On a cluttered shelf at the office of Nebraska Life magazine is a stack of books awaiting review – so many that we don’t have space to review them all. Many come from the University of Nebraska Press, a few are from New York City publishers, and a growing number are from small, Nebraska-based presses.

Some small presses are literary, such as the Lincoln-based Zoo Press, which has gained enough attention that the University of Nebraska Press is now distributing its books. Zoo Press publishes poets from across the country, people who are writing for some of the nation’s finest literary magazines.

Other literary presses are defiantly regional. Logan House Press of Winside, NE, began a decade ago, according to its Web site, as the “brainchild of Imagining Editor Jim Reese who, from over-familiarity with the scarcity of publishers of regional poetry and prose by living writers, contracted a chronic case of the red ass…The Logan House prescription requires regular doses of fresh poetry and fiction, a healthy if demanding Great Plains climate, and a regimen of creative exercise. Ingestion of dead literature is forbidden.” So there. Logan House’s most recent book is a new edition of William Kloefkorn’s first book of poetry, Alvin Turner as Farmer, which hasn’t lost any of its magic since its original publication in 1972.

Some literary publishers produce hand-printed limited editions that combine art and poetry. The book itself becomes a work of art. Lincoln’s Blue Heron Press, for example, prints as few as twenty copies of a given title; each may sell for hundreds of dollars. (For whatever reason, I haven’t received any of these in the mailbox for review!) A directory of Nebraska literary publishers is available at <mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/pubs.htm>.

Other small presses focus on regional history. North Platte’s Old Hundred and One Press publishes books such as D. Jean Smith’s Medicine Creek Journals: Ena and the Plainsmen. The book is a biography of Ena Raymonde, an independent-minded woman who lived in western Nebraska in the 1870s and kept a diary of her adventures. An Internet search revealed even more Nebraska publishers, so many that I gave up trying to get an accurate count. Many of these “publishers” are actually self-publishing authors. Other writers turn to Web-based publisher iUniverse. For a fee, the company produces the book, lists it on Amazon and other online book vendors, and offers print-on-demand services that help authors avoid a garage full of unsold books. So-called “vanity” publishing isn’t new, but technology is making it more accessible, and is blurring the line between what is published and what is not.

Of course, many of the books are poorly conceived and poorly written. Some are truly awful. But even those that aren’t the work of gifted writers may still find a grateful audience. Last year, four siblings from south central Nebraska published Nebraska Farm Life WWI to WWII through iUniverse. Though none are professional writers or historians, they felt that the long-gone rural lifestyle of their childhood was worth remembering. Their descendants (and perhaps historians) will thank them for their act of preservation. The idea of preservation, it seems to me, is a large part of what drives small presses and self-publishing. It’s the notion that valuable thoughts and good words would be lost if decisions were left to major publishers. Especially in a region far from national centers of power, that attitude – backed by a profusion of small presses – is a healthy thing.

Executive Committee
Shelly Clark, President; Chuck Peek, Past President; Mel Krutz, Vice President/
President Elect; Jerry Kromberg, Treasurer; Rod Wagner (ex-officio)

Funding/Membership
Joan Birnie; Jerry Kromberg, Treasurer; Jane Smith; Molly Fisher (ex-officio)

2005 Nebraska Book Festival
Shelly Clark, President, Committee Chair; J. V. Brummels; Nancy Johnson; Marge Saiser; Erika Hamilton (ex-officio)

Programs/Projects
Vicki Clarke; Rebecca Faber; Mel Krutz; Ellen Scott; Rod Wagner (ex-officio)