Annually, anywhere from 500,000 to one million books are traditionally published. So keeping up with current books is daunting, even impossible. And then, factor in all the previously published books—as they say, so many books, so little time. But readers who like discovering underappreciated and progressive classics must check out Unnamed Press’s Smith & Taylor Classics imprint, which aims to bring these books back into conversation. Each edition includes a discussion about the novel between two contemporary writers.
Full disclosure: my conversation with Ruth Madievsky is included in Romance of a Shop, which was published this week. Fuller disclosure: Unnamed Press, based in Los Angeles, is the first small press I fell in love with—once I discovered them, I wanted to read all their books. They originally centered primarily on international and underrepresented voices, but have since expanded their focus to include a broader range of work that challenges the status quo. Their books are urgent and fresh, full of distinct voices.
The Romance of a Shop
By Amy Levy
Published October 28, 2025
I recently talked to Allison Miriam Woodnutt (née Smith) about Smith & Taylor Classics. Allison has been at Unnamed since 2021. She started doing the mail when she wasn’t working as a bookseller at Skylight Books in LA. “Unnamed’s a cozy operation,” she says, “so the mail room then was the only room. I was invited to just dive in where I could, so I dove in headfirst.” Her day-to-day is everything books: “From reading manuscripts, to responding to agents, drafting contracts, editing through the night, coming up with marketing ideas, shooting off publicity emails, creating mood boards for covers, researching classics, coordinating for book events and festivals and author needs, writing jacket copy, letters, sales pitches, web metadata, you name it. It’s a lot, but what a dream come true.”
The Unnamed Press team is made up of four people, plus their sales team at Publishers Group West (PGW). Allison enumerates the press team: “Chris Heiser, our fearless leader and Head Publisher. Jaya Nicely, our Art Director. She does pretty much all our covers, typesets, graphics, etc. Cassidy Kuhle, our Publishing and Publicity Coordinator, who not only keeps our production schedule on track, she’s our all-around ‘utility knife’ as an author once dubbed her. Brandon Taylor has stepped away from acquisitions but remains as part of our ‘New York Office’ and Smith & Taylor’s Editor-at-Large.” According to Allison, they all wear and share many hats, and collaborate on almost everything, bringing what they cook up to the sales team. She says, “We collectively back our titles and work as a team to get them into as many hands as possible. Field reps are the ones going out into the field to sell our books, and without them we wouldn’t be where we are.”
So how, you might, like me, be wondering, did Smith & Taylor Classics come about? “Brandon and I have so much in common as editors and lovers of classics,” Allison explains, that “we’d derail staff meetings to debate our favorite Austen novels (Mansfield Park forever) or dish over 150-year-old gossip. Chris noticed this and told us to channel that energy into something productive. We both have tradespeople-sounding names as well, Smith and Taylor, or tailor, so it all fell into place rather quickly. It’s a funny story, but the freedom and support Chris showed our obvious passions led to an atmosphere of creation, fun, and actual success for the imprint. It’s truly a team effort.”
Hauntings
By Vernon Lee
Published October 28, 2025
The conversations that are included in each edition are an important part of the concept: “We wanted to channel our energy of those original staff meetings into the novels and discussions around them. So the editions, and conversational afterwords, are created with the general reader and book lover in mind. A welcome-in, we’re happy you’re here, please tell us your thoughts. Often a classic will feel like an assignment, something to check off the list, feel guilty about. Without notes, without academic introductions, they are published as they were when the authors were often alive to see them. The readers and conversationalists, who come from all backgrounds, bring who they are to the text, illuminating something new each time.”
But with so many books being published, I question why Allison and the Unnamed Press team think it’s important to revisit books from the past. She agrees there are so many books being published. “I just finished Sister Novelists by Devoney Looser,” she says, “and I keep thinking about how there were only 64 books in total published in the UK in 1814. The competition included Jane Austen, Byron, Wordsworth, Scott. Can you imagine? But our literacy rates and access to books is higher than they’ve been throughout history. The grand libraries of wealthy learned landowners were not public. I think there’s room for everyone and a real hunger for these texts. Understanding and imagining the past congruent with the contemporary is deeply important.” Allison goes on to say, “My husband is a high school history teacher, so this question of the past’s relevance is a topic we grapple with every day. Questions of equality, marriage and womanhood, the right to exist, vote, dream remain evergreen. Knowledge of the past is imperative to understanding our present, our future. Down to the sentence level.”
And how do they choose which titles to publish? “First, we think ‘Wouldn’t it be so fun if ___?’ We’re following our hearts and minds, piecing together thematic titles, finding a balance so we don’t inadvertently publish titles that are too similar. This is a realm I went to grad school for, but we’re all constantly reading, digging through articles, used bookstores, accessing archives, talking to librarians. A lot of it comes from following the works of authors we already love, finding out who they loved. Some books have been brought to us as well! So really our work is impossible without booksellers, archivists, librarians, transcribers, academics. We simply follow the clues laid out and kept safe for us to eventually find.”
As for finding the conversation partners, “we love playing matchmaker. It’s even easier when you find someone who’s secretly in love with Thomas Hardy, who’s dedicated their life to a title, who’s a star on a fabulous television program and leaves their DMs open. We also seek people who are doing work we love and approach them with an invitation either for a specific book, or any possible future title.”
Fanny Hill, or, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure
By John Cleland
Published January 6, 2026
Smith & Taylor Classics currently has ten titles out, after two were published on Tuesday. I ask Allison for a glimpse at what books readers can look forward to, and her excitement is palpable: “Well Amy Levy’s Romance of a Shop of course! I loved what you brought to the story. And I can’t wait to see Levy next to Vernon Lee’s Hauntings. They’d exchange love poems and letters to each other, and honestly I can’t blame Amy. Vernon not only deserves her flowers—she’s so hot. Her portraits, yes, but her mind! They’re out on the same day (Oct. 28). We’re publishing Fanny Hill (the grandmother of all erotica) in conversation with Jessica Stoya and Chelsea G. Summers in January. And a little sneak peek for 2026, Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree. It’s a treasure and I’m a sucker for a story that opens with clandestine romance on Christmas Eve … and church choir drama? Say less.”
Eager readers can purchase the books in bundles through the Unnamed Press website. And Allison invites readers to contact them to let them know which underappreciated classic they should do next. You can find their contact info on their website.
