Ink & Paper Group is proud to live in Portland, one of the best library towns in the nation, and was delighted to hear that our county library system has once again been honored for its excellence. Library Journal, a national library publication, recently named Multnomah County Library as an “American Star Library.” A press release on the Multcolib site says, “Multnomah County Library was the only library in the Pacific Northwest (and one of only a handful of U.S. libraries of its size) to receive five stars — the highest ranking possible.” Read the full article here.

Congratulations to Ana Callan’s Duet with Hummingbird, the bronze award winner in the Short Stories/Poetry/Anthologies category of the 2009 PubWest Book Design Awards.

Three Muses would like to thank Susan Applegate for the book’s award-winning  cover and interior design, and Lori Presthus for her beautiful paintings, shown on the book’s cover and within its pages

Recipients will be recognized at the Publishers Association of the West’s National Publishing Conference, November 12–14, 2009, in Tucson, Arizona.

Read the full press release.

AWARD-WINNING POETS TO READ IN
NATIONAL POETRY MONTH CELEBRATION
Poetry in Portland—with coffee, dessert, and sunshine. (Think positive, Portlanders!)

Join five acclaimed Portland-area poets in celebrating National Poetry Month in our lovely 1910 home and courtyard. This Sunday-afternoon event will begin at 3:30 pm with an hour of open mic poetry followed by a half-hour of conversation and dessert on the veranda. Our first featured poet will begin reading at 5 pm.

Paulann Petersen is the author of three books of poetry: The Wild Awake, A Bride of Narrow Escape, and, most recently, Kindle. She leads poetry workshops around Oregon and serves on the board of the Friends of William Stafford.

John Blackard, a native North Carolinian, has been a Fulbright and National Endowment of the Humanities fellow. He has two collections of poetry in print and is assistant managing editor of Poetry Northwest.

Ana Callan is an award-winning poet and novelist. Her latest collection of poems is entitled Duet With Hummingbird. She teaches intimate spiritual writing workshops in the USA and abroad.

Kirstin Rian is poetry editor for the online literary journal, writersdojo.org, and a Poet-in-Residence through the Literary Arts Writers-in-the-Schools program. She co-edited Walking Bridges Using Poetry as a Compass with Sharon Wood Wortman.

David Hill’s poetry has been published in anthologies in the US, UK, and Canada. His first book of poems was issued in 1999 by the UK’s National Poetry Foundation. His newest book is Consumed.

Date: April 26, 2009        Time: 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Location: Ink & Paper Group, 1825 SE 7th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214
Free admission; refreshments will be served.
To sign up for the open mic, send message to linda.meyer@inkandpapergroup.com. Please write “open mic” in the subject line. Poets who wish to read will be able to sign up at the door, if there are spaces available.

Sponsors: KenArnoldBooks, Buzzaroonie.com, Ink & Paper Group, Poetry Northwest

Crazy economy. Spring fever. Feeling up, down, or a little bit sideways?

Publishers, editors, designers, artists, videographers, marketers, writers, and a stray cat or two… We need to get together and talk about business, life, and maybe a bit about how we can help each other through these tough times. No big agenda. No presentation.

This is an open house event brought to you by Ink & Paper Group and our friends at PubWest. Join us for a few cool ones, snack on some delicious Mexican food (hey, Cinco de Mayo is only a few days away), and reconnect with friends and colleagues. Or make some new connections.

Watch your e-mailbox for an evite. We hope to see you May 1st! We’ll save a seat on the veranda for you. Really.

Sign up for this event on Ink & Paper’s Classes page or pay at the door. Five bucks!

Date: Friday, May 1, 2009

Time: 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Location: Ink & Paper Group

1825 SE 7th Avenue, Portland OR 97214

Event fee: $5 includes refreshments and smart talk

Spring Fever getting to you?

Wind down with a cup of coffee (decaf, maybe?) and some soothing poetry by Daniel Skach-Mills (The Tao of Now) and Ana Callan (Duet with Hummingbird). Free admission and free drip coffee. Snacks for sale. Doors open at 6:30pm. This is the third in a series of monthly readings on the South Portland Waterfront hosted by KenArnoldBooks, Buzzaroonie.com, and Rilassi Coffee House & Tea.

Date: May 7, 2009

Time: 7:00 p.m. reading

Location: Rilassi Coffee House & Tea

3580 SW River Parkway, Portland OR 97239

Ink & Paper Group is pleased to announce that our most recent custom book, Summer Snow, is hot off the presses. Congratulations are in order for debut novelist Amy Warwick. We wish her great success in her writing career. Here’s a sneak peak at the back-cover text for Summer Snow:

How long has it been since the world had to stop, lie down, and wait just for you?

Four women. Different lives bound in ways even they cannot imagine:

Mystery Abbott struggles daily with three children, an overbearing mother, the town gossips led by her neighbor Liv, and financial straits she cannot escape. She has a new man in her life but her past failures set a destructive course for their blossoming love.

Liv Randall is a pillar of the community. She strives for, and usually delivers, perfection in herself and everything she does. But Liv’s own demons haunt her every waking moment.

Dana Abbott, the older by minutes of Mystery’s twin girls, is bold and brash. She gets what she wants and damn the consequences. Dana scorns Mystery and Janie, secretly longing for the perfection she sees in Liv.

Janie Abbott is a “good girl,” reserved and responsible—day to Dana’s night. Always the peacemaker, Janie will need every ounce of her inner strength to face what lies ahead.

There is a storm brewing in Glendale—a storm that will chill the hearts of many, a storm that will change things forever.

Amy Warwick lives on the beautiful rolling hills of the Palouse with her husband Waverly and their five children. She is currently at work on her next novel.

Summer Snow is available through online and brick & mortar retail outlets, as well as directly from the author. We recommend that you visit AmyWarwick.com for the most up-to-date ordering information and special promotions, or to arrange a reading, book club visit,  speaking engagement, or author interview.

Please join us for an open house to celebrate the release of Beyond the Bullet: Personal Stories of Gun Violence Aftermath, a new book by Heidi Yewman. The book is a collection of personal stories recounted by people who have been shot or have lost loved ones to gun violence—including three people who were directly impacted by the massacre at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.

Author Heidi Yewman and photographer Kathy Carlisle will talk briefly about how these stories and experiences affected them, and will be available to sign copies. Proceeds from book sales will benefit Family and Friends of Violent Crime Victims.

Date: April 10, 2009

Time: 4 pm to 9 pm. Short presentation will begin at 7 pm.

Location: Ink & Paper Group, 1825 SE 7th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214

Details: Free food & drink. Music performed by Amy Seeley. On-street parking.

Please RSVP by calling 360.281.6980.

www.beyondthebulletbook.com

To read the initial press release for Beyond the Bullet, click the document icon at right.

Welcome to the new and (hopefully) improved format of Ink & Paper Group’s monthly newsletter, Inside Ink. Based on your feedback from our recent survey and from other outlets, we’re going to try and keep our monthly news short but sweet. Now you’ll find brief bursts of information based on our three main areas of focus: traditional publishing, custom publishing, and classes/events. And if there are any larger articles or commentaries to share, we’ll link to them in our Misc. section. “Stet Says…” will also continue to be a regular feature.

We hope you’ll enjoy this new format, but we welcome your feedback either way. Please feel free to send your thoughts to jen.weaver-neist@inkandpapergroup.com, and thanks, as always, for your continued support of our business and its mission.

Sincerely yours,
The Ink & Paper Team

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING (a.k.a. Our Books)
We’re looking forward to the May release of three upcoming books at Ink & Paper Group, the first two being young adult fiction from Three Muses Press, and the third being a 10-year nonfiction project that’s finally come to fruition for Dame Rocket Press publisher (and editor/author), Jen Weaver-Neist. You can learn more via the following links:

• Desiderata, by Judy Ferro
  
• Morgan’s Pasture, by Wallace J. Swenson
  
• Give My Love to Everybody: Letters from a World War II Soldier, edited by Jennifer Weaver-Neist

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CUSTOM PUBLISHING (a.k.a. Your Books)
It was our sincerest pleasure to be involved with the production of two recent projects by two local authors, one being poetry and the other fiction. Keep an eye out for these self-published writers and their lovingly created pieces, which will be available for orders soon!

• Far From the Edge, by Lynn Thompson: “Thompson has chosen poems for Far from the Edge that extend the reader’s sense of his playfulness, poems that feel like friendly conversations, words meant to be shared, spoken out loud, or considered over a cup of coffee. The subject matter tweaks the seemingly mundane: daydreaming in bed, standing in line, gardening, grocery shopping, reminiscing about childhood, reflecting on growing older—the usual subjects.”
  
• Summer Snow, by Amy Warwick: “Four women. Different lives bound in ways even they cannot imagine…. There is a storm brewing in Glendale—a storm that will chill the hearts of many, a storm that will change things forever.”

***

IMPORTANT NEWSFLASH: Starting in April 2009, Ink & Paper Group will be offering a $100 appreciation gift to anyone who refers a custom publishing client to us that later turns into a SIGNED contract. The gift can either be a $100 certificate to Powell’s or the cash equivalent, and it’s all yours as long as a custom book comes from the connection. Help us to help each other during these financially difficult times by passing on the word when:

• you have a freelance client who loved your editing and is now looking for a means of publishing,
• you come across a friend or colleague who works for a nonprofit that is looking for new ways of promoting its mission and/or fostering donations,
• you hear about a photography project or family story that deserves to be shared but may not have the mainstream appeal necessary to warrant a larger print run,
• you know about someone who’s given up on publishing and thinks there is no room for their book in the current economic climate,
• you know of anyone who wants to take publishing matters into their own hands but still wants a quality, professional product out of the deal.

You get the idea. We invite you to CLICK HERE to learn more about how this referral program works.

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CLASSES/EVENTS Consider signing up to benefit from these upcoming classes at the Ink & Paper Group house, and please keep our unique space in mind for your own upcoming events and/or classes. Again, we’re here to be a resource to you (and vice versa) during a time when sticking together and sharing resources couldn’t be more important.

• This Wednesday, April 8, 2009, $20 (6:30-8:00 p.m.): “Manuscript Formatting: A Quick Guide to Manuscript Preparation and Clean-up” (or “What to Know Before you Submit Your Work to a Publisher”), instructed by Linda M. Meyer
• Next Saturday, April 18, 2009, $100 (1:00-5:00 p.m.): From Write to Read: A Book Marketing and Promotion Guide for Authors, instructed by Lake Boggan
• Friday, May 1, 2009: Local Creatives Networking Event (Further details TBA)
• Saturday, May 9, 2009: Duet with Hummingbird Mother’s Day Tea (Details TBA)

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MISC. Mark your calendars for Portland’s annual Stumptown Comics Fest (April 18 & 19, 2009), where Bowler Hat Comics will have a table again this year.

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STET SAYS… This month features a quote from Morgan’s Pasture, the young adult novel due for release from Three Muses Press next month.

“It was his pasture that kept him going, Will, his dream of something better.”

“But he never got it.”

“Sometimes that happens. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t dream, shouldn’t have a Morgan’s Pasture. Think about that when your father comes home so tired that all he wants to do is sit. He’s earned it, Will, because doing work well is always harder than not. That’s what he’s teaching you when he makes you do a good job. The lessons are for you, not him. And so is his hard work. He does it for you and your sister.”

~ Wallace J. Swenson, Morgan’s Pasture (pages 54–55)
(Due for release from Three Muses Press, May 2009)

Starting in April 2009, Ink & Paper Group will be offering a $100 appreciation gift to anyone who refers a custom publishing client to us that later turns into a SIGNED contract. The gift can either be a $100 certificate to Powell’s or the cash equivalent, and it’s all yours as long as a custom book comes from the connection. Help us to help each other during these financially difficult times by passing on the word when:

• you have a freelance client who loved your editing and is now looking for a means of publishing,
• you come across a friend or colleague who works for a nonprofit that is looking for new ways of promoting its mission and/or fostering donations,
• you hear about a photography project or family story that deserves to be shared but may not have the mainstream appeal necessary to warrant a larger print run,
• you know about someone who’s given up on publishing and thinks there is no room for their book in the current economic climate,
• you know of anyone who wants to take publishing matters into their own hands but still wants a quality, professional product out of the deal.

There are two ways to proceed if you have someone in mind that you’d like to recommend:

1. Connect us to this person/project with a personal introduction. That way we’ll know who to thank when a project comes from the collaboration.
2. Just recommend that the potential client contacts us directly, and then make sure to remind them to mention your name as a reference. We’ll be asking how they heard about us regardless, but this provides a foot in the door for them as well.

That’s all there is to it! Once we have a signed contract and the project is successfully underway, we will happily send along our appreciation via the gift of your choice.

Please direct any questions or contacts to any one of the following:

• Cameron Marschall, Custom Book Rep: cameron.marschall@inkandpapergroup.com
• Jen Weaver-Neist, Custom Book Rep: jen.weaver-neist@inkandpapergroup.com
• Linda M. Meyer, Editor in Chief: linda.meyer@inkandpapergroup.com

Thanks so much—as always—for your support of Ink & Paper Group and its mission. We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all our friends, which makes this as much YOUR company as it is ours.

Take care and all best,
~Ink & Paper Group