The city of Portland, Oregon, is one of the centers of Pacific Northwest publishing. Laura Stanfill of Forest Avenue Press discusses her own journey and describes how the special bond among Portland publishers, readers, and booksellers leads to the small victories that can get us through these tough times.

Topics Covered

• the story of Forest Avenue Press
• NAB (Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association)
• engaging with local booksellers for advice, events, advance orders and buzz
• focusing on regional authors
• the role of Powell’s bookstore as a sales powerhouse and community gathering space
• the Espresso Book Machine (no longer but a great tool for local events and galleys!)
• the challenge of launching books when no bookstores are open or ordering books
• getting by with online orders and curbside delivery
• are books an “essential” business?
• publishers connecting with readers
• the story of The Royal Abduls and its online launch (the virus hit just when the book was headed for an important pre-release launch!)
• will NY publishers win all the eyeballs with their big money and big noisemakers?
• now is the time for publishers, booksellers, and readers to all rally together!
• refocus on truly good, truly essential titles that can cut through the noise and garner attention
• savor even the small victories: they’re why we do what we do!

Links

Forest Avenue Press
http://www.forestavenuepress.com/

NW Book Lovers Reviews campaign for The Royal Abduls by Ramiza Shamoun
https://nwbooklovers.org/2020/03/10/face-out-extravaganza-the-royal-abduls-by-ramiza-shamoun-koya/

Radio interview with Forest Avenue author Julia Stoops on KBOO
https://shar.es/aHtwuG

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA)
http://www.pnba.org/

Participants

Laura Stanfill is the publisher of Forest Avenue Press, which she founded in 2012. She earned a certificate from the Yale Publishing Course in 2018 thanks to an IBPA scholarship. She believes in indie bookstores and wishes on them like stars.

Peter Goodman (host) is publisher of Stone Bridge Press (www.stonebridge.com) in Berkeley, California. He began his publishing career in Tokyo, Japan, in 1976. A longtime member of IBPA, he has served on the IBPA board and as IBPA board chair.

For more information, go to IBPA at https://www.ibpa-online.org/.