A few years ago, “street lit” could only be found on, well, the streets. Primarily New York, but other urban areas, too. Then the mini-boom started as publishers realized how large the audience was for these kinds of books — and they started snapping them up at hefty prices. Atria’s well known for expanding its street lit line, and so is St. Martin’s. Their latest acquisition is Relentless Aaron (real name Dewitt Gilmore) who went from hawking his books on prison buses to a six-figure deal:
“We’re just scratching the surface now,” said Gilmore’s editor at St, Martin’s, Monique Patterson. “The publishing world is still starting to see the potential beyond the street, which is going to keep getting stronger.”
Ms. Patterson said she had first seen Mr. Gilmore’s books for sale on sidewalk tables in Brooklyn, where she lives. Then last June, George Witte, editor in chief at St. Martin’s met Mr. Gilmore at the Book Expo America conference in Manhattan, where Mr. Gilmore had taken a booth.
Mr. Gilmore’s prison pedigree gives him a street credibility that is almost as vital as his written word, Ms. Patterson said. Readers of the genre want to feel that the author is drawing upon his own hard-knock experience as grist for his books.
“He’s really writing about what he’s been through,” she said. “It’s similar to the way hip-hop appealed to a mainstream audience.”
Gilmore’s first book, EXTRAMARITAL AFFAIRS, will be out later this year, but that isn’t stopping him from hitting the buses, where people receive his pitch very well. In fact, “after several passengers handed him money for books, Mr. Gilmore pulled a credit card swipe machine out of his jacket and added with a grin, ‘And the brother also accepts all major credit cards.'”