.
We're Bob and Kelly Ballard, originally from Southern CA. While we definitely miss living in the sunshine and cultural epicenter of the world, there's some good reasons we've stayed in Wisconsin - most importantly that it gives us an opportunity to invest in amazing artists and create awesome books. Last August we adopted a gigantic American Bulldog named Beefy from the South Wood County Humane Society. He was found starving in a cranberry bog and had been in a terrible accident. Now he's the absolute sweetest and cuddly dog to have ever terrified a pizza delivery guy.
We were directed to Steemit by @kommienezuspadt. We've followed Lars' amazing work for a while, and had the pleasure of meeting him earlier this year at our release party in Las Vegas. A couple of great conversations later, and we're releasing "Dark Pinup" by Lars Kommienezuspadt in April 2018. Lars is an extremely talented and hard-working photographer, as well as a really cool person. Plus, he's an enthusiastic ambassador for Steemit!
We're excited to be here and to start sharing our process and adventures. Historically, we've had a hard time sharing behind-the-scenes or more personal stuff on other social media outlets, but the blog format of Steemit lends well to our style.
Thanks!
Bob and Kelly Ballard