Keeping It Local

In April we held our first public event in our new home town of Copper City. We called it "Dumplings and Dragons in Copper City" and invited local small business people and artists to join us for an afternoon party complete with a brief lesson on Chinese culture and plentiful jiaozi (steamed dumplings). As a publisher, we were celebrating the release of our second book, Draw On Culture: Little Friends Around the World, but primarily, we wanted to let our neighbors know what we are creating in our little house on the corner of "top" street. ("Top Street," I recently found out, is the old nickname for the street we live on at the "top" of the town.) And we wanted to plant a few seeds of economic encouragement, if not outright economic development.

Michigan's unemployment rate is 12 percent as I write this: the Upper Peninsula of Michigan's unemployment rate is even higher than that. This area used to be famous for copper mining and timber; the nearby town of Calumet was almost the state capital. But like many similar economies it has been depressed for years and it is hard to imagine such bustling times when you drive through the scattered network of small towns today.

I'm sure many of our friends and colleagues in New York and New Jersey think we have lost our minds to transplant ourselves to such a remote location. And maybe we have. But people, for the most part, have been very welcoming and we find the laid back, live-and-let-live attitude here very refreshing. The natural beauty of the Keweenaw Peninsula--in places understated woodlands, in others dramatic shorelines--is what first captivated us. But the willingness of a small town to embrace urban refugees and help us through our first (really rough) U.P. winter is likely what will keep us here.

Book Festival In South Orange, New Jersey

On Saturday, June 13, South Orange is celebrating the town with its 3rd annual "Celebrate South Orange" bash. SOMe Book Nook will add to the bash with an all-day event of its own - SOMe Book Fest - a celebration of local authors and illustrators. In conjunction with the South Orange Public Library and other local business owners, SOMe Book Nook will host book signings, workshops, an art gallery, author/illustrator panel discussions and other activities to celebrate children's books (for newborn to young adult) and the creative forces behind them. SOMe Book Nook is located at 15 Scotland Road in South Orange (inside Sparkhouse Kids).

Thimbleberry Press author, Virginia Cornue, will be a featured author at SOMe Book Nook's book festival. The Dragon's Daughters Return, and Volume 1 of Draw On Culture: Little Friends Around the World will be available for purchase.

SAVE THE DATE - June 13!

Small Publisher, Really Small Town

The official population of Copper City, Michigan stood at 193 the last time I checked. I think that's overstating it a bit. Before Thimbleberry Press relocated here from New Jersey in 2008, the only business in town was the Drift Inn (a tavern favored by snowmobilers, hunters, bikers, dart players and horse shoe afficionados). Pictured at the left is the town post office where all residents pick up their mail and the post mistress posts a handwritten sign to let us know the mail has been sorted. She also closes up for lunch one hour each and every day, so even here there are a few schedules of importance.

The fact that we can build a publishing company in a tiny rural community is a miracle of technology. We couldn't bring my garden to our New Jersey apartment, so we brought our business to my garden. And with continued hard work and a lot of luck, Thimbleberry Press aims to be a productive force in this small community and the Keweenaw Peninsula we now call home. (To find out more about the Keweenaw Peninsula check out http://www.keweenaw.info/.) Thimbleberry Press may not serve beer, but at least now the Drift Inn is not the only business in town.

To learn about Thimbleberry Press's first two books, we hope you will visit our website at www.thimbleberrypress.com. You can also visit us on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/o6j4ed.

Making a Book With China: or How Partnerships Can Be a Blast

Every new enterprise starts with a (hopefully) good idea. Ours started with two.

First, to create a book documenting the experiences of daughters adopted from China on return visits or heritage tours. Second, since we were starting at zero and wanted to create a hard cover, full-color book we thought “Let’s ask China to print the book for us.”

Seems simple enough, right? What world government wouldn’t jump at such an opportunity? I can’t offer you our business plan as a step-by-step model for starting a publishing company, but our experience does illustrate what can happen if your eyes, mind, and heart stay open to the possibilities around you. Read more.