ISLANDPORT PRESS

Islandport Press and the Island Institute team to promote education, childhood literacy

Marketing, sales of children’s books to benefit scholarship program

Islandport Press and the Island Institute, two Maine-based organizations, will team up this summer in a marketing and fundraising effort that celebrates island life, supports education, and helps promote childhood literacy and the joy of reading.

Islandport, an award-winning book publishing company, will donate 10 percent of all revenue generated by sales of its new island-based children’s picture book, Nic and Nellie, to The Island Institute’s Maine Island Scholarship Program. In addition, Islandport will donate 10 percent of sales of The Fish House Door and The Scallop Christmas. Islandport will also help promote the Island Institute and the Scholarship Program through social media and other marketing materials, and will donate copies of the books to appropriate island-based organizations.

The Island Institute will highlight the new children’s book and the partnership through both its traditional print and Internet-based communications channels as well as other appropriate avenues.

The beautifully illustrated “Nic and Nellie,” written and illustrated by Astrid Sheckels, tells the story of a young girl who looks forward to spending an entire summer on an island with her grandparents, only to become sad and homesick when the time actually arrives. Ultimately, the island, and the friends she makes there, help her overcome her fears and loneliness. Astrid also illustrated The Fish House Door and The Scallop Christmas, both award-winning children’s books which take place on working waterfronts.

“Astrid’s illustrations capture the essence of Maine’s small fishing villages and island communities, and our customers love her books,” said Lisa Mossel Vietze, manager of Archipelago, the Island Institute store and gallery. “The support by Islandport Press for our scholarship program will help even more students reach their higher-education goals.”

Archipelago will host a book release event for Nic and Nellie on July 11 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. For information about the event, please call Archipelago at 207-596-0701. The partnership will run from July 11 through Labor Day Weekend.

“As an island native, I have been keenly aware of the good work done by The Island Institute since it was founded in the early 1980s,” said Dean L. Lunt, publisher of Islandport Press. “This is a great opportunity to celebrate Astrid’s artistic talent, promote early literacy, and support the important work of an organization that I have witnessed firsthand.”

The Island Institute is a nonprofit organization that serves as a voice for the future of the Maine islands and the Gulf of Maine. It works to support the 15 year-round island communities, conserve island and marine biodiversity, and develop solutions that balance the needs of the coast’s nature and cultural communities. Since 1990, the Island Institute has provided more than $1 million in scholarship awards and is committed to providing higher-education and professional-development scholarship support to residents of Maine’s un-bridged island and working-waterfront communities. For more information on The Island Institute, please visit www.islandinstitute.org.

Yarmouth-based Islandport Press is a dynamic, award-winning regional book publishing company that is dedicated to telling stories rooted in the essence and sensibilities of New England. It is also committed to supporting the Maine and Northern New England community through programs and organizations such as The Island Institute. Last winter, Islandport supported WinterKids, an organization that encourages Maine’s youth to get outdoors and live healthy lifestyles.

John Ford Sr. to launch new book at Waldo County YMCA

Very exciting!

Author and retired Maine Game Warden John Ford Sr. will celebrate the release of his new book, This Cider Still Tastes Funny!, at the Waldo County YMCA in Belfast on May 29 from 1 to 3 p.m.

John, whose first book Suddenly, The Cider Didn’t Taste So Good was an award-winning smash hit, will sign copies of his new book and tell stories from his days as game warden and sheriff. Ten percent of book sales from the event will be donated to the YMCA to support its programs. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Community Room. Drinks and desserts will be available. 

Not only was John's first book a smash hit, so was he! John spent much of 2012 entertaining and delighting audiences across Maine with a mix of serious, hilarious, and often self-deprecating tales of his adventures enforcing the state’s game laws.

Now John returns to the outdoors with his second book from Islandport Press. John is not only a former game warden, but also a former sheriff and a gifted storyteller who spent two decades carving out a reputation as a Maine version of TV’s Sheriff Andy Taylor—a principled man of the law, but not a rigid, by-the-book enforcer. And he’s a man who can not only laugh at himself and his occasional misadventures, but also provide moving human insight into the heartbreak and sadness that, unfortunately, is sometimes part of the job.

The Waldo County YMCA, which opened its current building in 2001, has more than 4,000 members and offer programs for all ages and abilities. It expanded its presence in the community when it opened the Tom & Sally Savage Pool Complex in 2009.  The YMCA works to promote the physical, mental, social, and spiritual development of Waldo County children and families regardless of age, creed, personal ability, or financial need. For more information call 207-338-4598 or visit www.waldocountyymca.org

ISLANDPORT SIGNS FOUR-YEAR LEASE TO REMAIN IN YARMOUTH

New location combines warehouse and office space

Islandport Press has signed a new lease agreement that allows the book publisher to combine its office and warehouse space into one location, provides room for expected growth, and keeps the company in Yarmouth until at least 2017. In addition, Islandport said it will explore creative ways to use a portion of the larger new space to host literary and artistic public events as well as begin regular networking and skill development events for its authors and illustrators.

"We were committed to remaining in Maine and Yarmouth and we are delighted that we could find workable space in town that allows us to accomplish those and many other goals," said Dean L. Lunt, editor-in-chief and publisher. "Combining the two physical parts of our business will make us more efficient while the additional office space and warehouse space will give us flexibility, room to grow, and the ability to explore exciting new opportunities as we plan for the rapidly changing future. Despite challenges, we remain supremely confident about the future of books in all formats."

Lunt also said the new warehouse enables the company, which distributes books directly to stores in Maine and New Hampshire, to better support its network of resellers, sales representatives, and national distributors, as well as its authors and illustrators.

"The new, larger office space will allow us to help nurture and support the amazing community of New England writers, artists, and designers that we work with," said children's book and web editor Melissa Kim. "It's exciting to be at a point where we can think about new and different ways to cultivate the next generation of readers."

The agreement, effective June 1, was reached between Islandport and Yarmouth-based B&L Associates for more than 5,500 square feet of space at 274 Portland Street. 

Islandport Press was founded in 1999 and released its first book in 2000. In recent years, the company has increased the number of books it publishes annually and signed marketing and distribution deals that have extended its reach to stores across the nation and into Canada. In 2013, Islandport will publish 13 books, one CD, and its first calendar. Several of the 2013 releases will also be offered in ebook format. Next year the company, which employs five people, will celebrate its 15th anniversary, a milestone the company will celebrate with a variety of special events and initiatives. 

Keepin' up with the bloggers

Okay, so we've been pretty remiss about keeping our blog up to date. Good thing our two favorite bloggers, Becky Rule and Ida LeClair (aka Susan Poulin) are faithful! 

Check out the latest from "Just Ask Ida." It's Charlie's birthday and Ida's got a special day planned. Here's a snippet: 

"I also got him a couple four-packs of new underwear. I know, romantic, huh? I think so, ‘cause let me tell you, there’s nothin’ romantic about prehistoric briefs, full of holes, stained. I mean, come on! I wouldn’t even use ‘em as dust rags!"

You have to read the whole thing now, don't you? Here's the link.

Over on "Travels with Becky,"  Becky's got a few gems, from kitty tales to colorful bean supper stories. Always good for a chuckle. And who doesn't need a chuckle?

 

 

Ida LeClair Blog Post: Mr. Wasp and Me

Read the latest blog post from Ida LeClair:

Settling into fall here in Mahoosuc Mills: pumpkins and apple cider, thick socks and polar fleece. I’ve kind of lost interest in watering my mums, which is OK, ‘cause ol’ Mother Nature’s doin’ a pretty good job of that. And when the sun shines, doesn’t everything seem to pop with color? Yellow leaves against blue sky, red leaves scattered on the wet, green grass.

Finally switched over my clothes this week. I always wait too long to do this. I think there’s a part of me that just doesn’t want to surrender to the change of season. So I end up grabbin’ a sweater here, some fall slacks there, from my Tupperware of winter clothes. (I have a couple of big ones I use to store my off-season stuff.) ‘Course, I have to rummage around to find what I’m lookin’ for, so everything gets all jumbled up. And my closet? A total disaster zone, with flip flops and suede shoes, summer t-shirts and a quilted jacket all thrown together. It always ends up being a bigger chore in my mind than what it turns out to be when I actually do it. And it feels great to get things in order!

Click here to read the full post.