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Learning How to Be a Publisher

Meet our first Intern!

By Learning How to Be a Publisher

It’s a bit late for new news, but we wanted to acknowledge our excellent publishing intern, poet Phoebe Farrell-Sherman! She spent part of last summer remotely working with us, organizing marketing lists in Airtable, coming up with some ideas for our next project, The City of Dreadful Night, and conducting some interviews with amazing local women working in the book industry that we’ll start sharing soon!

Phoebe is a student of philosophy and poetry at Smith College in Northampton, MA. After winning the Choral Arts “Finding Your Voice” poetry award, she had the honor of having one of her poems set to music by composer John David Earnest. She has also been published in Resistance Writing, and in 2017, she was selected to be part of the Hugo House Young Writers Cohort. Along with her love of reading and writing poetry, Phoebe is interested in political writing, public-facing philosophy, and medical ethics.

ERB: What’s your favorite poetry book?

PFS: It is really hard to choose a favorite book of poetry, but I think maybe a collection I have of Walt Whitman, “Whitman, selected by Robert Creeley” (it’s the only Whitman book I have– I don’t have a regular copy of Leaves of Grass). The poems are so thoughtful and joyful, and they feel so direct to me even though they were written in 1850-60. There is one poem, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” where he says “I consider’d long and seriously of you before you were born… Who knows, for all the distance, but I am as good as looking at you now, for all you cannot see me?” and it is amazing, and believable somehow, to think of Whitman thinking about me in 1850!

ERB: What are you reading now?

Right now I am reading a collection of essays by George Yancy, “Across Black Spaces,” that discuss race in America, doing philosophy while Black, and the tradition of Black philosophy in America. I saw Yancy speak at Smith two years ago, and I think in both his writing and his style of speaking he is a really amazing example of what public-facing philosophy can do.

ERB: Could explain a little how your major in Philosophy and this focus on poetry came to be?  Why did you pick this in school? What are your hopes with a degree like this?

I chose a philosophy major because it lets me approach things in other fields, like medicine, for example, but from a totally different angle, which is often an opportunity to consider how they could be more human and more just. My poetry concentration is essentially a minor that goes with that, and lets me do what I love– reading and writing poems– and be creative, as well as academic. I’m still figuring out what will come after graduation for me, but I definitely want to keep writing and reading both poetry and philosophy, possibly apply for a poetry MFA, and then pursue a career in publishing, medical ethics, or something else in between. 


Thanks so much to Phoebe for spending a strange remote summer with the press and a shout out to the Praxis Program at Smith College which funds internships for students working with art and literature groups like ours as we would have never been able to come up with the money to pay for her help!

Seeking an Office Mate! — Our New Office

By Learning How to Be a Publisher

Share a space with Entre Rios Books!

I am particularly poor at keeping our news on the site updated— focusing instead on keeping all the social media alive — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even SoundCloud and YouTube.

For those of you that don’t follow us on a “platform”, it’s been rough, but hopeful start to our fourth year. Like many of the smallest, new presses, ours started in our home and over the course of our first three years had completely taken over my personal time and then finally physical space with storing books. Perhaps over a year ago, I could see that we would definitely need some storage and that perhaps a better distinction between press work and the rest of my life would be a “good thing”. Having never used a storage space before, I was shocked to find out how much a temperature-controlled space would cost, so then thought it might well be more cost-effective to find a small office with some storage.

Early in the summer, we got notice that a space would be available in September in the Jack Straw building. To make this work on our limited finances, we would need to find someone to share the space. All summer, we wavered if moving out of the house would be the right thing to do. I’ve worked from home since 2006 as a free-lancer, so while the idea of a commute again intrigued me, signing a lease and dedicating myself to it was daunting.

And then our house caught fire.

Those that follow our social media know that the fire was not too large, but surprisingly disruptive. I had no idea. Our house was emptied of almost everything, which we won’t see again until perhaps this time next year. Luckily, our inventory escaped with no smoke damage and remains in hand.

I had expected September to be a challenge between setting up the new office and getting our next three books— all of them much more difficult than anything I have tried to this point— out to press. I had no idea how our month would actually turn out. It is now the last day of October and one book is out, one is very close and the other remains, unfortunately too much of a mystery. I cannot recommend a house fire while trying to get books on press.

But I will claim that our office is now functional, and we are ready to find someone to share our space with.

Our extra room is $300 a month. We could go month to month, though I’d love to have at least a verbal commitment to try it for 3 months. It’s a clean, white box, 10′ x 7. 5′, but either its tragic element or best feature is that it has no window. So this is a room for someone who is looking for either dark space to work, such as a video editor or writer with distraction issues.

Our office comes with 24/7 access, janitor service, internet. Our shared space has a “lobby”— that is a few chairs and a work table for occasional meetings, a microwave, small fridge.

This would not be the right space for someone with lots of meetings, lots of phone calls, or the need to rock out— the walls are so thin, I even wear my headphones due to the office next door, but I’d love to meet anyone who thinks this might be a good solution for them. It is ready to move in now.

Please email me DIRECTLY at knox@entreriosbooks.com to get more information and set up a time to visit.

Some Books from Argentina!

By Books, Learning How to Be a Publisher, Other Presses & Other Rooms

Here’s what we brought back from the Buenos Aires Book Fair, as well as books recommended to us from our new Argentinian authors, or booksellers that we met. Be sure to check our social media to see our recommendations for book stores and other Buenos Aires delight.

Again, Northwest poets, we share these with you and are happy to lend these difficult to get locally books with you if your interest include contemporary Spanish-language poetry. Just drop us an email. Obviously, we are very interested in doing what we can to promote any of this work being translated.

Finally, a note on our selections, and particularly coming from me— a person who is not fluent in Spanish and is new to the literature of Argentina. First, let it be known that we asked our awesome editor, Erin L. McCoy, to select whatever books she found engaging. Second, as per our press, we are definitely interested in women writers and queer writers as a default state of being. We were interested in learning more writers outside of Buenos Aires. Per my current interests with the press, I was looking for interesting looking hybrid texts (much rarer to see than in the US Market) and prose poetry. And I was not interested in poetry that was extremely first person or “flat” which seems to be a trend and one that drives me a bit crazy. Sometimes I would pick up a book and Erin would say, “Oh, that would actually drive you crazy…” and sometimes I would pick up a book and she would say, “Oh, that is an interesting find!” Finally, I might have bought a few of these books just based on something to do with the production and for that, I did not ask Erin. I know what I like on production.

2018 Washington State Book Awards!

By Fests and Book Events, Learning How to Be a Publisher, Other Presses & Other Rooms, Thoughts

WOW! THERE WE WERE! THRILLING!!!

It was incredible to have our book, Mary’s Dust by Melinda Mueller with music by Lori Goldston selected as one of this year’s Poetry finalists.

There is no doubt I am competitive and it is true I want all of our books to win all the awards. But working with so many generous and kind authors and artists has mellowed my grim dark heart—  as well as understanding how difficult of every step of book publishing and getting books noticed and read is. So only three years into this, I would like to say, “WOO! WOO!”

Now, we did not win. A heartfelt congratulations to Lena Khalaf Tuffaha and the awards did what it should do which is highlight a Washington State poet get you to add their book to your reading list. I am certainly adding, “Water & Salt” to mine!

And a congratulations to all the winners and finalists! You can see the whole list and learn more about the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library here.

Vicinty Memoryall Deavel Marshall Press check

Press Check! Our first play, Vicinity/Memoryall!

By Books, Learning How to Be a Publisher

I knew that we’d likely be able to bring back from the Midwest industrial printers this book for local printing. It’s a simple “saddle stich”, that is stapled booklet, meant to reference (and celebrate) the Dramatist Guild playbooks. I’ve got great memories of these functional playbooks from drama club in high school and so it was with great happiness that the writers, Christine Deavel and J.W. Marshall, also were intrigued to put the play in this format.

It’s the same size, the same tight gutters, and really designed to be used by actors, with page breaks made thinking through how actors might memorize their lines. I’ll be curious to chat with them on it as this play moves into production. Printing in this format also helps keep our cost down so I am hopeful we can print another play soon by Northwest playwrights or poets turning toward play writing.

I am very happy to be printing with Girlie Press, a woman-owned small business that I can walk to. How wonderful to not have to pay shipping as well as reducing the carbon from that. I’ve only done a few press checks and feel quite silly at them, though it’s exciting to see if how you imagine it printing is going to be the way it actually works in the real world.

I’ll be mostly curious to put this book next to the Dramatist Guild books and see how it feels. Will it feel ready to use for work?

Vicinty Memoryall Deavel Marshall Press Check Title PageVicinty Memoryall Deavel Marshall Press check 3

Our next books… getting closer

By Books, Learning How to Be a Publisher

After having rough start to the year with some health problems and learning how to manage new books while working on marketing the previous books, we’re getting very much back on track and proofs are starting to head out the door for our next round of books.

The pre-order pages up in a month or so and our official publication date is still October 5th!

Erin L McCoy poet editor

Our new editor! Welcome, Erin McCoy!

By Learning How to Be a Publisher

It is with great pleasure and excitement, that Victor and I are announcing bringing on our first editor to assist me with the press! Please welcome Erin L. McCoy!

One of our press goals is to have one book a year in translation that helps broaden our understanding and connections with Argentinian literature, history and culture. Erin is joining Entre Ríos as an acquisitions editor and will be looking for the right mix of Argentinian poetry in translation for our press.

Erin is a Seattle-based poet, scholar, book editor, and educator in Spanish and Latin American literature and creative writing. She is also an award-winning photojournalist. Her poem, “Futures,” was selected by Natalie Diaz to be published in Best New Poets 2017. Her work has also appeared in Bennington Review, Pleiades, DIAGRAM, Cimarron Review, CURA, and other publications.

Erin holds an MFA in Poetry and an MA in Hispanic Studies from the University of Washington. She has been the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, a Critical Languages Scholarship, the University of Washington’s Grace Milliman Pollock Scholarship, and the Oakley Hall III Memorial Scholarship to attend the Community of Writers in Squaw Valley, California, among other awards. She is from Louisville, Kentucky.

While the majority of our projects get started through other means than submissions and queries, do know we are always interested in hearing from translators working with modern or contemporary Argentinian poetry or hybrid models, so do drop us line if that’s a focus of your poetic work.
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