Aquarius Press Joins Technorati

Technorati Profile

We are always searching for new ways to extend our reach into cyberspace, and our new Technorati page will go a long way in helping Aquarius Press achieve that goal. Click on the link above, and you will travel to our profile page. While it's still under construction, we will be adding features as we go along. It's a challenge keeping up with the myriad options available, but it's exciting to see how blogging technology has evolved just in the past year alone. Another great feature is the ability to post videos (mainly acquired through YouTube) on Technorati where it increases viewership exponentially. Look for our author features there soon.

The Land of Silent Morning a 50-Year Success

"As I walked through the marketplace, I promised myself that I would never die like my mother." These haunting words struck me and my editors as we read through what would become one of our great literary achievements. The Land of Silent Morning is more than just another memoir amongst memoirs, it's a validation of a life of shame, struggle, poverty, and redemption over a span of 50 years. The author, Kateleen K. Washington (nee Kyong Mi) first talked with me by phone. Her English was stilted, but I was intrigued by the intensity in her voice, her dead certainty that her life story would be a message to the world. I believe it is. Two weeks ago we hosted a pre-release party near her adopted hometown of Utica, Michigan. The people who came were not only the general public, but people from Kateleen's early years, people who knew her when she was struggling to survive in a foreign country, and her ex-husband, a man of whom she wrote quite a bit about in the book. It was interesting to see when he walked through the door with his new family that he and Kateleen tearfully hugged as if time had never moved on for either of them. During the Author Q and A, she admitted that she perhaps didn't appreciate the husband she had then, a man who had literally rescued her from a life of being an escort in South Korea's nightclubs. She says she couldn't appreciate his humor back then, but I believe she does now.

Kateleen holds no regrets, however, only pride in having forged a life for herself here in the U.S. as a business owner. She says she has no desire to ever return to Korea, but she has a burning desire to find her sisters with whom she lost touch so many decades before. She is hoping that this book will help with that mission. Whether she finds them or not, she will always be a part of the Aquarius Press Family.

Publishing Success in Trying Times

As the first month of this new year draws to a close, we are slammed nearly every day with dire economic news. For us in the publishing industry, it's even more terrifying--in addition to the overall economic woes, we face the collapse of the publishing industry and the decline of print book readers. It would be easy to just give up at this point, but as with virtually anything, there is a bright side. Even during the Great Depression, there was still economic activity, and more importantly, people still bought and read print material. For publishers like Aquarius Press, this is a time to forge ahead, while our competitors are afraid to make a move.

"There are more of us than there are of them." These words, spoken by my friend and fellow author Sylvia McClain, is very inspiring and true. She was referring to the traditional book reading public. This current generation was raised on books, before the new digital technologies burst on the scene. In other words, there are still countless numbers of people who like to hold books in their hands. As a publisher, Aquarius Press is ready and able to meet both print demand as well as digital demand for the new age, but it's nice to know there are others out there who still prefer to flip the pages of a book on a rainy afternoon.

Happy New Year!

The year 2008 will always be a memorable one for Aquarius Press. We debuted several new books, including the hugely successful It's Worth the Struggle: Inspiration for Contemporary Writers. We have been touched by the warm response to the book, validated in knowing that we created something of great value to writers of all walks of life. The company is also honored to have several of its authors get acknowledged for their works, particularly Karen S. Williams for Elegy for a Scarred Shoulder, which is being featured in the January/February issue of Poets & Writers Magazine and is a Michigan Notable Books, Anisfield-Wolf, and Black Caucus of the American Library Association nominee. John Jeffire's Stone+Fist+Brick+Bone is also a Michigan Notable Nominee. Karen, John and Felecia Studstill (Speaking No Evil) are all Pushcart Nominees, along with writers from our growing Reverie journal: Quraysh Ali Lansana and Antoinette Brim. Carol Atkins (The Trouble with Turtles) was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame for her lifetime achievement in writing and feminism. Dark River is a nominee for the CBS Kindred and Parallax Awards, as well.

The Aquarius Press Family thanks its readers for their support and extends wishes for a happy and prosperous 2008!