Two Dollar Radio
| Company type | Independent, family-owned |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing, Film production |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founder | Eric Obenauf, Eliza Jane Wood-Obenauf, Brian Obenauf |
| Headquarters | Columbus , United States |
Area served | United States, Canada, United Kingdom |
Key people | Eric Obenauf (Editorial Director) |
| Products | Literary fiction books, Films |
| Website | twodollarradio |
Two Dollar Radio operates as an independent, family-owned publishing house based in Columbus, Ohio. Established in 2005 by entrepreneurs Eric Obenauf, Eliza Jane Wood-Obenauf, and Brian Obenauf, the company focuses primarily on literary fiction. In 2013, they branched out into producing low-budget films through Two Dollar Radio "Moving Pictures." Four years later, in 2017, they helped launch The Flyover Fest, an arts festival in Columbus, and opened Two Dollar Radio Headquarters—a versatile venue that combines a bookstore, bar, performance space, and vegan café—featuring their own publications alongside titles from other independent publishers.
History
In 2008, the founders were highlighted in Publishers Weekly’s 50 Under 40 list, which showcases up-and-coming leaders in the publishing industry.
The press has garnered acclaim for its literary quality. The Brooklyn Rail commended it for releasing "some of the finest work of contemporary fiction," while Publishing Perspectives referred to it as "an emerging literary movement." The website HTML Giant dubbed Two Dollar Radio "the hippest, most adventuresome publisher in the United States."
Their brand identity has been strengthened through partnerships with prominent artists. Notably, New York-based artist Barbara Kruger designed the cover for Gary Indiana’s The Shanghai Gesture (2009). Photographer Lynn Davis provided cover images for Rudolph Wurlitzer’s novels. San Francisco collage artist Aubrey Rhodes created the jacket art for Joshua Mohr’s Termite Parade (2010). Works by Mat Brinkman and Michael Salerno have been featured both on covers and within interior illustrations. Ricardo Cavolo’s ink-on-paper artwork decorates the cover of How to Get Into the Twin Palms.
Distribution for Two Dollar Radio is managed by Publishers Group West (PGW) in the United States and Canada, and Turnaround Publisher Services handles their UK distribution.
Publishing
The publisher's catalog includes distinguished authors such as Rudolph Wurlitzer, Jay Neugeboren, Gary Indiana, Shane Jones, Scott Bradfield, Amy Koppelman, Lawrence Shainberg, Francis Levy, Anthony Neil Smith, Joshua Mohr, Xiaoda Xiao, Grace Krilanovich, Barbara Browning, Trinie Dalton, Jeff Jackson, Bennett Sims, Scott McClanahan, Anne-Marie Kinney, and Karolina Waclawiak.
They have reissued three novels by Rudolph Wurlitzer—Nog, Flats, and Quake—and released his first novel in over two decades titled The Drop Edge of Yonder. This book received considerable accolades including Time Out New York's Best Book of 2008 and Foreword Magazine's Gold Medal for Book of the Year in Literary Fiction.
Jay Neugeboren’s novel 1940, which won awards, was longlisted for the 2010 International Dublin Literary Award. Francis Levy’s debut work Erotomania: A Romance ranked among Queerty’s Top 10 Books of 2008 and was named a Standout Book by Inland Empire Weekly.
Joshua Mohr’s first novel Some Things That Meant the World to Me earned several honors such as O: The Oprah Magazine’s 10 Terrific Reads of 2009 and Huffington Post’s Best Small Press Book of the Year. His subsequent novel Termite Parade was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice.
Grace Krilanovich’s The Orange Eats Creeps brought her a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 award and was listed among Amazon.com's Best Books of 2010 in Science Fiction & Fantasy. It also received commendations from Shelf Unbound and NPR and was a finalist for The Believer Book Award.
Barbara Browning’s debut novel The Correspondence Artist won both a Lambda Literary Award and an Independent Books Publishers Award for Literary Fiction; her second novel was a finalist for the Believer Book Award. Bennett Sims’ first book A Questionable Shape secured the Bard Fiction Prize in 2014. Sarah Rose Etter’s 2019 release The Book of X was longlisted for the Believer Book Award.
Film
In 2013, Two Dollar Radio broadened its operations by introducing Two Dollar Radio Moving Pictures, a division dedicated to producing films with minimal budgets. This initiative garnered recognition from the Tribeca Film Festival as a potentially transformative development within the independent film sector.
Among the initial slate of projects are three films currently in pre-production: I'm Not Patrick, both written and directed by editorial director Eric Obenauf; The Removals, authored by Nicholas Rombes with Grace Krilanovich directing; and The Greenbrier Ghost, a collaboration between Scott McClanahan and Chris Oxley who wrote and directed the film, inspired by the factual account of the Greenbrier Ghost.
External links
- Publishing companies established in 2005
- Companies based in the Columbus, Ohio metropolitan area
- Book publishing companies based in Ohio
- Small press publishing companies
- Literary publishing companies
- American companies established in 2005
- 2005 establishments in Ohio
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment