With the July 30 announcement that Bill Deemer was bringing his new and revised poems to Round Bend I felt an abiding satisfaction with the direction of the press.
I posted this followup on August 1, publishing day.
Bill's book Variations had been an Oregon Book Awards finalist in poetry in 1999. The original was published by Vermont's venerable Longhouse Press. Bill sought a renewal of a sort with the revisions and additions and decided to go with print-on-demand, and I can only assure you that I'm happy he did.
My role in the Round Bend experiment is a learn-by-doing proposition. An old guy fussing with new technologies and attempting to make it make sense.
Fresh young voices have entered the Portland scene in recent years and they're doing good stuff. I wasn't aware of this community literary resource before Bill's brother Charles sent me the link.
A little free pub never hurt.
C. Deemer dropped me an e-mail in August informing me the local library had picked up two copies of his June release, In My Old Age.
I had a little story to tell about my attempts to place other RBP titles on the library's shelves.
When I talked to the acquisitions clerk most recently, she said she'd be happy to look at the RBP listings. So far, the library hasn't placed the other RBP titles, with the exception of Bill Deemer's Variations.
Fame and repute are everything in this scenario, along with the Deemers' obvious talents. The book buyer told me over the phone, "We know Bill and Charles. We love them!"
Where's the love for the press, lady? I'm still trying to resolve this situation, but if there is a discouraging facet to RBP"s year to date, it is that I haven't been able to get all of our books shelved.
(to be continued)
TS
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