A Panel Presentation and Book Fair

ALL LEVELS

For writers with a finished manuscript, deciding how to publish, and where to send it, can be daunting. What are your chances of getting it published at a large press? What will the experience of working with an editor/publisher be? What cut will you get from the profits, if any? And with so many presses to choose from, how do you decide the best avenue for publishing? Meet three small Northeastern press publishers who are working hard to get the best work out there. 

In this panel, the 4 panelists—Agnes Bushell of Littoral Books, Maya Stein of Toad Hall Editions, Buzz Poole of Sandorf Passage, and Spencer Smith of Seapoint Books—will discuss how they started their presses, how to write a successful letter of inquiry, whether writers sending to small presses need an agent, what you can expect from a small press vs. a larger one (benefits as well as drawbacks), what they look for when deciding what to publish and what to expect out of the process of publishing a book with a small press. The panel will conclude with a Q&A session and a book fair!

+ PLEASE NOTE This presentation and book fair will take place In-PERSON at USM Portland Campus’s USM Osher Map Library, Cohen Center Classroom, Glickman 103.

FREE for Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance members, $10 for non-members

Maya Stein, Editorial Director at Toad Hall Editions will be on a panel discussion called The Wide World of Publishing at the Blue Hill Literary art Festival on Sat Oct 22.

Writers have more ways than ever before to publish their work. But which one should you choose? We’re bringing together a panel of professionals with expertise in diverse publishing options, from literary journals and big New York book publishers to small local presses and hybrid self-publishing. They’ll discuss the pros and cons of the many options for writers ready to send their words out into the world. Come with your questions about all the ways you can get your work published!

It’s a FREE event in the Howard Room at the Blue Hill Public Library

Join us at the Norton Pond Bandstand in Lincolnville (Breezemere Park) for Laura’s book launch event—we couldn’t think of a better place to hold a launch event for this book! Laura will be reading from Consecration Pond, talking about her book, signing copies and talking to us about writing a collection of linked short stories.

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Like to hear Laura read now? Visit the link below to hear her read and talk to Toad Hall’s Editorial Director Maya Stein about her book, her work and so much more.

Elizabeth will be hosted by the Colonial Theatre in Belfast to show a Book Trailer for Sailing at the Edge of Disaster made by Camden film maker David Berez, as well as a slide show of images from her year at sea in the early 1970s.

Elizabeth Garber and Laura Bonazzoli will be selling and signing copies of their books at the Belfast Art Market this Friday.

Come find them at the Locally Grown Books tent!

The book launch party for Elizabeth Garber’s memoir, Sailing at the Edge of Disaster with Left Bank Books in Belfast, Maine will be at the Belfast Public Library.

Join us for the launch event where Elizabeth will be reading from her book, talking about her book (and her adventures at sea) and signing copies!

Join Toad Hall Editions and author Laura Bonazzoli for a reading (on Zoom) from her novel Consecration Pond and a Q & A about writing linked short stories, being a first-time novelist, and more!

Laura's first book—Consecration Pond, a novel in stories—arrived from the printer last week and we have begun shipping pre-ordered copies! Laura writes, “Consecration Pond is about the experience of being human. It’s about people who are haunted by guilt or regret or unresolved grief. People who love deeply, but can’t act on their love. People who carry a darkness so deep that it breaks them. And people who, while overcome with gratitude for their life, acquiesce to their death. It’s about you and me and everyone.” 

Laura Bonazzoli Reading and Discussion
August 28, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81908577039
Meeting ID: 819 0857 7039

Toad Hall Editions authors Elizabeth Garber and Laura Bonazzoli will read from their forthcoming books.

The 11 linked short stories in Laura Bonazzoli’s debut collection, Consecration Pond, takes place on the shores of a pond in rural Maine. Among the narrators are a burn victim begs her husband’s ghost for forgiveness for failing to save him, a retired teacher counsels a reporter seeking easy answers to the cause of his neighbor’s death, and a boy whose self-imposed rite of passage nearly costs him his life. Together, the stories offer a meditation on the nature of wisdom, the risks and gifts of allowing ourselves to be seen, and the challenge of creating meaning in the wake of loss.

Elizabeth Garber’s Sailing at the Edge of Disaster: A memoir of a young woman’s daring year is the story of how a bookish teen and her younger brother are sent by their domineering father to “shape up” on a sail-training school ship, where they discover the rigors, joys, and triumphs of being at sea. As they scour the decks, learn to splice ratlines, and climb the rigging, they also survive an act of piracy, a near-sinking, and being held hostage by armed gunboats. The book chronicles a transformative year in the throes of late adolescence that leads to courage, grace, and a reclamation of selfhood.

Elizabeth and Laura will be joined by Belfast author Linda Buckmaster. The event is free, all ages welcome. Sponsored by Bayside Arts.