Fun times at AWP

Here are Ian and Cathy holding down the fort at AWP. Ian is our fearless leader, and Cathy the author of 3 Scarletta books: A Beirut Heart, Israeli and Palestinian Voices and Tragedy in South Lebanon. AWP was a good time: lots of interesting people, networking, books, and of course booze. (Book people love booze.) We had a good deal of interest in our May release, Yankee Invasion, by Ignacio Solares. That we have an intro by Carlos Fuentes definitely caught people's attentions. In fact, I'm editing that one right now...

AWP!

It's that time of year when we pack up all our books and spend three days hawking our wares to America's literary folk. The Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference is the biggest such conference in the country (not to be confused with BEA, which is more about the publishing aspect). University writing programs and literary mags abound at AWP. As a small press, we go to try and drum up some interest in our unusual books.

It's fun to be surrounded by people who are as nerdy about books as you are, and also a little overwhelming--there are just so many good outlets for the written word, every one of them vying for your attention.  Though I suppose it's not a bad problem to have; with so much doomsday talk about how people don't read anymore, here are thousands of people who do.

Given the economy (I feel like I've written this phrase in several previous posts), I've wondered about the tone of the conference. Will people be hopeful? Cautious? No matter what the mood, there will be drinking. There's always booze when literary folk abound. 

Stop by our table, #550, if you too are at AWP. 

E-books

With all print media struggling, it's no shock that electronic media is getting more attention and respect. E-books are especially discussed in publishing. And everyone keeps talking about electronic book readers like Kindle, but personally I've only ever seen a handful in my life. I wonder how much longer it will take for an e-reader like Kindle to become a commodity, so most could afford to buy one. Right now the Kindle lists for $359--prohibitive for me, and many others, in this economy--but they are sold out on Amazon. Clearly, there is a demand despite the economic woes.

Eventually I'll probably own a Kindle or Sony Reader or whatever the newest incarnation is. (Apple is bound to come out with a reading gadget larger than an iPhone someday, right?) I wonder how my readings habits will change. Will I miss the feeling of a book--the crisp pages of a new book, the soft crumpled pages of a used one? Will I miss drawing little stars by unique turns of phrase? 

For the time being, I'm going to enjoy my old-fashioned tangible book with creased corners and smudgy pens while I can.  

Two Strib mentions in a week!

As you saw, a few days ago Laurie Hertzel mentioned Written on the Knee. This past weekend, she plugged our May release, Yankee Invasion, about the American invasion of Mexico City in 1847. I'm personally very excited about this book, because it's the kind I read for my own pleasure: literary, yet accessible.  It's also taught me a great deal as my knowledge of this conflict was next to nothing. Thanks Laurie! 

One quick note I'd like to make, missing from the Strib post, is that we're co-publishing this with Aliform Publishing, another small Minneapolis press. Jay Miskowiec, Aliform's publisher, has some great Latin American lit in translation,  which you can find here.

Minneapolis continues to rank high in literacy

After a few weeks off for the holiday season, all of us at Scarletta Press are back to work with plenty to do. One exciting thing that happened while we were gone was a mention in the Sunday edition of the Star Tribune on January 4, 2009. Hopefully many of you saw it. Laurie Hertzel, Books page editor for the Strib, discussed the annual battle for the title of "Most Literate City" between Minneapolis and Seattle in her article, Which is the most literate? This year, cities share the title. The study focuses on six factors in determining each rank: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and internet resources. Scarletta Press and our book, Written on the Knee, were given a nod as noteworthy local literature. 

While the publishing industry continues to experience its lists of issues, it's nice to know that our little press exists in a city where literacy is recognizably valued. Thank you, Minneapolis!

Buy Books for the Holidays

Even people not in publishing know that the industry is not in the best of shape. It's causing a lot of panic in the blogosphere. Like the rest of the media world, layoffs are up, budgets are down. For years, people have been predicting the demise of the book. As a small press, we are still printing real books for that niche of people who want to hold on to something tangible.

There have been articles run in the NY Times and reprinted elsewhere lately about rethinking the book as a treasure. I like that; I think the industry needs to promote books as something special, a keepsake. A book is a handsome item that stays on your bookshelf, something you can thumb through and mark up repeatedly.

I was sent an interesting link to a website that's promoting holiday book-buying: www.buybooksfortheholidays.com. It says: "[The website is] a small contribution that we could make to show our appreciation to the people who bring us books, to give back to the industry that we love, and to help save books." Thanks, contributors to Buy Books for the Holidays. We are hanging in there for you. 

A night of Greek literature, food and wine!

Last month Helen Electrie Lindsay, author of Written on the Knee: A Diary from the Greek-Italian Front of WWII, gave an excellent reading at Magers and Quinn. Gardens of Salonica catered the event with an assortment of delicious Greek food and wine. Overall the event went very well - good discussion, questions, and food!