The Independent Author Repository
About
Martin & Martin Publishing
"A tradition of excellence" that began with a small print shop in Havana, Cuba in the early 20th century.
Martin Impresos Perfectos, or Martin Perfect Impressions, was founded by my great-grandfather, Jose Martin. The shop offered printing services of all kinds such as invitations, pamphlets, flyers, bulletins, and booklets. With Britain creating the first successful series of printed paperback books in the 1930s, expansion opportunities were plentiful for humble print shops in the 1930s and 1940s.
But as the success of Martin Impresos Perfectos was evolving, that growth was swept away by the wave of communism that emerged in the 1950s. All small businesses became the property of the communist regime and Martin Impresos Perfectos was lost.
Great Grandfather Jose Martin in Impresos Perfectos office
The origins of printing and print shops go back to Johannes Gutenberg in 1450. Gutenberg developed the movable-type printing press, an incredible advancement historians call the “printing revolution.” Fast forward hundreds of years later, printing and print shops are a normal part of daily life. My great-grandfather’s shop was one of many print shops all around the world that continued to make what we now know to be a tremendous contribution to society. With the emergence of new technology year after year books, magazines, journals, and newspapers became available to the masses rather than the elite few. And with the successful creation of paperbacks in the 1930s books became more affordable, the accessibility of which, like Johannes Gutenberg, contributed to the expansion of literacy.
Printing companies are still making an impact in the world of literature, especially when it comes to the works of indie authors. The new printing revolution is digital printing. In the “olden days,” 1990’s and prior, aspiring indie authors would write a book, then pay a printing company to print multiple copies. The author would buy hundreds of copies of their books and try to sell them on their own. This was a nightmare and a gamble. If the author was unsuccessful in selling their copies they would be stuck with hundreds of books filling their house, garage, or storage unit and eat the cost. But digital printing allows one to print anything onto any type of media directly from a computer file. Enter, print on demand (POD) companies.
POD is amazing for indie authors. No longer does an author need to purchase multiple copies of their books in advance. Indie authors simply join a POD company such as BookBaby, Barnes & Noble Press, Outskirts Press, etc. These companies hold digital copies of books that are not printed until a customer makes a purchase. One copy purchased is one copy printed and sent to the customer. It is no longer necessary to pay loads of cash in advance to buy tons of books you may never sell. POD companies also offer marketing and promotion services. Less hassle, more royalties, happier authors. (Results may vary.)
My grandfather, Oscar Martin, worked with his father at Impresos Perfectos. An avid reader, writer, poet, and philosopher, he was seldom ever seen without a book in his hands or his surroundings. Being exposed to the technical world of printing in his youth, and being a descendant of famed Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti, (also a writer, poet, and philosopher), it seems the influence of experience and genetics was inescapable. When he met my grandmother, Rosa Martin, they shared the same passion for the literary arts. After his passing, Rosa Martin later became a research librarian for the historic central public library in Pasadena, California.
Jose Marti (Great, Great Grandfather’s cousin)
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About
Laura Holton - Founder
As a young girl, I spent my summers working with my grandmother in that library.
The beautiful historic architecture of the building combined with full access to an endless world of knowledge was absolutely magical. But there was one moment in particular that changed my life forever. A chance visit with famed children’s author, Eve Bunting.
Eve Bunting
1928 - 2023, Obituary
Miss Bunting was filming an autobiography titled, A Visit With Eve Bunting, for public television. The film began with Miss Bunting sitting in the backyard of her home reading her book, In the Haunted House, to a group of young children. My grandmother had become acquainted with Miss Bunting through various library events and was invited to bring my sister and I to participate. It was a day I never forgot.
Laura Holton - Founder
In the Haunted House
As she read the book aloud in her soft Irish tone I was lulled into the world of her story. So spellbound I didn’t notice the film crew recording us. When the day was done, Miss Bunting approached my grandmother and I in what I remember as a magical and mysterious living room, so grand with books and trinkets all around. She handed me a copy of that book wherein she wrote, “Dear Laura, thanks for being part of my video! Love, Eve Bunting. October 22, 1990.” I was six years old. It was at that moment I knew I wanted to be an author.
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Years later, in my seventh-grade creative writing class, I won first place in a writing contest. My work was published in my local newspaper, The Signal, which further solidified my determination to become an author. Now, like those who came before me, I am a writer, poet, philosopher, and now author.
Now Martin Impresos Perfectos has evolved to become Martin & Martin Publishing, LLC. A repository dedicated to the support and promotion of indie authors in all genres everywhere. Still very small like in its beginnings but full of potential for further opportunities to come.
Dedications
Martin & Marting Publishing is dedicated to my grandfather Oscar Martin who was not able to publish any of his works in his lifetime. And to my uncle Oscar (Muska) Martin Jr., who tragically passed away from AIDS when I was ten years old. Always the eternal child, silly, fun, and mischievous, Muska was a constant reminder to never lose sight of the child within us all.
Oscar (Muska) Martin Jr.
Thank you to my family and to the individuals who have made such an impression on me. Impresos perfectos. Thank you.