July has been another jam-packed month at the various Blackwater Press locations! The biggest news is that we now have distribution in both the UK and the US and Canada. While direct sales will always be the most lucrative way for us to sell books, most shops would rather not deal with a publisher directly, so a distributor is needed. We are now represented in North America by SPD; tell your favorite local shops! Something Steve, Sally, Lucy, and Flòraidh are excited about is that SPD urges their publishers to use pet pictures in their social media. We can definitely do that!
The other big news is that on July 15 we published our fifth book, The Various Stages of a Garden Well-Kept, by R.R. Davis. The first reviews are in:
All the more impressive when considering that “The Various Stages of a Garden Well Kept” is author R. R. Davis’ debut as a novelist, this original and exceptionally well written collection of memorable characters and an inherently interesting and narrative driven story of the emigrant in America is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to personal reading lists and community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Collections.
And, on the evening of July 26, Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville hosted Bob in a live stream event. He and Patricia Furnish discussed his writing process, the importance of perseverance and being comfortable with rejection, and cats, punctuated with readings. Thanks to all at Malaprop’s for a great event!
But Bob’s is not the only Blackwater book garnering praise! Melanie McGee Bianchi’s The Ballad of Cherrystoke and Other Stories continues to gain strong reviews, including an article in Asheville’s MountainX, highlighting some of the unexpected humor in the ‘dark and moody’ collection. Read the full article here.
Jordan Zachary, writing in the Southern Review of Books, has this to say:
Through a range of characters and shifting points of view, the collection offers up a poignant critique of the wave of gentrification mountain cities are currently facing, and the financial divide that creates.
Read the full review here.
Our next book will be out on September 23rd. Check out the trailer for The Stone Maidens by Ioulia Kolovou below:
And one more review for good measure: “Kolovou has written a novel full of grace, humour and loss. In “The Stone Maidens” the political is personal, the personal is historic, and the storytelling moves with ease…a beautiful book.”
– Elizabeth Reeder
Available for pre-order very soon!