compiled by guest writer Mary Artz

In this time of economic mayhem, help strengthen Portland’s economy by supporting our local
sales outlets. Here’s a helpful list of Portland-area bookstores for your consideration during fall release season and throughout the year:

NORTHWEST

New Renaissance Bookshop
www.newrenbooks.com

Powell’s City of Books
www.powells.com

Powell’s Technical Books
www.powells.com

Twenty-Third Avenue Books
www.23rdavebooks.com

NORTHEAST

A Children’s Place
www.achildrensplacebookstore.com

Barnes and Noble
www.barnesandnoble.com

Broadway Books
1714 NE Broadway St.
503.284.1726

Charles Seluzicki Fine & Rare Books
3733 NE 24th Ave.
503.284.4749

Concordia University Bookstore
www.cu-portland.edu/bookstore

Dragon’s Head Books and Gifts
www.dragonsheadbooks.com

Future Dreams Books
www.futuredreamsbooks.com

In Other Words Women’s Books and Resources
www.inotherwords.org

Powells’ Books at PDX (Airport)
www.powells.com

Reflections Coffee and Bookstore
www.users.qwest.net/~reflections

St. John’s Booksellers
8622 N Lombard St.
503.283.0032

Things From Another World Inc.
www.tfaw.com

Title Wave Used Bookstore
www.multcolib.org/titlewave

SOUTHWEST

Annie Bloom’s Books
www.annieblooms.com

Borders Books
www.borders.com

Cameron’s Books & Magazines
www.cameronsbooks.com

Counter Media
927 SW Oak St.
503.226.8141

Daedalus Fine Books
www.abebooks.com

The Friends’ Library Store
www.friends-library.org

The Great Northwest Bookstore
www.greatnorthwestbooks.com

Holland’s Book Store
527 SW 12th Ave
503.224.4242

Lewis & Clark College Bookstore
www.lclark.edu

OHSU Medical/Nursing Bookstore
www.ohsu.edu/ohsubookstore

Oregon Historical Society Museum Store
www.ohs.org

Portland Art Museum Store
www.pam.org

Portland State Bookstore
www.portlandstatebookstore.com

Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing
www.powells.com

Reading Frenzy
www.readingfrenzy.com

SOUTHEAST

Armchair Bookstore
3205 SE Milwaukie Ave.
503.238.6680

Barnes and Noble
www.barnesandnoble.com

Bearly Read Books
16441 SE Powell Blvd.
503.667.9669

Borders Books
www.borders.com

Excalibur Books & Comics
www.excaliburcomics.net

Hawthorne Boulevard Books
3129 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
503.236.3211

Laughing Horse Bookstore
www.geocities.com/laughinghorsebooks

Longfellow’s Books & Music
www.longfellowpdx.com

Looking Glass Book Store
www.lookingglassbook.qwestoffice.net

Murder By the Book Mystery Bookstore
www.mbtb.com

Reed College Bookstore
www.bookstore.reed.edu

Paper Moon Books
www.europa.com/~paprmoon

Persis Book Store
11051 SE Division St.
503.253.8868

Powell’s Books for Home and Garden
www.powells.com

Powell’s Books on Hawthorne
www.powells.com

Serenity Shop
www.serenityshop.com

ONLINE

Academic Book Center
www.blackwell.com

McKenzie Books
www.mckenziebooks.com

“I like to go for cinches. I like to shoot fish in a barrel. But I like to do it after the water has run out.”

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The following is an excerpt from the syllabus for Sylvia Hayse’s class, “Selling Foreign Rights for Your Book,” at Ink & Paper Group. Please stay tuned to our site for future offerings of this course. You can also contact our COO, Linda Meyer, if you have any additional questions: linda.meyer@inkandpapergroup.com.

HOW TO BEGIN:
Make certain that (per the contract) the publisher has obtained translation rights from the author. The publisher only has the right to exploit those rights that are specifically granted to the publisher, and any exploitation of rights exceeding the author’s grant could be deemed a copyright infringement of the author’s work.

Proactively and systematically market titles to foreign publishers by:

• Hiring an agent who specializes in translation rights licensing deals
• Using the services of publishing or distribution organizations who attend major international book shows
• Using the services of online rights organizations
• Establishing a subsidiary rights function in your company
• Setting up your own website and internet representation
• Finding out how well your books travel internationally and adapt to the market
• Asking your authors help to promote internationally

To find contact information, search for publishers, agents, scouts, printers, and distributors by using ILMP International Literary Market Place, directories of Fairs and trade shows, and the Internet. Below is a list of the top international shows:

• Frankfurt Book Fair (October 15 to 19, 2008): www.book-fair.com/en
• Bologna Children’s Book Fair (March 23 to 26, 2009): www.bookfair.bolognafiere.it
• Book Expo America (New York, May 28 to 31, 2009): www.bookexpoamerica.com
• The London Book Fair (April 20 to 22, 2009): www.londonbookfair.co.uk

There are multiple online resources available to assist you in your research. Here are some additional examples:

• Rights available listings and deals for film and TV: www.rightscenter.com
• Publishers Lunch daily newsletter by Michael Cader: www.publishersmarketplace.com
• PMA or IBPA (virtual rights sales and trade shows): www.pma-online.org/publishers/pmafair.aspx
• A listing of international publishers: www.bief.org/?fuseaction=annuaire.EE
• General information on copyright law and registration: www.copyright.gov

by guest writer Robyn Crummer-Olson

On Monday, September 15, 2008 at 11:18 a.m., Debbie Rasmussen—publisher of the Portland magazine Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture—had to break some bad news via blog post: Bitch was in financial trouble and needed to raise $40,000 over the next month to publish the next issue.

On Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 4:47 p.m., Rasmussen’s blog post read, “We’ve made history together!” She published the day’s current fundraising totals as exceeding $46,000.

As an independent, nonprofit magazine, Bitch, and others like it, are an indicator species of the overall health of the print publishing environment. Larger publications have parent companies and reservoirs of resources to draw on when weathering these inhospitable market conditions.

Bitch does not. It relies heavily on the support of volunteers and donations from its supporters. As a nontraditional publishing model and a nonprofit magazine, Bitch constantly educates its community.
Rasmussen explains, “People think we’re a much bigger operation in terms of people and financial resources and so don’t realize that their support is critical.  It’s tough sometimes to keep getting the message out that we’re a community-supported publishing project.”

Announcements distributed via their website, e-mail, social networking sites, an article in the Willamette Week, and a video on YouTube quickly and inexpensively spread the word. Not only did Bitch receive generous monetary contributions, but also valuable feedback, in-kind donations, and offers of networking connections and volunteer hours.

In both her blog posts and an interview, Rasmussen describes the lure, uncertainty, and expense of a community-dependent print magazine evolving into newer media like the internet and radio. “We’ve been putting money into our website to develop more digitally, but the front-end costs there are significant,” Rasmussen explains, “so it’s really that we’re trying to evolve while our income is holding steady and even declining.”

As of today, September 23, 2008 at 10:43 a.m., Rasmussen estimates that the total funds are approaching, if not exceeding, $65,000.

Only another $15,000 and some volunteer elbow grease needed to help Bitch see another spring and to prove that this free-thinking, feminist species will evolve and survive.

A big thank you is issued on behalf of Kid Beowulf, Bowler Hat Comics, and Ink & Paper Group to all who attended this past weekend’s festivities surrounding the launch of Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath. For those of you that missed the events, recaps are provided by Bowler Hat Comics and the Kid Beowulf Production Blog.

For those of you on the lookout for effective pricing and marketing information you can implement immediately, take the next available opportunity to hear Ilise Benun speak. A dynamic and approachable speaker, Ilise is indeed a “Marketing Mentor.” Today’s seminar, “Pricing and Marketing Secrets for Creative Consultants,” has been chock-full of practical, creative ideas that consultants in the creative arena have found helpful and energizing. If you are unable to take advantage of in-person interaction with Ilise, check out her book, The Designer’s Guide to Marketing & Pricing.

Today’s seminar at Ink & Paper Group was cohosted by SECP (Self-employed Creative Professionals). If you are in need of support from a creative consultant, check out this group of talented designers, writers, artists, and more.

Portland State University, home of the innovative master’s degree program in writing and publishing, has been awarded $25 million in grant monies to support and enhance its sustainability programs. The Daily Journal of Commerce reports that the grant will also help “advance its [PSU's] reputation as an international hub for sustainability research.” Let’s hope some of that lovely grant money finds its way into the programs headed by forward-thinking Dennis Stovall, Coordinator of Publishing Curriculum and Publisher of Ooligan Press.

As our regular readers know, sustainability is an issue near and dear to the people of Ink & Paper Group. We’ll be watching PSU’s progress with interest.

(click here to read the full DJC article)

Visit the sites of these area publishers to learn more about their latest books and catalogs! And this list is by no means complete, so please contact us if you see that someone is missing. We’ll make sure the information is updated (jen.weaver-neist@inkandpapergroup.com).

Bedbug Press (Brownsville, OR): www.bedbugpress.com
Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. (Hillsboro, OR): www.beyondword.com
Bowler Hat Comics (Portland, OR): www.bowlerhatcomics.com
Cellar Door Publishing (Portland, OR): www.cellardoorpublishing.com
CoreWay Media (Portland, OR): www.coreway.com
Dame Rocket Press (Portland, OR): www.damerocketpress.com
Dancing Moon Press (Newport, OR): www.dancingmoonpress.com
Dark Horse Comics (Milwaukie, OR): www.darkhorse.com
Eberhardt Press (Portland, OR): www.eberhardtpress.org
Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company (Portland, OR): www.gacpc.com
Golden Quill Publishing (Hillsboro, OR): www.gqpub.com
Hawthorne Books and Literary Arts (Portland, OR): www.hawthornebooks.com
Hot Off the Press (Canby, OR): www.b2b.hotp.com
Ink & Paper Group, LLC (Portland, OR): www.inkandpapergroup.com
KenArnold Books (Portland, OR): www.kenarnoldbooks.com
Microcosm Publishing (Portland, OR): www.microcosmpublishing.com
Nestucca Spit Press (Pacific City, OR): www.nestuccaspitpress.com
New Sage Press (Troutdale, OR): www.newsagepress.com
Oni Press, Inc. (Portland, OR): www.onipress.com
Ooligan Press (Portland, OR): www.ooliganpress.pdx.edu
Pinball Publishing (Portland, OR): www.pinballpublishing.com
So New Media (Eugene, OR): www.sonewpublishing.com
Three Muses Press (Portland, OR): www.threemusespress.com
Timber Press (Portland, OR): www.timberpress.com
Top Shelf Productions (Portland, OR): www.topshelfcomix.com
Virtual Tales (Vancouver, WA): www.virtualtales.com
Wordcraft of Oregon (La Grande, OR): www.wordcraftoforegon.com

by guest writer Lake Boggan

MEDIA RELATIONS
Begin a discourse with a half dozen freelance writers or editors in your field of expertise and keep the conversations going over a long period of time. Take a moment each Monday morning to write a brief e-mail just to say hi: “I read your article in Sunday’s paper (for instance), and I liked your ideas. How was your weekend? What is the weather like in your neck of the woods?” The real truth is all editors are lonely, hard-working nuts just like you, sitting long hours in an uncomfortable chair in front of a monitor. If you are sincere, you know your stuff, and they know you are the real deal, eventually they will want to have a real conversation that can lead to your being quoted in the media with a reference to your book.

BE YOUR OWN PUBLICIST
Make a big splash with local newspaper articles and radio/TV interviews. Arrange these interviews yourself by sending an e-mail press release to newsrooms, and then follow-up with a cover letter and a review copy of your book. Become a media junkie and plug yourself–as well as your book–with your press release:

• To broadcast that you are someone who can provide content and background for a breaking news story
• To release new data on a controversial issue, current piece of legislation, or similar trendy concern to the public and your community
• To respond to a recent shocking development on the national stage and offer your expert opinion, reaction, or position on how it affects your region by naming you and your book as the expert on the subject
• To expose a new angle to a current issue–the media of the day says one thing and your book has a substantially important spin
• To announce a newsworthy event related to your book and to invite the press to offer a more interesting or controversial look
• To show a local perspective on a national issue, including your quotes that set the record straight because the research in your book can prove it

BOOK-SIGNING SUCCESS STORIES

1. Books don’t sell themselves; people sell books. Be sure to make friends of booksellers. If they like you, they are going to tell customers about your book.
2. Carry a copy of your book with you at all times. Arrive ahead of the scheduled time, and MINGLE and INTERACT. Do not sit at a table and stare at the empty room. Tell customers who you are and invite them to hear you talk.
3. When your event begins, get to the point. Speak loudly, and with energy and enthusiasm. You are now a public speaker. Leave that introverted writer at home and become a whimsical entertainer. Don’t leave anything to chance. Script an introduction for the bookstore to introduce you and your book.
4. Conduct yourself in the bookstore like a gracious guest. BE HELPFUL! Clean up your mess.
5. Create and use collateral and support materials for your events like bookmarks, postcards, invitations, posters, and all the good take-away stuff that can help make a sale after the event.
6. Support your own events by inviting friends and family. It’s just like an election; go to your base for support.
7. When you get events, do media-related, tie-in interviews, or get listed in event calendars, newsletters, and anything you can to support the event for the store.
8. Don’t complain when only a few attendees show up, and don’t apologize for a low turnout. Treat the few who are there very well. They will tell many other potential readers how wonderful you are. Authors are celebrities in everyone’s mind–even today. Get their addresses, send them thank you notes, and they will remember you forever.
9. Always have a signup sheet for e-mail and addresses so you can create a fan base for your next book.
10. Think about non-bookstore events and venues. Grocery stores, hotel lobbies, corporate meetings, schools, and other nontraditional book places are options for future events and ways to sell books.

Lake Boggan has sixteen years of book selling and book marketing experience. She is currently Publicity Manager in the marketing department for Timber Press. She taught Book Marketing and Promotion for five years at Portland State University’s Center for Excellence in Writing, in the Ooligan Press Graduate Publishing Program. Lake is also the instructor for Ink & Paper’s “From Write to Read” book marketing course (info below). Future classes have yet to be scheduled, but you can send a query to our class coordinator, Linda Meyer, if you are interested in future class details: linda.meyer@inkandpapergroup.com.

“From Write to Read” Class Description:
Book marketing for writers is filled with mysterious language and tricks of the trade that every successful author needs to know. The sooner you learn the language and understand the process, the stronger your book sales will be.

Lake Boggan believes in the basics. She also likens marketing your book to preparing a great recipe for your favorite dish: when fresh, new ingredients are available, you should use them. She will share what’s tried and true in the book marketing business, and add pointers about blogging and getting linked on the internet.

Lake will share a bundle of information that will serve you well before your book is published (your “marketing platform”), during the season of your book (when it’s a “new release”), and after your window of time has closed (and you’re on the “backlist”).

“Now sit down to the feast and in due time, listen then to the lays of the victories of warriors, as your heart may prompt you.”

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