So, I’m doing a thing.

Introducing CP Creative and Mile Square Press!

It’s been more than eight months since I left Inlandia. I knew when I left that I wanted to scale back my public presence because after doing so much for so long, I was pretty burnt out. However, I’m not good at just sitting around. There’s too much to do. Scratch that. Too much that I still want to do. Yes, I’m writing. I thought maybe that would be the thing I did—be a full-time writer—but as it turns out, there are other things I enjoy just as much, like helping other people fulfill their writing goals. Why couldn’t I do both?

I’ve already talked here about the 909 Books Collective, with Mark Givens. Our first cohort—Jacqueline Mantz Rodriguez and Francesca Borella—published their books earlier this year and are about to reach the end of their three-year commitment to the collective. I’m actively looking for the next three-author cohort. (If you have a completed book-length work of prose—fiction or nonfiction of any stripe—and are potentially interested, reach out to me.) I love what we’re doing with 909 Books, but not all books or all authors are a good fit for that model.

I’ve also already talked her about Backlist Front Books, the imprint I created to bring back books made out of print by presses going under. My initial goal was a selfish one: I didn’t want to see My Skies of Small Horses, my WordTech Editions poetry collection, go out of print when they ceased operations. So I republished it myself, effectively creating the Backlist Front Books (BFB) imprint. (For those who don’t know, the backlist is where an author’s book goes after it is no longer new. My goal, simply stated, is to bring those backlist books back to the forefront.) I haven’t yet re-published anyone’s book but it’s on my radar.

But then there are those as-yet-unpublished but eminently publishable books that encounter in my daily life as a writer. Books that the community needs. For instance:

Enter Mile Square Press.

Mile Square Press is an independent publishing house founded by me (as CP Creative). Named for Riverside, California’s original “mile square” grid, its mission is to publish exceptional books by and for and about the Riverside community.

Once I decided on this model, the biggest question became not why but how. I am not a nonprofit so that immediately eliminates a lot of potential funding options. (But also means I am not competing with the nonprofit community for those hard-to-come-by dollars.) Instead, I have appealed directly to the community.

Baby wild animals stamps on the letters that went out this round.

I mailed out 100 personal letters and we’ve had a little more than a 10% return, just in this first week! We’re halfway to our initial goal! But that still leaves a funding gap.

If you:

• Care about diverse representation in children’s books;

• Care about the Riverside community;

• Care about books, history, and culture in general;

Then this book is for you.

Learn more about this project by visiting the »»»»»»> Google pledge form <«««««««.

No money is required up front; only pledges.

(That hasn’t stopped people from using PayPal or mailing checks—THANK YOU!)

For the curious, here is the table of contents. A preview copy is available upon request.