Prompted - An International Collection of Poems

Prompted - An International Collection of Poems is a poetic charity project: all profits benefit LitWorld, a non-profit organization working towards global literacy.

The idea was conceived by an international group of poets that met at Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides, and with the permission granted from Writer's Digest, were able to choose previous prompts from the site to use in the book. Edited by Pearl Ketover Prilik and published by Really Love Your Book , the project was completed in six months. The anthology includes a forward by Robert Lee Brewer.

Among the "prompts" included: type of person, inverted pyramid, prayer, location, love/anti-love poem, all I want, message in a bottle, water, time of day, and after leaving here.

The poets: Daniel Ari, Michele Brenton, Salvatore Buttaci, Anders Bylund, Janet Rice Carnahan, Diana Terrill Clark, RJ Clarken, Barbara Ehrentreu, Hannah Gosselin, Michael Grove, Jacqueline Hallenbeck, Patricia A. Hawkenson, Michelle Hed, Linda Hofke, Cara Holman, Jane Penland Hoover,  Khara House, S.E. Ingraham, De Jackson, Elizabeth Johnson, Iain Douglas kemp, Pearl Ketover Prilik, Kim King, Laurie Kolp, Andrew Kreider,  Catherine Lee, Amy Barlow Liberatore, Shannon Bo Lockard,  mike Maher., Nikki Markle,  Buddah Moskowitz, Bruce Niedt, Connie L. Peters, Nancy Posey,  Jane Shlensky,  Jay Sizemore, a.m. Trumble, Sara Vinas, Paula Wanken, and Claudette J. Young

Links and charity info
Prompted: An International Collection of Poems is now available through Amazon and Barnes&Noble. There also is a Kindle edition. For more details about the collection, visit Laurie Kolp's blog, and for more about the charity, visit litworld.org. A synopsis and biographies of the collection are online in the blog of the editor Pearl Ketover Prilik: Prompted (keep scrolling).

Related links: charity projects, poetry

see haiku here: Snowman series

Last week, haiga (haiku+artwork) artist Kuniharu Shimizu started a snowman series in his blog see haiku here.

The blog itself is home to more than 700 haiga. The first snowman of the series appeared on December 19, with an introduction to the theme, and an invitation to send snowman haiku: "The snowman is something of a special treat for me in the winter time ever since my child days. Here where I live, it does not snow much though the temperature goes down quite low. The snow falls occasionally but not enough to make a good clean snowman. Last year was different, we had days with heavy snow. Kids and adults (me included) were out in the field, eagerly making snowmen. We were all happy to have great winter friends, the snowmen. I will be posting snowman haiga for a while. I am looking for good snowman haiku. Anybody?" (Snowman haiku 1)

Since then, several Snowman haiku went online already. The image to the left is from Snowman haiku 7. There also is a haiku from BluePrintReview contributor Stella Pierides included, which is how I learned about the blog: Snowman haiku 5.

Note: Kuniharu Shimizu is currently looking for new snowman haiku to continue the series: "This is the last haiga of the snowman series. Yet, it is still in the middle of winter. If anyone come up with good snowman haiku during this season, please share it with me." (link )

For another selection of haiku with a winter mood (from winter nights to stillness to christmas trees), try this link from the archive: see haiku here - December 2010.

Kuniharu Shimizu
see haiku here is the blog of haiga (haiku+artwork) artist Kuniharu Shimizu: a priest of Tenrikyo, the advisor of World Haiku Association, and the judge of WHA Haiga Contest. Kuniharu Shimizu lives in Tenri, Japan, near a city called Nara.

related links: web projects, art, international, poetry

Inter/National Short Story Day 2011

Thursday 22nd December is the shortest day of the year. It also is Short Story Day in the UK. To celebrate prose’s short-yet-perfectly-crafted form, there's a special event website: http://www.nationalshortstoryday.co.uk/

The page features videoclips of short story readings and interviews and story recommendations, quotes and links to short story organisations, as well as links to story sources, publishers, and other pages of interest, like this TedTalk: The danger of a single story.

The Short Story Day invites to "pick up a short story and let your reading take you to territories previously unexplored."

Int'l Short Story Day
There also is a related international twitter account: Int'l ShortStory Day with more links and notes, here just 2 of the links:  a blog of daily short story reviews and a book giveaway.

If you are into story videoclips, check out the Short Story Day Facebook-page for additional short story clips and links.

website link:
Inter/National Short Story Day 2011

related links: short stories, writing events

Thrush - Inaugral Edition

Thrush is a new online journal that focuses exclusively on the poetry and poets. The journal will appear six times a year, in the months of January, March, May, July, September and November. A special edition is now online: Thrush Inaugral Edition - December 2011.

The inaugral edition features 23 poems by 10 poets: Maureen Alsop, Hélène Cardona, Cindy Goff, Nathalie Handal, Anna Journey, Ada Limón, Rachel McKibbens, Sheila Nickerson, Amber Tamblyn and Ocean Vuong.

About Thrush
Thrush is edited by Helen Vitoria (Editor in Chief) and Walter Bjorkman (Associate Editor + Web Design). The first regular edition will appear in January of 2012, for complete submission guidelines, please visit the submissions page. "Why the name Thrush? Thrushes are a species of bird, the songs of some considered to be among the most beautiful in the world. We love that and that is how we feel about poems."

Thrush
online poetry journal

related links: first issues, poetry

YB issue 5: Animals

How might we speak to the animals, yes, but also how might they speak to us, and what might they say?

The animals in YB Issue 5 are various and varied, mythical and fantastic, glorious and ordinary, urban and country. They come to us on four legs, on two, on eight, on none. They are terrestrial, arboreal, and aquatic. They have hopes and dreams and stories to tell…. The attempt to understand another animal is an imaginative leap as well as a moral undertaking, and the contributors to issue 5 have met the challenge, and wonderfully.

YB Issue 5 features poetry by Jason Badgley, Lisa Marie Basile, Carol Berg, Andrea Carlisle, Sherry Chandler, Mark deCarteret, Risa Denenberg, Kathleen Kirk, Karla Linn Merrifield, Neila Mezynski, George Moore, Dawn Pendergast, Vivian Prescott, Sarah J. Sloat, Linda Umans, and Leslee Rene Wright. The issue also includes a book review by Karla Linn Merrifield, and a gallery by Ron Kostar.

About YB:
YB is a journal of poetry, published twice a year, in June and December. Each issue has a theme; the last was Windows, here at the BluePrintBlog.  Each issue is also accompanied by an eBook, in the case of issue 5, available at Amazon. Issues 1-5 can also be reached from the YB main page, here.
The managing editor of YB is Rose Hunter, with assistant editor Sherry O'Keefe. Kindle edition by Sherry O'Keefe. 

YB Issue 5 Animals, online.

eBook (Amazon).

a river of stones: January 2012

The river of stones started in January 2011 with a blog and an invite: "Why would you want to join in? - Because choosing something to write about every day will help you to connect with yourselves, with others, and with the world. It will help you to love everything you see - the light and the dark, the happy and the sad, the beautiful and the ugly. You don't have to be a 'writer' to get involved. The process of paying attention is what's important."

The result: more than 350 people across the world paying more attention to what was around them, and writing small stones. The birth of a new community of daily writers. A new movement - a river of stones. Which turned into a book in summer: pay attention: a river of stones - and induced an ongoing twitter stream: twitter/smallstone.

The River: January 2012
Now the next river is taking first shape with an announcement and an invite to join. 'The river' consists of everyone writing small stones during January, whether you keep them in your notebooks or publish them somewhere on the web. This January we will be cheering you all on by organising 25 guest posts by all kinds of marvellous writers. All infos are online at: The River: Jan 2012 

About the river organizers
Fiona Robyn is a novelist, Buddhist and creativity coach and blogs about being a writer at Writing Our Way Home. Kaspalita is a Buddhist priest and blogger and is married to Fiona.

Foreign Flavours (Writers Abroad)

The online writing group Writers Abroad released their second anthology of short stories and non-fiction articles: Foreign Flavours.

The anthology takes as its theme food, drink and recipes from around the world. It is a tantalizing collection of fiction and non-fiction, full of spice and flavour and sprinkled with mouth-watering recipes. Including 64 contributions and 33 delicious and appetising recipes, this wide-ranging, sometimes bittersweet, contributions show how adaptable an ex-pat has to be to leave familiar dishes behind and venture into the culinary unknown.

Contributors live in and have written about the following places: Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Corsica, Cyprus, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malawi, Mallorca, Morocco, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, USA, Wales.

All proceeds of this anthology are going to The Book Bus, a registered charity whose mission it is to increase child literacy in Latin America and Africa

About Writers Abroad
Writers Abroad is an online writing group, founded in 2009. It provides a forum for ex-pat writers to exchange ideas, views and news on writing and to offer support and constructive feedback on each other’s work. Membership numbers are limited but ex-pat writers can apply to join if they are able to support the group’s initiatives and aims.

Foreign Flavours by Writers Abroad
250 pages
$14.93

Mixitini Matrix - Issue 1

Mixitini Matrix is a multigenre, multidisciplinary journal of creative collaboration that features fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and visual art created by two or more people, or works offering perspectives on the process of creative collaboration.

Editor Leslie LaChance says: "I cannot be creative in a vacuum; I don't think anyone can. My creative life is fed by other artists and thinkers, near and far, present and past. That is certainly true for other artists as well, and is, indeed, a "given" in the creative process. I wanted to develop an online publication through which we far-flung artistic kindred spirits could acknowledge our connections to others, share our work and enjoy the fruits of our collaborative adventures."

The debut issue of Mixitini Matrix is available online at Mixitini Matrix - Current Issue. It includes work by Marilyn Kallet, Joe Kendrick, Rachel Joiner, Jack Rentfro, William Henderson, Laura Still, JeFF Stumpo, Leonardo Ramirez, Clint Alexander, Henri Michaux, Darren Jackson, Dorothee Lang, Steven Wing, Brian Griffin and Wayne White.

About Mixitini Matrix
Mixitini Matrix is a collaborate work itself by by Leslie LaChance (Editor&Publisher), Mattie Davenport (Managing Editor), Brittney Reed and Kate Hein (Assistant Editors) and Jeff Wilkerson (Design and Development). Mixitini Matrix aims to publish at least twice per year, fall/winter and spring/summer. They will begin to accept submissions for their spring 2012 issue on January 15. Invited formats and suggested collaborations can be found on their submission page.

related links: first issues, on writing

The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide

The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide provides practical advice for authors and publishers on how to market their books. Although the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide was originally written for the benefit of authors who publish and distribute their ebooks at Smashwords, the suggestions included in it are universal.

The guide begins with a short summary of how the Smashwords platform assists an author’s marketing, and then continues on with over thirty book marketing tips any author can employ, and that cost nothing to implement other than the investment of time: "Some of the tips require only a couple minutes of your time, yet will reap dividends for years to come. Other tips require a greater ongoing investment of your time and attention. Do the easy things first."

Direct link to PDF: The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide

Mark Coker is founder of Smashwords, an ebook publishing and distribution platform for indie authors, publishers, literary agents and retailers. His is co-author of Boob Tube, a novel that explores the wild and wacky world of Hollywood celebrity. He also wrote the The 10-Minute PR Checklist.

The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide
by Mark Coker

The Peppermint Bottle - Sherry O'Keefe

Sherry O'Keefe's The Peppermint Bottle crosses boundaries, borders and genres. Originally blog posts, the pieces in this collection are finely crafted vignettes and illustrated prose poems full of wry and touching observations, and are now gathered in a format that emphasizes how brilliantly these pieces stand alone but also interconnect.

"Lost and found objects and snippets of strangers' conversations point to both our isolation and connectedness. The thoroughly charming narratorial voice is equal part dreamer and quirky practical, but always astute, and interested in exploring the surreal disjunctions in everyday life that most people don't notice - or don't write about." - Rose Hunter

An excerpt is online at BluePrintReview: The Peppermint Bottle.

Sherry O'Keefe is a direct descendent of several Montana pioneers and was raised in a remote power camp along the Missouri River in Montana, learning early on there are no rowboats waiting in the dawn. Mother to two, sister to four, cousin to dozens, in many ways she is the least of the story-tellers in her Irish family. She attended MSU-Billings on a music scholarship where years of playing viola taught her to count to four repeatedly and how to appreciate the off-beat on and off the concert stage.

She is the author of Making Good Use of August (Finishing Line Press). Her most current poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Escape into Life, Camas, Switched-on Gutenberg, THEMA, Terrain. Org., PANK, Avatar Review, Fifth Wednesday Journal, Prick of the Spindle, Inkwell, Pirene’s Fountain, The High Desert Journal and Main Street Rag. Currently working on a full collection, Cracking Geodes Open, she is a poetry editor for both IthacaLit and YB Journal.

Sherry O'Keefe: The Peppermint Bottle
98 pages, full color
also available as kindle e-book

>language >place anniversary edition "Streets, Signs, Directions"

> Language > Place is a joined blog cyber journey featuring international perspectives on language and place.

One year ago, the first edition of the language/place carnival went live. Since then, almost monthly, a new edition followed - each a journey in itself, hosted by different bloggers in places that reach from Hong Kong to Slovenia and New Zealand to the States. Now the anniversary edition launched. The theme of this edition is: Streets, Signs, Direction.

Following its own theme, this edition offers 3 ways to explore and visit the contributions: a found poem, based on single lines from each contribution, an itienary of contributions with notes and links and a geographic map which also includes the former editions.

Call: Edition #12 of > language > place will be hosted by poet & writer Linda Hofke. The feature theme for edition #12 is “Food" - but as always, a wide range of contributions is welcome. Submissions are now open, deadline 20th November, guidelines.

About the  >Language >Place blog carnival
To create a collaborate cyber journey that features international perspectives on language and place, in different formats, and with different languages included - that's the concept of this collaborate project. The main language is english, the carnival consists of a central page that links to all participating blog. An overview of previous editions and more background information is available at the Language Place info page.

> language > place anniversary edition (#11)
a web project

related links: web projects, anthologies

Lost Children: A Charity Anthology

A collection of 30 flash stories from around the world, The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology is now available for purchase! All proceeds go to two children's charities to support exploited, neglected and abused children PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children and Children 1st Scotland.

The anthology is now available for purchase on Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes & Noble.

Stories featured were sent by writers from the USA, Poland, Hong Kong, Portugal, India, Scotland, England, Canada, and one told by a Lost Boy of the Sudan to his teacher. Authors included: Susan Gibb, Sam Rasnake, Nicolette Wong, Susan Tepper and many more - the whole list is up at: The Lost Children blog.

About the book + the editors
The project began as a flash fiction challenge when Fiona Johnson and Thomas Pluck donated to the two charities, over at Ron Philips' Flash Fiction Friday and Fictionaut. 30 of the best stories were chosen to be included in this anthology, edited by Fiona, Thomas and Ron.

Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
Only $2.99 (all proceeds go to charity)
The e-book is available at Amazon, Barnes&Noble and Smashwords in various formats.

PS: For Smashwords, you don't need to register and simply can pay via paypal and get access to multiple formats, including pdf. (the Ed just tried, works well).

NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month (also known as NaNoWriMo) is an annual internet-based creative writing project which challenges participants to write 50,000 words of a new novel between November 1 and November 30.

Writers wishing to participate first register on the project's website, where they can post profiles and information about their novels, including synopsis and excerpts. Word counts are validated on the site, with writers submitting a copy of their novel for automatic counting.

Pep talks give advice along the way, and the extended NaNoWriMo forums offer the chance to interact, motivate each other, and procrastinate.

About NaNoWriMo
This writing project was started by Chris Baty in July 1999 with 21 participants in the San Francisco Bay area. In 2000, it was moved to November "to more fully take advantage of the miserable weather" and launched an official website. With more writers joining each year, NaNoWriMo turned into a global event. In 2010, over 200,000 people took part - writing a total of over 2.8 billion words.

NaNoWriMo Website

related links: other web projects; on writing

Worship (qarrtsiluni)

What is it at the centre of someone’s life? What is it that we are reaching for? What is it that we create rituals around?

Edited by Fiona Robyn and Kaspalita, qarrtsiluni's current theme issue "Worship" gathers satirical and humorous pieces as well as serious essays, stories, poems, images and vidoes: accounts that are in worship of something, sacred or profane, or that are accounts of worship, as well as pieces that are critical of worship.

The issue runs until January, with new pieces added on a daily basisaily basis at qarrtsiluni/Worship

More than a dozen pieces of worship are online already, and offer an inspiring and thought-provoking variety of angles and styles. Here some recommendations: the poem Ghost Money by Jenni B. Baker, the video While Sitting in Church by James Brush, the poem winter escapes by Daniela Elza, and the light painting silence by Paul Bilger (included in the feature image).

The editors: Fiona Robyn is a novelist, Buddhist and creativity coach and blogs about being a writer at Writing Our Way Home. Kaspalita is a Buddhist priest and blogger and is married to Fiona.

About qarrtsiluni
qarrtsiluni offers cutting-edge electronic delivery of original, thematically organized poetry, prose, and art, and its almost-daily posts are available online both as text and audio, read by the authors; the magazine can be accessed via browsers, email, feed readers, portable music listening devices, and through the print editions. The title comes from an Iñupiaq word that means “sitting together in the darkness, waiting for something to burst.” Qarrtsiluni's managing editors are Dave Bonta and Beth Adams; three of the four issues each year are guest-edited by teams of two invited editors and the magazine sponsors an annual chapbook contest.

qarrtsiluni: the Worship issue
theme issue

related links: anthologies, philosophical

Walking the Tiger's Path - Paul Kendel (Tendril)

Paul Kendel's book Walking the Tiger's Path - A Soldier’s Spiritual Journey in Iraq addresses the horrors of war from an extraordinary human perspective.

In 2005, Paul Kendel deployed with his National Guard unit out of Georgia to Iraq, hoping to use his knowledge of that land to bridge the gap between American soldiers and Iraqi civilians. However, the realities of war crushed his idealism when his buddies began dying at the hands of the enemy. Eventually, his ongoing concern for the Iraqi people alienated some of his comrades, and he felt the sting of growing conflict within himself.

Turning to the books on Buddhist teachings he had brought with him, he found solace in the written words. On a whim, he emailed Shambhala International and requested assistance. An unexpected response and ongoing support from Buddhist teacher and meditation instructor Margot Neuman helped him to retain a sane and humble humanity in a situation that often plummeted into lethal insanity.

An excerpt of the book is online at Issuu: Walking the Tiger's Path.

Paul M. Kendel’s (SSG Ret.) first experience with the current “War on Terror” began with a deployment to Saudi Arabia with the California National Guard following 9/11. In 2005, the military deployed him to Iraq. Kendel holds an M.A. in both History and Anthropology, and is currently teaching world history and special education in Jacksonville, Florida.

About Tendril Press
Tendril Press is a selective independent Press publishing thought provoking, educational, inspirational and humanitarian books for adults and children.

Paul Kendel: Walking the Tiger's Path
A Soldier’s Spiritual Journey in Iraq
320 pages

related links: the human condition, east/west, nonfiction

Magpie Days - Julia Davies

In July and August, the 100 Days Project gathered story writers, poets, painters, photographers, filmmakers, musicians, and programmers together for 100 days of creative effort; unique yet built on the work of others in the collective; ranging between the participants for theme, motif, or other inspirational method.

In "Magpie Days", 100-Day-participant  Julia Davies collected her works - each of them inspired or derived by another participant's day, which is included, too. A diary of creativity and of own / outer voice, this collection leads through flowers, volcanoes, lines, curves and asemic writing.

Julia notes: "Me, I have a magpie mind, pouncing on bright and beautiful things, I guess I would like to see if I have an artistic voice, or am a collector/reflector... What can I say about the 100 days project? It was a spur, a net full of sparkles and patterns, full of things that slipped through my fingers and some that did not. I rifled through the pretty things, the skin tingling true things; paused, not long enough, at the things that made me think, and rushed at the things that made me feel. - I wanted to find my voice as a writer, or maybe as an artist, but I was so distracted by all that was on offer for me, daily! I find a voice, or two, but whether they were mine I am not sure. I look beyond now and occasionally spin stuff out of the mind threads that connected us. I want next years project to come already."

Julia Davies is a practised reader and a practising writer, and lives in Germany. She blogs at practice makes perfect.

Magpie Days 2011
The collection is online at Issuu as e-book in 4 parts, and also available as printed book.
- Magpie Days 001-025
- Magpie Days 026-050
- Magpie Days 051-075
- Magpie Days 076-100

I’m Here Right? - Josh Rank (Deckfight)

Josh Rank moved to Atlanta from Wisconsin after college. He didn’t have a job, he didn’t know much about the South. What he found is included in this chapbook of first-person essays: I'm Here Right? Stuff on selling meat from the back of a truck, witnessing a takedown at the jail, getting hit by a car and more. All in Josh’s deadpan, but forthright style.

The chapbook is available in various free pdf and e-book formats.

Josh Rank blogs at These Things I Know and occasionally writes music reviews for the indie music webpage Deckfight. An interview with him is up at LCB: Interview with writer Josh Rank.

Deckfight Press
Deckfight Press is part of Deckfight and is into chapbooks of the pdf and epub kind. Recent chapbooks include: "A Patchwork of Rooms Furnished by Mistakes" by J. Bradley, "Firehouse Neckbrace" by Josh Spiler and others - here's a Deckfight book list.

Josh Rank: I’m Here Right?
chapbook, 37 pages

A quick guide to Book Publishing Services (Lulu, Smashwords, Createspace, Issuu...)

This isn't news: the digital revolution changed the way books are produced, and also the way they are read.

Print on Demand (POD) makes it possible to create single copies of books, which allows to publish books for smaller and special audiences. Parallel, e-readers make it possible to read e-books in a new, leisure way.

Together, this leads to a growing range of publishing formats, and publishing services, which are especially interesting for small presses and for authors.

Below is a list of service providers, with examples of printed books and e-books that are featured in the blueprint book blog.



Lulu
Lulu is a company offering publishing, printing in various sizes, and distribution (including e-books).
Since their founding in 2002, Lulu has published over 1.1 million titles by creators in over 200 countries and territories and adds 20,000 new titles to their catalogue a month.
links: Lulu webpage, wiki-page
examples: "lulu"-books in this blog (print books + e-books)
cover: if you want to publish a book at CreateSpace, here some advice for creating the book cover

CreateSpace
A publishing/printing/distribution service that provides free tools to help self-publish and distribute books, DVDs, CDs etc. on-demand at CreateSpace and via Amazon.com. (CreateSpace belongs to Amazon, thus the listing, which only works for Amazon.com, no other countries)
link: CreateSpace
examples: CreateSpace-books in this blog
cover: if you want to publish a book at CreateSpace, here some advice for creating the book cover

Smashwords
An ebook publishing and distribution platform for ebook authors, publishers, agents and readers that offers multi-format ebooks, ready for immediate sampling and purchase, and readable on any e-reading device.
link: Smashwords
examples: Smashword-books in this blog
how-to-guide: Smashword Style Guide + Marketing Guide

Issuu
Issuu is a digital publishing platform that delivers full-color reading experiences of magazines, catalogs, and newspapers.
link: Issuu
examples: Issuu-books in this blog

Related links: Red Lemonade, exPress tutorial, Wiki-Pages 

• Advice+Example: How to prepare a book cover for print-on-demand services like CreateSpace
• Red Lemonade: new experimental service: full texts online + print books (example)
• exPress: print to e-book workflow tutorial advice from Folded Word
• General information: Wiki: Print on demand  / Wiki: E-book

---
Other blueprint How-to posts:

- How to create an own google map

- How to create an automatic paper.li newspaper

Never Never Stories - Jason Sanford (Spotlight)

Ranging from science fiction to fantasy, the 10 stories contained in Never Never Stories by Jason Sanford could also be named: "Best Of" - they have won the Interzone Readers’ Poll, been nominated for the BSFA Award, longlisted for the British Fantasy Award, and printed in numerous magazines and book anthologies including Year's Best SF.

The collection also contains an original essay on archeology and fantasy and a cover by award-winning artist Vincent Chong.

"Sanford expertly blends world building and storytelling. In fact, he makes it look easy."
- SF Signal

There also is an ebook edition of Never Never Stories - it contains all of the content from the print edition along with four additional stories (one of which has never been published) plus a different introduction. One of the storíes is online as excerpt: The Ships Like Clouds.

Jason Sanford's stories have received a number of awards and honors, including being a finalist for the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novella, winning both the 2008 and 2009 Interzone Readers' Polls, receiving a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, being nominated for the BSFA Award, and being longlisted for the British Fantasy Award. He also co-founded the literary journal storySouth, through which he runs the annual Million Writers Award.

About Spotlight Publishing
Spotlight Publishing is an independent press based in North Carolina, a press that is focused on producing collections of short stories (single-author collections and anthologies), as well as books by established authors that are either out of print with the original publisher, or different from the type of book the author is best known for.

Jason Sanford: Never Never Stories
story collection
240 pages

New Collected Poems - Tomas Tranströmer (Bloodaxe)

Tomas Tranströmer is Sweden’s most important poet, and was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Academy honoured him "because, through his condensed, translucent images, he gives us fresh access to reality". (Nobel Prize page)

Tranströmer's publisher in Britain, Bloodaxe, has a features with notes on a new edition of his work "New Collected Poems", 3 poems in translation with the original included, and a biography online at: Tomas Tranströmer at 80.

New Collected Poems includes all the poems Tranströmer has written during the past forty years, including those from the Bloodaxe Collected Poems of 1987, as well as three later collections, For Living and Dead (1989), The Sad Gondola (1996) and The Great Enigma (2004), and a prose memoir.

For more of Tranströmer's poetry, visit Prelude at Words without Borders, and After a Death + Outskirts at Poetry.org (there's also an essay on his work up at Poetry: Too Much of the Air).

Tomas Tranströmer was born in Stockholm in 1931, graduated as a psychologist in 1956 with additional studies history, religion, and literature, and worked as a psychologist for juvenile offenders for many years. He suffered a stroke in 1990 that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak; however, he would continue to write and publish poetry though the early 2000s. He is regularly shortlisted for the Nobel Prize, and has received several public recognitions and prizes for his poetry. (wiki-page)

About Bloodaxe
Bloodaxe Books is an independent literary publishing house, founded in Newcastle in 1978 by Neil Astley joined in 1982 by chairman Simon Thirsk. In time, it turned into Britain's premier poetry publisher, with an international reputation for quality in literature and excellence in design.

Tomas Tranströmer: New Collected Poems (Bloodaxe)
poetry collection
256 pages

House of Worship - Marcus Speh

In "House of Worship", Marcus Speh gathers 15 of his flash fiction stories in an experimental approach: the stories are a first selection of a planned larger collection. House of Worship is available at Red Lemonade, a platform that takes a different approach to publishing, and offers the full texts of its print books as online reads.

Marcus explains: "I'd like to publish my 100+ best flash fiction pieces (with a handful of short stories) written 2009—2011. Unburdened by offers from publishers, I decided to try something else: with little effort, I've put up 15 of these stories, all previously published, at Red Lemonade, a new literary community plus publishing press, based on the Cursor platform of Richard Eoin Nash, award-winning former publisher of Berkeley-based Soft Skull Press.

Nash has created Cursor for "folks who run indie presses, or want to start one, or run a web community but would like that community to be able to publish books." [R Nash] Red Lemonade, a community of DRM-free original writing, is still in "beta" mode, but welcomes new members and has just opened its bookshop. Meanwhile, my collection titled "House of Worship", is still looking for a publisher who worships "Absurd, Germanic and Existentialist" flash fiction."

Marcus Speh is a writer, ex-particle physicist, professor, executive coach, project lead, web head, father, fictionaut, former fencer and paratrooper, current maitre d' of kaffe in katmandu, curator of the 1000 shipwrecked penguins project and participant of 100 Days 2011, who lives in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg.

Marcus Speh: House of Worship
a flash collection

IthacaLit Issue One: Autumn

IthacaLit is a new online journal that features poetry and art. Their inaugral issue is now online: IthacaLit Issue One: Autumn. In addition to the Poets page, there is a gallery page + an interview with artist Lin Price, and an essay on Audre Lorde's poetry: "Crafting Her Life".

About IthacaLit
Michele Lesko founded IthacaLit, thinking her new hometown would be well represented by both the actual & mythical journey to Ithaca. Ithaca is a dynamic town with both the Ivy League Cornell University and Ithaca College, historically well known for its music & arts programs. Ithaca is Gorges is more than a clever slogan; Ithaca has the kind of stunning natural beauty that many travel far to see. Set at the edge of Cayuga Lake, with a thriving, artsy downtown commons, Ithaca is a very supportive place for artists & writers to explore.

From the equally stunning state of Montana, Sherry O'Keefe joined Michele in the pursuit of the best voices in contemporary poetry. Montana is a vast, wide-open, sparsely populated state best experienced by traveling through and taking time to stop as many times as possible. Here you will find the middle of nowhere and after a bit of time you'll come to realize the middle of nowhere becomes the center of everything. It's a great place to locate your inner poetry.

"We look for writing that honors the beggar & the hero. We hope the work published in IthacLit will take you home: your home, our home, the real & the imagined, quite simply the home that connects your spirit with the world surrounding you as well as the mythical home we journey toward throughout our lives."

Contributors to IthacaLit's first issue are: Madeleine Beckman, Kelly N. Cockerham, Risa Denenberg, Alex Grant, Mike Harrell, Rose Hunter, Susan Johnson, Kathleen Kirk, Diane Lockward, Katharyn Howd Machan, Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé, Uche Ogbuji and painter Lin Price.

Call for the IthacaLit Winter Issue
IthacaLit is now open to submissions for the Winter issue, guidelines.

IthacaLit 
Issue One: Autumn

Persist: In Praise of the Creative Spirit in a World Gone Mad with Commerce - Peter Clothier (Parami)

Persist: In Praise of the Creative Spirit in a World Gone Mad with Commerce is a collection of essays spanning thirty years of engagement with the culture of our times. Peter Clothier is a long-time student of the dharma and a meditation practitioner. In this context he examines the qualities of compassion, perseverance, and discernment in his reflections on the artist’s predicament in a world that judges success in terms of celebrity and material reward. Persist explores ways today's artists in any medium can find fulfillment, a sense of purpose, and joy in alternative and more lasting values.

Peter Clothier has served as an educator and an art school dean variously at the University of Southern California, Otis Art Institute and Loyola Marymount University. Clothier left academia many years ago to devote himself full time to his writing. He still describes himself as a “recovering academic.” A student of the dharma who follows a daily meditation practice, he is the author of the online weblog, The Buddha Diaries; his political passions find their outlet in his regular contributions to The Huffington Post.

About Parami Press
Parami Press is an independent book publisher situated in Vancouver, Canada, and focuses on books from a Buddhist point of view. Their book program includes:  "One Monk, Many Masters - The Wanderings of a a Simple Buddhist Traveler" by Paul Breiter; "The Ten Perfections - a Study Guide" by Thanissaro Bhikku and "Mapping the Dharma" by Paul Gerhards.

Peter Clothier: Persist
collected essays
132 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9779774-1-3

note: this book feature was inspired by Jean Morris' blog post "Persist"

Stone Highway Review #1

Stone Highway is a new literary journal of short prose and poetry, dedicated to language - to work that haunts, electrifies, tingles: "We like creativity. We believe the imagination contains as much truth as "truth."

The issue is available as print copy + free PDF dowload. The website also includes an extra page with colored versions of the included photography and artwork, and a blog.

Contributors included in the first issue are: Michelle Reale, Paul David Adkins, James W. Hritz, Ariana D. Den Bleyker, Kim King, Peter Schireson, Jenny Catlin, Maggie Koger, Caitlin Elizabeth Thomson, Christina Dubach, Len Kuntz, Christopher Woods, William Doreski, Devon Miller-Duggan, Dr. Ernest Williamson III, Tom Holmes, Christina Murphy, Alex Yuschik, Ruth Holzer and Jenny Ortiz.

About Stone Highway
The magazine is edited by Mary Stone Dockery who is interested in "new stuff, the writers who dare to breaks some rules, who write about what we “shouldn’t” write about, in surreal and magical ways…" and by  Amanda Hash, who loves "writing that really pays attention to language and the beauty of finding the right words". For some more notes on the magazine, try the Everyday Other Things feature.
Stone Highway will publish twice yearly, in both print and electronic format. Submissions are now open for the next issue. Guidelines

Stone Highway Review
literary journal

Festival of the Trees #63: Slugyard University

The Festival of the Trees is a monthly blog carnival for all things arboreal, hosted at a different blog each month.

The theme of edition 63 is: How animals and other wildlife interact with trees: "Keep your eyes and ears open, and take a look at what the wildlife are up to–up in the trees. Send the link to your blog post, video, podcast, slideshow, or other e-tree-creation."

The collected contributions are now online at Slugyard University

Edition Announcement"Go back to school with the Festival of the Trees! Edition #63 finds us at Slugyard University, where the learning never stops because, as everyone knows, beer is fatal to slugs. Many of the links this time fit the announced theme of trees and wildlife. The contributors (now promoted to professor status) found marbled murrelets, grey herons, tufted titmice, collared doves, varied carpet beetles, termites, fire ants… even, improbably, a pair of turtle shells in the trees. Classes at Slug U aren’t restricted to science, however, but include offerings in art, literature, religion, and conservation, too. Don’t be late to class!"

Upcoming Festival + Previous EditionsAn info page with current calls and an archive of previous editions can be found at Festival of the Trees. The next festival of the Trees will be hosted at European Trees, the theme is open - all tree topics are welcome. Deadline is Sept. 30.

Festival of Trees #63
a blog carnival

related links: nature, web projects

ECSTATIC/.of facts - Raymon Farr (Otoliths)

In ECSTATIC/.of facts, his latest book of poetry, Raymond Farr investigates the relationship between language, meaning and culture, and explores how language can shape new worlds out of the American suburban culture of generic mega stores, chain restaurants and popular music - "With an astute sense of phrasing and rhythm, Farr reveals that under the “Onslaught of language,” we find the “amber light of meaning stares back” from something as “fundamental as chaos.” - John C. Goodman

Some samples of the collection are online at Ditch: Paraboles of Paul Eluard & other poems

Raymond Farr lives in Ocala, FL. He has published widely in recent years. His work appears in Otoliths, Cricket On Line Review, BlazeVox2kX, Letterbox, Ditch, The Argotist On Line, Cannot Exist, EOAGH, Moria, Out of Nothing, Clutching at Straws, Kill Author, Text Base, Xstream, & Apocryphal Text. His chap book, Two Hats Appear When Applauded, is available free at Dusie. All four of his poetry books may be previewed and purchased at the Blue & Yellow Dog Book Shop. He is editor of Blue & Yellow Dog - which just has a new issue out that includes a special APG poetry feature, check it out here: B&YDog #6.

About Otoliths
Otoliths is a magazine of many e-things, published by Mark Young, Australia. The online issue of Otoliths appears quarterly, the current issue is: southern winter, 2011. The publishing arm of Otoliths began as print editions of the e-zine Otoliths, but has since expanded to include books & chapbooks by authors associated with the journal.

Raymon Farr: ECSTATIC/.of facts
poetry collection
112 pages, $13.45
ISBN 978-0-9808785-3-0

Fat Girl - Jessie Carty (Sibling Rivalry)

In Fat Girl, Jessie Carty asks us to strip and stand naked in front of a mirror. These poems are our own reflection. Bittersweet in nature, they are self-perception. They size us up and tell the truth: that man or woman, we all struggle to feel at home in our own skins.

Hunger, desire, overindulgence, shame, fitting in, transformation, and acceptance — these are the realities of human existence.  In these unblinkingly honest poems, Jessie Carty covers them all, examining, revealing, and redefining individual and iconic images of self, femininity, and humanity. - Scott Owen, author of Fracture World

For a vibe of Fat Girl, try this poetry video:  Class Reunion. There also is an author talk with Jessie Carty in this blog.

Jessie Carty’s poetry, fiction, and non-fiction have appeared in publications such as Iodine Poetry Journal, Main Street Rag and The Dead Mule. Previous to Fat Girl, she authored two chapbooks, At the A & P Meridiem and The Wait of Atom. Her first full length of poetry collection, Paper House, was published by Folded Word in 2010. When she’s not busy writing, Jessie teaches at RCCC in Concord, North Carolina, and edits the online journal Referential Magazine.

About Sibling Rivalry Press
Sibling Rivalry Press is a small publishing house based just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas. Their mission and vision: "to develop, promote, and market underground artistic talent – those who don’t quite fit into the mainstream. Our vision? To create literary and poetic rock stars."
Recent and forthcoming titles include: "Burnings" - a poetry collection by Ocean Vuong, "Voices Through Skin" by Theresa Senato Edwards and "Collective Brightness - Poets on faith, religion & spirituality".

Jessie Carty: Fat Girl
poetry
$12.00; 48 Pages
ISBN: 978-0-9832931-6-3
release: September 15th.
Now Available for Pre-Order at 20% Off!

The Conversation Papers 1.1

The Conversation Papers is the magazine of the Conversation International project, a not-for-profit publisher that aims to publish poetry from people and places often marginalised for reasons of capital or political culture.

The Conversation Papers 1.1, online at Issuu, feature a conversation with George Messo on translation, an article on the problems of publishing in Zimbabwe, and "Dialectisism": the first in a series of essays on dialectical approaches to poetry. Poetry by: Fabiano Alborghetti, Wirndzerem G. Barfee, Nancy Charley, William Doreski, Nigel Holt, Susanna Lang, Ruzvidzo Mupfudza, Gonca Özmen and Doug Pugh.
For more articles and bilingual poetry, visit The Conversation Papers 1.2

About the Conversation Paperpress
The Conversation Paperpress is the publishing arm of the Conversation International project: "We are a not-for-profit publisher co-operatively run by volunteers, working with the donated contributions of writers and editors. Through our international anthologies we aim to publish poetry from people and places often marginalised for reasons of capital or political culture, and we have gained critical attention for their promotion of emerging and unheard voices. Our developing pamphlet and paperback series promote original and exploratory poetry, including first collections and works-in-progress. As the mouthpiece of this movement and ambition, the publications of the Paperpress are part of an open dialogue; a conversation."

Upcoming anthologies: From This Bridge: Contemporary Turkish Women Poets and Next Stop, Omdurman: The Lost Poetry of 1980s Sudan

The Conversation Papers
international magazine
available online at Issuu

Book Sale at Lulu

The small press print+distribution service Lulu announced a book sale:

SITE WIDE SALE 
20% off any order
* The sale ends on August 27th at 11.59pm.
* The code can only be used once per account.
link: page with code

Several books and small presses that are featured in this book blog are printed and distributed through Lulu

1) overview
try this link for an overview of lulu-books featured in this blog:
blueprint blog books at Lulu

2) selected suggestions (with direct Lulu links):
Here some suggestions with a focus on blueprintreview authors, with direct links to each Lulu book page
- The Book of It  by Daniela Elza
- triskelion, tiger moth, tangram... by Marcia Arrieta
- pay attention: a river of stones - collection
- mo(nu)ment - blueprintreview anthology
- Masala Moments + in transit by Dorothee Lang
- Walking Accidentally in the Dark by Margot Miller
- God Damsel by Reb Livingston
- let a thousand dictionaries bloom by Sean Burn

3) additional link: small presses with Lulu books:
- Otoliths books - authors: Paul Siegell, Mary Kasimor, Joel Chace and many more
- No Tell Motel books - Bedside Guide + poetry collections
- avantacular press - authors: andrew topel, john m. bennett, jim leftwich, john crouse

Freight - Mel Bosworth (Folded Word)

Freight by Mel Bosworth is an unflinching, quirky novel that follows a flawed yet lovable everyman as he searches for Home. We never learn his name. Nor do we learn her name—the woman whose freight is still too much for him to carry. But we know he likes soft things. We know he works through pain. We know his childhood still clings to him, despite his graying hair. And through knowing him and all his freight, ours is easier to bear.

You can read an excerpt at Darksky: I Lost. And in Brooklyn: I Found. For an unwritten tune of Freight, try this Freight video.

Update: Freight will be released on the 9. September + received review praise by the Publishers Weekly: "...subtle and delightful... fantastically innovative..." (whole review)

Mel Bosworth lives and breathes in Western Massachusettes. He's never met a cup of tea he didn’t drink, a donut he didn’t eat, or a cat he didn’t try to pet. When Mel isn’t consuming things or making new feline friends, he’s usually busy writing. He is the author of the short fiction chapbook When the Cats Razzed the Chickens and Other Stories (Folded Word, 2009) and the novella Grease Stains, Kismet, and Maternal Wisdom (Brown Paper Publishing, 2010). There's an author talk with him and Jessie Carty online at Daily s-Press: author talk: Mel Bosworth & Jessie Carty on breathing, writing, scares, yielding, greed and more

About Folded Word (+PicFic + unFold + Heron)
Folded Word is an independent press that continually seeks new ways of connecting readers to new literary voices. Though we do sell our books and chapbooks, we offer free poetry and fiction to the public in our Twitter-zines PicFic and unFold, as well as our print broadside, Heron. We also value craftsmanship, both of literary works and the medium in which they are rendered--as demonstrated by our handcrafted Signature Series chapbooks. Folded Word is managed by J.S. Graustein with the support of Rose Auslander, Casey Murphy, and the entire Folded family of contributors.

Mel Bosworth: Freight
release date: 9. September
209 pages
paperback: $14 + 1$ shippping worldwide
e-book: $3.50

100 Thousand Poets for Change: 24.9.

100 Thousand Poets for Change is an event that is happening in over 350 cities around the world on September 24th. This event seeks to connect poets around the USA and across the planet in a demonstration/ celebration of poetry to promote serious social and political change.

"The first order of change is for poets, writers, artists, anybody, to actually get together to create and perform, educate and demonstrate, simultaneously, with other communities around the world. This will change how we see our local community and the global community. And of course there is the political/social change that many of us are talking about these days. There is trouble in the world. Wars, ecocide, the lack of affordable medical care, racism, the list goes on..."

Invite to join
100 Thousand Poets for Change is inviting participants by local region, city, or state, and looking for individuals in each area who would like to organize their local event.

There is a facebook-page: 100 Thousand Poets for Change/facebook + a twitter-account. There also is a web site with registered locations and further information: 100 Thousand Poets for Change/website.

About the event
100 Thousand Poets for Change is the idea of Michael Rothenberg, poet and editor of Big Bridge Press and zine (website) and Terri Carrion, associate editor and visual designer of Big Bridge Press and zine (website).

Moon Willow Press / Ecologue
Thanks to Mary Woodbury at Moon Willow Press for spreading the news! 2 connected links: the new science+nature blog from Moon Willow: Ecologue, and their new eco-poetry collection: The Sacred River of Consciousness by Tom Hibbard.

Spiral Jetta - Erin Hogan (University of Chicago)

Erin Hogan hit the road in her Volkswagen Jetta and headed west from Chicago in search of the monuments of American land art: a salty coil of rocks, four hundred stainless steel poles, a gash in a mesa, four concrete tubes, and military sheds filled with cubes. Her journey took her through the states of Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. It also took her through the states of anxiety, drunkenness, disorientation, and heat exhaustion. Spiral Jetta is a chronicle of this journey.

Spiral Jetta is the current free e-book of the month at Chicago Press. There also is an interview with Hogan online.

"Hogan’s pilgrimage, sparsely illustrated, is part well-informed art historical travelogue and part light foray into self-discovery."—Publishers Weekly

Erin Hogan is director of public affairs at the Art Institute of Chicago.

About the University of Chicago Press
The Books Division of the University of Chicago Press has been publishing books for scholars, students, and general readers since 1892. The Books Division has published over eleven thousand books since the Press was founded. It has more than five thousand books in print at the present time.

Erin Hogan: Spiral Jetta
e-book: e-book-of-the-month page
190 pages, 2008
non-fiction, art, travel

editor's note: there is a related review on this book online in the editor's blog, including photo+video links to some of the featured land art, quotes, and a "Spiral Jetty" travel report of an art blogger: "Spiral Jetty & Arches - a road / art trip"

The Reprint - "The end of the world" issue

"Here is where the world ends. Put down your Mountain Dew Slurpee and your iPhone. The universe is collapsing and this issue of The Reprint is the edge...."

The Reprint August issue is all about the end of the world. It features stories by xTx, Kirsty Logan, Aubrey Hirsch, Meg Pokrass, Travis Hessmann, Adam Moorad and Roxanne Gay.

All stories are illustrated with fabulous artwork by Joe Scarano, more of the jazz can be found on his website. The issue also includes bonus material: interview with author Travis Hessman, and with Annalemma Editor Christopher Heavener.

Make sure to check out the upbeat apocalyptic introduction to the issue by Reprint editor Sarah Rose Etter: "Everything in this issue of The Reprint is covered with the fingerprints of the end. Stand on the edge and balance yourself like a tightrope walker. Each one of these stories is a finger pressing up against your spine, pushing you a little, daring you to keep your balance. Stand on the edge. The end of the world couldn’t be more brutal or more beautiful."

About The Reprint
The Reprint is an online magazine with the mission to bring new life to already printed material. It also features reviews of online journals and an online literature calendar at Zine-Scene.
Submissions: "The Reprint is looking for previously published fiction up to 8000 words. The work must have been published in a print magazine and must not be available online... As for our aesthetic, we lean more toward experimental than high literary. We like risks, we like stories that breakdown boundaries, we like stories that challenge the establishment." (Guidelines)

Open City - Teju Cole (Random)

Teju Cole's novel Open City tells the story of a young Nigerian-German psychiatrist in New York City five years after 9/11.

Published by Random House and reviewed in the New Yorker, this novel technically doesn't exactly belong into this blog on indie books and online literary magazines. Yet if you visit the Links section of the author's page, you arrive at a very indie note in section 4. Right between links to the African Cities Reader and Vanity Fair  Teju Cole states: "I’m a frequent contributor to the excellent online journal Qarrtsiluni."

Small open world, it is. This cross connection also reflects in 2 recent reviews from fellow bloggers Jean Morris and Parmanu, who both are contributors to qarrtsiluni - and to BluePrintReview.

"It’s not a total surprise to see a friend first encountered through the different blogs he’s kept now find considerable success with his first novel. Not a surprise, but a new and engaging experience," notes Jean Morris in her blog post "Open City opens here". And if you follow the contributor link above, you arrive at the visualization of this cross connection: Ekphrasis 1: Jean + Teju Cole.

The second blog post, by Parmanu, is actually a letter to Teju Cole with a reflection on reviews in general, and also on the difference the earlier connection makes: "Looking at these reviews I sometimes wonder how I would have responded if I had known nothing about the author. Would it have been a different book for me?" - The Review Cycle

About Teju Cole
Teju Cole was born to Nigerian parents and grew up in Lagos. His mother taught French. My father was a business executive who exported chocolate. At fifteen he published cartoons regularly in Prime People, Nigeria’s version of Vanity Fair. Two years later he moved to the United States. Since then, he spent most of his time studying art history, except for an unhappy year in medical school. He currently lives in Brooklyn.

Teju Cole: Open City