We look forward to seeing you this weekend at PDX’s annual book festival! Wordstock hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on both Saturday (11/8) and Sunday (11/9) at the Portland Convention Center, and you can find us at booth #353. The entrance fee is only $5, and there will be plenty to do once you arrive. Go to the Wordstock website for a complete listing of events. In the meantime, here are the top five reasons for stopping by to see us!

1. BIKE GIVEAWAY: For those already on our newsletter mailing list and for those yet to sign up, we invite you to come by to drop off your business card and enter to win a *NEW* step-through, 20″ Trek 7100 ($300+ value), which is no longer available in this size or in these colors. There are only two items to note: (1) you must stop by to enter the drawing, even if you’re already on our mailing list, and (2) you will have to pay a local bicycle shop to properly adjust the bike before it is ready to ride. We will announce the winner in the next issue of Inside Ink.

2. PREMIERE OF I&PG CUSTOM BOOKS: It’s official! We’re ready to properly introduce our custom publishing program for nonprofits, businesses, and individuals. Our Partnership Books division for nonprofits is of particular importance to us, as we wish to share our publishing knowledge for the betterment of the community in the form of a classic, 24/7 advocate—a book!

3. HATE MAIL IS BURSTING ITS EFFIN’ COVERS: The ever-popular Jean Luc the Cat has been on the prowl for more places to leave his signature mark, landing one more insult just in time for Wordstock. Come to see him and his new American Apparel t-shirts, which will be selling at a festival special of $15 (normally priced $16.95).

4. COOL BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS: Our diverse family of books will be present and available for sale at friendly festival discounts. You’ve heard about all of them before, but here are a few links to familiarize yourself again: Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath, Visibility, Keeper of Secrets, nothing but squares, and Hate Mail. We’ll also be offering a sneak peak at what’s coming in December.

5. WE’RE A UNIQUE & FUN CROWD: Distinctive imprints + varied personalities (much like those of the Spice Girls [you can decide who's who]) + a captive audience = a booth worth visiting. Come experience the Ink & Paper phenomenon for yourself! We promise not to disappoint.

By guest writer/editor Rosie McKinlay

We’ve all been waiting for November 4. This year’s campaign has been a stressful one, regardless of who your choice presidential hopeful is. And as the tension rises, there seems to be an unspoken sense of exhausting tedium. Now that the end result is mostly out of our hands (but if you haven’t mailed your ballot yet, get it to the closest drop box this instant!) and the politician-endorsed TV ads are really starting to grate, why not take a deep breath and get a literary perspective on the matter? There are several biographies in the works and already on the market, among them a few of the independent persuasion.

To start, let’s talk Palin. Despite how you may feel about her policies and views, I think everyone can admit she’s intriguing. To keep up with her sudden appearance on the campaign trail, Zondervan, a division of Harper Collins, published a book written in just three weeks, Sarah Palin: A New Kind of Leader. Portland’s own KenArnold Books recently released a satirical e-book called The Palin Prophecies: Apolcalypstic Now!, written by fictional author Brent Mooseburger. Also on the local front, the Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company managed to get an additional 40,000 copies of Kaylene Johnson’s Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned the Political Establishment Upside Down on the market. The book was originally published last spring, before Palin was announced as McCain’s vice presidential candidate.

Of the candidates and their running mates, Joe Biden has spent the least time in the spotlight. This appears to be the case for published works by and about him as well, despite his long career in politics. His book, Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics (Random House) is worth having a look at. There is also a biography available through Amazon Digital Services called, Joseph Biden: From Scranton to Wilmington.

John McCain’s autobiography, Faith From My Fathers: A Family Memoir (Harper) is said to be chock full of well-written tales of the republican’s life—you may know some of them already if you watched the debates. If you’re into graphic novels, Badger Comics has released one about McCain called Presidential Material: John McCain by Andy Helfer.

As you may know, Barack Obama is no stranger to the written word. Some of his published works include Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Crown), The Audacity of Hope (Vintage), and Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew America’s Promise (Three Rivers Press). Author Bob Kuttner recently wrote a book, Obama’s Challenge: America’s Economic Crisis and the Power of Transformative Policy, which was picked up by Chelsea Green Publishing, an independent company. It is available on Amazon as a print-on-demand book. In a recent online article for The American Prospect: Liberal Intelligence, Kuttner explains his reasoning for going indie: “As an independent, [Chelsea Green] is lighter on its feet, and could turn this book around very fast.”

So turn off the news, get away from the negative slanderous muck, and get to know the candidates and their running mates by way of one of these titles. After all, they’re just people too. And perhaps, on Tuesday evening, as the ballots are counted, you can accept the results with a sense of knowing calm.