A Bridge Between the Cultures
In 1994, Cune Press (from cuneiform*) was founded by the award-winning nonfiction writer Scott C. Davis, independent historian Steven Schlesser, and the internationally recognized Arabic calligrapher Mamoun Sakkal. Our offices are located in Seattle.
Our mission is to create books that will "bridge the cultures" by promoting insight, dialogue, and mutual understanding within the US and beyond.
Many Cune Press titles seek peace in the Middle East and civil liberties at home by fostering an appreciation of the peoples and cultures of the Middle East.
Other Cune titles are literary work, primarily nonfiction by West Coast authors.
Cune has also developed a number of education titles that are useful for home schooling and appeal to students of writing and art. It's our fond hope that our "practical" titles will cover the costs of our "literary" titles.
After fifteen years of operation, Cune Press prides itself in having published work that we loved . . . rather than hewing to the rigid commercial and scholarly categories that govern "factory-produced" books.
For us, a book project needs to be intellectually, intuitively, artistically exciting. Otherwise, what is the point? As a way to earn money, book publishing (at any scale) has its limitations. Our organization is staffed by talented professionals who are working pro bono. Why? Because they believe in our mission.
In the Internet age, Cune is a throwback. We believe in the civilizing effect of book length writing and the impulse it gives to reason, intellect, and imagination. We value: The creative individual; collaboration between an author and an editor; books as well-crafted objects; intelligent readers.
Cune insists that our writers polish their text far more than now is required by commercial houses. One recent book, for example, was revised by the author 59 times; it was proofread 10 times by 5 different professional proofreaders. This book had over 100 photos and graphics, so placing text, captions, and images was a significant callenge; as a result, we typeset this book 17 times.
Cune strives to create reader-friendly and elegant books with wide margins, ample leading (white space between lines), crisp typography, and engaging cover art.
You can support Cune Press by making a tax-deductible charitable donation to The Cune Project / Salaam Cultural Museum. Mail your check or MC/Visa info to: Cune-Salaam P.O. Box 31024 Seattle, WA 98103.
* Cuneiform characters were formed by the arrangement of small wedge-shaped elements and used in ancient Sumeria (present day Iraq).
