Thursday, December 2, 2010

Giveaway: Free Small Press Books!

Happy Hanukkah! If you are willing to write a review, we have an offer of two review copies from the very fine Bottom Dog Press! This generous offer is from publisher, poet, editor, and novelist Larry Smith. Larry is one of the co-founders of Bottom Dog; this 25-year-old press (now based in Huron, Ohio and Bellingham, Washington), concentrates on writers of the Midwest (including the Great Lakes and Appalachia), and the Pacific Northwest. One of Bottom Dog’s books I have run across on my own is the wonderful compilation, d.a.levy & the mimeograph revolution. I am grateful for Larry's offer and am looking forward to peering deeper into Bottom Dog’s catalog.

I will have to choose two winners: If interested in reviewing, write in the comments section the following: 1.) which title you would like to review 2.) a brief description of your relationship to the small press in general 3.) why you are a good choice to review this book. (Number three doesn’t have to be anything lofty: It could be why you have more time to read and review a book than I do.) I will publish the review (succinct: 100-250 words) on this blog and would request the review to be sent to me before the end of January 2011.

*****

One Review Copy Available of Each:

1. The Mermaid Translation, Allen Frost (Bird Dog Press, 2010)
Prose from the poet Allen Frost: Just released, this is a contemporary fantasy novel set in the Pacific Northwest and in the mind of Frost. The Mermaid Translation is one of those wonder books of old like William Blake and Kenneth Patchen wrote--a magic fable, a novel in poetry.
http://smithdocs.net/BirdDogy/BirdDogPage.html

2. Degrees of Elevation: Short Stories of Contemporary Appalachia, Charles Dodd White and Page Seay, Editors (Bottom Dog Press, 2010)
A very strong collection of stories by writers including: Rusty Barnes, Sheldon Lee Compton, Jarrid Deaton, Richard Hague, Silas House, Chris Holbrook, Denton Loving, Mindy Beth Miller, John McManus, Jim Nichols, Valerie Nieman, Chris Offutt, Mark Powell, Ron Rash, Alex Taylor, Crystal Wilkinson. "Hard, brilliant, and dark as coal, this brand new and necessary volume captures Appalachia today, a place where the old bedrock verities of family, community, belief, work, and the earth itself are all in painful "Upheaval"—to use the title of Chris Holbrook's story herein.”—Lee Smith
http://smithdocs.net/WorkingLiveshomepage2.html

Offer from
Larry Smith, publisher at Bottom Dog Press and author most recently of The Long River Home: A Novel (Working Lives Series at Bottom Dog Press, 2009)
http://smithdocs.net

5 comments:

Issa's Untidy Hut said...

Reviewed the da levy book a couple of years back ... here is the review online, just page down a bit:

http://outlawpoetry.com/2009/06/26/if-i-scratch-if-i-write-the-levy-film-by-kon-petrochuk/

Bottom Dog does great work ...

Karen Lillis said...

Thank's Issa! Here's the live link:

http://outlawpoetry.com/2009/06/26/if-i-scratch-if-i-write-the-levy-film-by-kon-petrochuk/

Karen Lillis said...

Doug Mathewson had trouble logging in, so I'm posting this comment for him:

1. Reviewing "Degrees of Elevation" really appeals to me.
2. I am an editor and writer. By far the majority of my work and experience is in short fiction.
From "Flash" to novella. I have previously written book reviews for Big Table Publishing, Full Of Crow Press and Distribution, Creative Soup, and Andromache Books in the UK.
3. Several years ago I read Breece D'J Pancake. His writing impressed me immensely. His style, his cadence, changed (or perhaps validated) my own writing style. Breece Pancake, to me, has been the voice of Appalachian short fiction. I would be fascinated to read more from the region.

Most sincerely
Doug Mathewson
Editor Blink-Ink

Karen Lillis said...

Tent also had trouble logging in to Blogger, so I'm posting this comment for him:


1.) which title you would like to review


The Mermaid Translation


2.) a brief description of your relationship to the small press in general


I've been a small press publisher since 1977, I have a substantial personal library
that includes many small press titles, I'm a widely published author. 2 of my most
recent, & still IP, bks are: HiTEC Systems Management from Encyclopedia Destructica,
& footnotes from Six Gallery Press.


3.) why you are a good choice to review this book.


I'm one of the most prolific readers I've ever met & I'm not talking endless
vampire drek here either. I often specialize in the esoteric. These days,
I review almost every bk I read on GoodReads. In my 57 yrs, I've probably
read something like 3,000 to 4,000 bks. AND I write everyday. ANNNNDDD
I don't just write bullshit praising reviews to make myself popular w/ the authors
- I actually write HONEST reviews. So, be forewarned.


tENTATIVELY a cONVENIENCE

Karen Lillis said...

Sorry that i failed to mention a deadline--I was hoping more people would respond on the day of the post. Since we had one response for each title, Doug and Tent are the winners!