An impressive lineup will share their thoughts and insight into the publishing experience at this years Oolicon: Write to Publish held May 22-23 at Portland State University. Organized by Ooligan Press, the Write to Publish conference seeks to “demystify the publishing process for writers” by focusing not on “the craft of writing, but rather on the process of getting published.”
Featured at the open house event on the 23rd will be Chuck Palahniuk and Ursula K. Le Guin, as well as fellow Portland standouts Shannon Wheeler, creator of Too Much Coffee Man and Eisner Award-winning artist; Deborah Hopkinson, Oregon Book Award-winning children’s author; Virginia Euwer Wolff, National Book Award-winning YA fiction author; and Lilith Saintcrow, popular urban fantasy author.
The opening day (May 22nd) will feature workshops for writers and industry professionals. Ticket prices are $130 for writers for the full conference (this includes five workshops and the Open House on the second day) or $32 per workshop. Ticket prices are $215 for industry professionals for the full conference.
Read the rest of this entry »
VoiceCatcher, the Portland based anthology featuring new and established women writers of diverse perspectives, voices, ages, orientations, and experiences–is seeking submission for their 5th volume of poetry and prose.
The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2010. VoiceCatcher only publishes “new writing that has not been previously published,” and “only accepts submissions from women who consider themselves local Portland, OR area writers.” For further guidelines and submission details, please visit the VoiceCatcher website.
Read the rest of this entry »
This essay about life on the road is provided by Jaret Ferratusco. Jaret is the founder of Patient, Folded Hands Publishing, and author of the novellas I Grew Up In Amaltherey Hill and Please Don’t Leave Me. Jaret was recently featured on W + K Entertainment’s Story Time program, where he read from one of his short stories. Upcoming releases include a revised edition of Please Don’t Leave Me for rerelease through Patient, Folded Hands, and a new short-story collection titled To Make This Easier, which focuses on very lonely instances of personal horror and hopelessness in the summits of love and loss.
In early 2009 the groundwork was laid for a new Portland publishing company called Patient, Folded Hands. I started this venture in an attic, basically while drinking large amounts of energy drinks (the kind with high alcohol content), quietly getting myself prepared and excited about starting something all my own, with the only rules I would have to follow being those of finance. It took a bit of time to get the first publication off the floor, and that work is a story called I Grew Up In Amaltherey Hill, now available through my website. Although this book is the first breath for P, FH as a company, it was my second published book as an author, so I considered that I had a marginally accurate view of how it would probably go, moneywise. Which meant I’d better save up, because it takes much more money to do it than what you’re apt to make doing it.
What I figured is that I would probably (hopefully) end up getting out a good amount of books at first, then I could reasonably expect sales to slow a month or so after the release after initial promotions had been done. That was pretty accurate. I wasn’t able to save any of that money from the first month of sales for building the company up any little higher, because all of everything I made that first month went to paying off my investor.
Read the rest of this entry »
An announcement from McKenzie Books and Cash4Books:
McKenzie Books and Cash4Books are happy to announce our Book-A-Day Giveaway!
A lucky reader will get a chance to win any book (priced $5 or less) in our inventory.
Read the rest of this entry »
Too bad I’m not an actual journalist, or I would have caught wind of this in time to plug their inaugural reading this past Thursday at Valentines, but in case you missed it too I wanted to pass along some info on Portland’s newest reading series.
Literary Mixtape hopes to chart a new course when it comes to your standard reading, as instead of participants getting up and reading from their own work they will be asked to read “other people’s literature of whatever stripe (poem, fiction, essay) that they’re genuinely, personally excited about, and that they think other people would be excited about.” I like this concept as it immediately opens up the field of potential readers to people that aren’t necessarily writers, and that in turn should allow for a broader audience. The series is organized by Matthew Korfhage and Erik Bader, who were interviewed last week by The Mercury’s Alison Hallett (an actual journalist, and a darn good one at that…):
Why does Portland want/need another reading series? What do you hope to add to the local literary culture with this?
Read the rest of this entry »
Update-Thanks to a late surge of pledges, a new edition of Crap Hound #4 will be going to the printers!
About a month ago Karen wrote about Chloe Eudaly’s (owner of Reading Frenzy) efforts to print a revised and expanded 2nd edition of Crap Hound #4: Clowns, Devils, and Bait! Well the fundraising drive, which was conducted through Kickstarter, has received pledges from 251 263 Backers and is now 90% 93% 95% of the way towards meeting its goal of $12,500. But with only 3 days left for pledges to be made, the project is still about $1,200 $1,000 $800 $600 short of being fully funded.
So can you help push this effort over the top by pledging your support? Your pledge may inspire some of the existing backers to up their pledge just to make sure all of this effort wasn’t for naught. As Karen noted in her previous post, this isn’t solely about reprinting Crap Hound #4 either. It’s also about supporting Reading Frenzy, as Crap Hound is the store’s “bread and butter.” I just pledged $50, will you make a pledge today? Read the rest of this entry »
Portland based Bedouin Books operates by a simple yet profound publishing philosophy:
To give emerging writers legitimate, quality collections of their work in bound form as a springboard to their careers, publishing credit, as well as something they can sell.
Originally started by editor M. D’Alessandro in a cramped studio in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District, Bedouin Books has lived up to its nomadic namesake as Portland is now its third home. A three year stint in Kauai was sandwiched in between. So it is only fitting that Bedouin Books’ new imprint has been named Nomads, which will focus on “emerging, non-fiction authors’ work in travel writing, memoir, essay and philosophy.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Today’s Featured Book Event:
NW Author Series: How to Use a Critique Group presented by Amber Keyser, PhD (Wilsonville Public Library, @3:30pm): In this workshop, we’ll discuss the characteristics of a productive writing group and how to find one. Through hands-on activities, we’ll explore how to give and receive constructive criticism. Finally, we’ll focus on how critique and revision will help you produce your best possible work and have fun doing it. Several members of Amber Keyser’s critique group, Viva Scriva, will be on hand to share the inner workings of this productive bunch of writers.
Amber Keyser, an evolutionary biologist turned freelance writer, uses both story and science to understand how the world works and why we do what we do. Her books for children include An Algonquin Heart Song: Paddle My Own Canoe(The Friends of Algonquin Park) and two graphic novels from Capstone Press, Cells with Max Axiom and Genes with Max Axiom (due out in 2010).
Other Book Events Today:
Read the rest of this entry »
Reading Local: Portland would like to congratulate Debra Gwartney, whose book Live Through This: A Mother’s Memoir of Runaway Daughters and Reclaimed Love (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) was announced as a finalist for a 2009 National Book Critics Circle Award last night. Winners will be announced on March 11th at a ceremony held at the New School in New York.
I’m sure that Gwartney would take winning this award as a nice consolation prize, after Live Through This was edged out by John Kroger’s Convictions at this year’s Oregon Book Awards, in what most considered (including Kroger) a surprise.
Read the rest of this entry »
Today’s Featured Book Event:
Writers Talking: Jess of Get Sconed! (Central Library, @1:00pm): Jess is the author of the award-winning vegan blog “Get Sconed!,” one of the longest-running vegan food blogs. She is the coauthor of Stumptown Vegans, a site for restaurant reviews and podcasts. She is also a recipe tester for Post Punk Kitchen cookbooks. Jess has been in Portland since 2004. She will talk about her blog, eating locally, and being a Portland vegan. Samples will be available! Samples will be available!
You can find other events on your community Libraries schedule using these links: Washington County, Multnomah County, Clackamas County, and the rest of this weeks Portland book events here.
Read the rest of this entry »
The organizers of the Portland Zine Symposium are currently accepting submissions for their 2010 poster. Here are the details for what they are seeking:
PZS is looking for art submissions for the 2010 poster. This year’s theme is “Zine Arcade” Your art submission should be your creative interpretation of that theme.
The guidelines are simple – We are looking for a 11″ wide x 17″ tall poster that will also be used in other formats (the web, post cards, buttons, stickers, etc), so your design needs to be visible and striking at multiple sizes and resolutions (or have smaller, breakaway pieces). The design will eventually be silk screened / screen printed onto t-shirts, so limit your colors to black, white and one other color. We encourage artists to use any medium or style. We strongly prefer that the choosen artist is able to assist us in the process of transferring (resizing / cropping / etc) the image multiple mediums.
Your design should include (or be able to include once all details are finalized) the following:
- the theme
Read the rest of this entry »
McKenzie Books, a Beaverton based online bookseller, will donate all of the profits from books sold today (1-22) to Medical Team International in order to assist their efforts with the ongoing devastation in Haiti. Here is the full press release:
McKenzie Books, Inc. has announced that it is stepping up its giving and is joining the massive worldwide effort to provide much needed relief to Haiti. On Friday, January 22nd, 100% of profits from its MKZbooks.com website and in-store book sales will go to providing medical aid for the Haiti earthquake victims. McKenzie Books Inc. has chosen to donate its profits from Friday sales to Medical Teams International – another Portland metro area based organization.
Medical Teams International’s first team landed in Haiti on Jan. 15th and included volunteer doctors and nurses who immediately started working in King’s Hospital and various temporary hospitals in Port au Prince providing life saving medical aid and supplies. McKenzie Books sells new and gently used books and textbooks around the world through its website (http://www.MKZbooks.com) and is already a regular donor to fund classroom projects through DonorsChoose.org.
Read the rest of this entry »
.jpg)
