It’s difficult to believe we’re already halfway through this year! We are busy preparing our next six books for (hopeful) publication in the next six months. If you’ve ever wondered what a publisher does, it’s a combination of reading, editing, emailing, coordinating, researching, typesetting, filing, thinking about metadata, marketing….a little bit of everything really, especially when we’re only three or so people.
Our next book, The Various Stages of a Garden Well-Kept, publishes on July 15. This is a novel set among three generations of the Kageorge family in the past and present. It has six narrators, one of whom is Frieda, a cat. Family secrets are uncovered, seeds for future happiness sown, all leading to a happy.
Curious as to why the significance of the dianthus? Pre-order and you’ll be among the first to know!
On the 24th we published The Ballad of Cherrystoke and Other Stories by Melanie McGee Bianchi. If you haven’t ordered this yet, you really should. This book is the Appalachian literature the world needs: totally free of nostalgia and sentimentality. Here’s the latest review: “So many of the finest American short stories have been rooted in an almost palpable sense of region and Bianchi’s debut collection carries that great tradition into rural and small-town Appalachia. […] Her characters’ lives are often as ramshackle as the crowded digs they share, but stubbornly resilient and full-voiced. Bianchi is a talent to watch, and the voices of her characters, spilling off the page, demand to be listened to.” Wayne Price, author of Furnace and Mercy Seat.
And, the author herself spotted copies on the shelves of her local bookshop, Malaprop’s, in Asheville, NC! Do you want to see copies of Blackwater Books on the shelves of your local shops? One of the best ways to help is to spread the word; just go into a shop and suggest the manager be in touch about stocking our books. It’s Small Business Week in the US and what better way for small businesses to support each other than through personal recommendations?
Speaking of short stories, our second contest closes on June 30. There’s still time to submit on the theme of Ink, and remember there’s a cash prize! Full details here.