Tag: Outskirts Press

And now for the news!

Some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically new releases written by self-publishing authors and published by independent presses! Today we’ll be featuring brand-new releases in the Outskirts Press Bookstore!

• Passport to the World: Looking Back While Moving On by Linda Klein Means

Linda Klein Means knows the world and what it can be like. Born on a farm in Illinois and survivor of a number of family struggles, she spent time in Venezuela, Brazil, and France, sampling the world’s treasures and encountering a number of her own misadventures. This collection of literary essays deals with issues as diverse as grief, uncovering a family legacy of racial policing, tackling unconscious prejudices, growing up alongside a sibling with Down Syndrome, and negotiating one’s own peace with the past and all that comes along with it. Means’ background in news writing—she started in college as a reporter and editor, then moved on to write for The Wilmington (Del) Morning and Evening Journal, The Chicago Tribune, and US News and World Report—lends this collection a pith and appeal for readers of both news reporting and personal memoir.

• If You Could Change the Ending: New Endings for Old Fairy Tales for Parents and Children by Moshe Sonnheim

Every now and again, a person really … needs … a good ol’ fairy tale. But not every fairy tale is created equal, and sometimes what a person needs and wants is an update on the original. Enter Moshe Sonnheim, stage left. Sonnheim’s revelatory collection of fairy tales for parents and children brings in the age-old appeal of dark forests, magic mountains, hidden castles, and talking animals, and adds a modern sensibility. These fairy tales are designed to provide both pleasure in inverting your expectations and in stimulating a child’s imagination. Fairy tales may be vehicles for conversations about morality, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun and current in their application! In an added pop of bonus fun, Sonnheim pairs each fairy tale with relevant pictures and bird songs.

• City Slicker’s Guide to Country Living: A Novel by Becky Condon

“Everyone has neighbors,” writes Becky Condon in her book pitch: “Neighbors are an obvious arrangement in cities or towns. Good or bad, tidy or messy, quiet or noisy, nice or mean; there are all types.” And for those who move from the city, the country often symbolizes space and solitude, peace and healing. What they often forget about is … the neighbors. In her novel, Condon follows a young family who finally realizes their dream of owning land and operating a farm, building a dream house in what they think is paradise. And then … along came the neighbors: neighbors with sticky fingers for things that are not theirs, and with no respect for boundaries or property rights. Using all the means at their disposal, these neighbors from Hell attempt to usurp the family’s rightful place on their hard-earned land in a battle that may cost them everything. “Sometimes,” writes Condon, “you have to stand and fight.” This new release makes a perfect summer read.

• How We Perceive Reality: Our Brains Define Reality by Allan Arnold

Reality is a tricky beast, isn’t it? In this special book of science and philosophy, retired aerospace engineer Allan Arnold brings all of his experience on the Apollo command and service modules as well as USAF satellite and space systems to bear on the subject of reality. His grasp of project management and engineering lays the groundwork for a rigorous inquiry into the basis for the human perception of reality, and enables him to deliver a book that’s both a pleasure to read and structurally compelling. He asks tough questions, such as: Can you trust your senses? What does it mean to live in the world with the bodies and brains that we possess?  What is our place on this planet surrounded by mostly empty space? What does our atomic structure have to do with reality? This book marries big-picture science with the sense-making possibilities of philosophy. How We Perceive Reality is thought-provoking and a delight to read, perfect for readers of Carlo Rovelli and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

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As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry.This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

And now for the news!

Some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically new releases written by self-publishing authors and published by independent presses! Today we’ll be featuring brand-new releases in the Outskirts Press Bookstore!

• The Parchment: A Novel by Daniel K. Edmondson

If you’re anything like us, every now and again you just really need a good and powerful historical mystery to set its hooks and draw you in, and Daniel K. Edmondson’s new novel, The Parchment, is exactly what the doctor ordered! A pastor with more than 40 years of experience, Edmondson knows more than a little about life and how the human mind works, and he brings that knowledge to this book. Steeped in biblical archaeology, The Parchment follows the intrepid James and Anne down a path which leads to both religious epiphany and historical revelation as they uncover the mysteries of an ancient library, one hard-won clue at a time. For readers of both Dan Brown and Frank Peretti, but with a voice and a style all of its own, The Parchment is sure to remind all of us why books like these and films like National Treasure remain the bedrock of many people’s love of history.

• My Nana Was A Free-Range Kid by Nancy Peek Youngdahl

Life was different way back when, wasn’t it? If you’ve spent much time in the American public school system, you’ll already be more than aware how tightly budgeted the average child’s time is, and how little of that time is given over to play. Well, other sources have dedicated a great deal of time arguing for more play and freedom from sociological, psychological, and developmental perspectives, but until now it has been rare to find nonfiction narratives for the kids themselves which point to an alternate way of doing things. In My Nana Was a Free-Range Kid, author and illustrator (and all-around Rennaissance woman) Nancy Peek Youndahl lays out the story of her grandmother, “an outrageously mischievous child that was left to her own devices” and who grew up running “free range” in North Carolina during the 1940s and 1950s. Part biography, part entertaining story, and part argument for more freedom and more play during a child’s formative early years, this book covers a lot of ground and does so with grace.

• Titanus’ Rage by Miles Monahan

With its eye-catching cover, Titanus’ Rage is sure to be a popular pick with lovers of science fiction and fantasy, but this latest book from author Miles Monahan has a lot going on under the surface to delight readers of any genre: biting prose, interesting characters, and a crisis of galactic proportions to avert. The first installment of what will hopefully be a long-lived series, Titanus’ Rage proves once and for all that genre does not define or limit a book, but rather opens doors for comparison and connection. Here is a book to satisfy even the most hungry of space-shenanigan lovers!

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As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry.This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

And now for the news!

Some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically new releases written by self-publishing authors and published by independent presses! Today we’ll be featuring brand-new releases in the Outskirts Press Bookstore!

 

• HOW MANY FROGS DO WE HAVE TO KISS? Finding That Prince/Princess: Stories About Online Dating by Patricia Little-McCrain

Remember when Internet dating websites were still young and those who met their future partners online were still rare enough to shock everyone and raise eyebrows? 2018 sometimes feels like a different world from 2008, and Patricia Little-McCrain is here to update us on the latest research into online dating and the increasing number of both successful and unsuccessful relationships which result. This book collects the stories and anecdotes of online dating from a number of men and women who reached out to Little-McCrain after the publication of her first book, a book which detailed the trials and tribulations of looking for love online as an older woman. This book serves as a necessary and delightful counterpoint to both the naysayers and the unrelentingly optimistic; there’s room aplenty for all kinds of stories online, and Little-McCrain has put her finger on the pulse of the whole lot of them. This book is an absolute must-read if you are considering online dating, are already involved in online dating, or if you simply want to share in the joys and struggles of those who are.

• Why I Like Dogs and Hate Everyone Else by Charles Hastings

Well, we’ve all been there, and by there I mean cranky about other people–and boy, does Charles Hastings have it right. This hilarious autobiography is packed with dry witticisms and bleakly humorous observations on the ways people go about living. “I didn’t always hate everyone, it was an acquired taste,” says Charles in this book’s summary blurb–but he got there, with a lively sense of humor and a willingness to fall in love with the world even as he struggled through some of its more tormenting moments. And Hastings really does love dogs (I mean, who doesn’t?) and that really shines through in this book, a book which he wrote “to keep everyone laughing and feeling like they’re not alone in their view of the world.” If that’s not a generous-hearted thing to say and do, we don’t know what is. Hastings really is one of those crusty-on-the-outside, warm-on-the-inside people who you always wished was your friend. Now you have a chance to peek inside his mind!

• On Hallowed Ground St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by Walter T. Hughes, Jr

The legendary St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital looms larger than life in much of the medical literature, and Walter T. Hughes, Jr (MD) is here to unspool some of its history for those of us interested in learning the backstory behind one of America’s premiere medical institutions. And you couldn’t look for a better guide! Dr. Hughes has such a long and storied history with St. Jude’s that you really ought to look into some of his other five hundred publications (mostly essays and papers, not books, but still, what an incredible body of work!). Then, dig into this deeply satisfying history of the hospital, replete with suffering, happiness, intrigue, and … Conquistadors? That’s right–the plot of land upon which the hospital was built was part of the area claimed by Hernando de Soto in 1541 AD. Talk about history! This is a story full of history and full of heart.

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As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry.This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.