Islandport Press

06/24/2026

WHO LOVES BLUEBERRIES? by Rebecca Rule and Arpita Choudhury (out June 30th) was featured in Portland Press Herald's Guide to 6 Maine Children's Books (specifically geared towards promoting outdoor adventures 🫐).

WHO LOVES BLUEBERRIES? Available wherever children's books are sold, on Tuesday.

Board books and middle grade novels tell stories about wildlife, blueberries and garbology.

06/24/2026

Rylan Hynes on the brilliant Never The Twins Shall Meet podcast, we think the episode title pretty much sums up GRAFTING perfectly 😅 This conversation gets a little spicy and there are definitely a few spoilers, so this one is great for all your bookclubs and readers itching for a little more of Chris and Eben's world.

GRAFTING by Rylan Hynes is available everywhere books are sold.

Separated by distance–but united by nerdiness–twin sisters discuss everything from mythology to blockbusters.

06/23/2026

We're thrilled that Reading Rumpus has selected Rebecca Rule's books, Who Loves Blueberries? (illustrated by Arpita Choudhury) and The Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever (illustrated by Jennifer Thermes) for two of their live performances at Johnson Hall, Gardiner, August 30th, at 2 PM. See below for the full list of featured authors! Becky is not the only superstar... 🫐⭐️🫐

"My Teacher is a Monster (No, I Am Not)" and "Children Make Terrible Pets" written and illustrated by Peter Brown.
"We Are Definitely Human" and "Broken" written and illustrated by X. Fang.
"If I Built A Town" written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen.
"Turtle in a Tree" and "The Best Flower Ever" written and illustrated by Neesha Hudson.
"Who Loves Blueberries?" written by Rebecca Rule and illustrated by Arpita Choudhury and "The Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever" written by Rebecca Rule and illustrated by Jennifer Thermes.
"School Dance" a graphic novel, written and illustrated by Sarah Sax.
"Bionic Boy", a chapter book, written by Lynn Plourde

See you there!

https://www.islandportpress.com/event-details/reading-rumpus-with-who-loves-blueberries-and-iciest-diciest-scariest-sled-ride-ever

06/23/2026

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈Celebrate Pride and Maine authors in Searsport on June 27 at Anodyne book shop.
Authors Bungalow Terrace by Robert Monroe, Miriam Rimkunas and Rylan Hines will be reading from their books and answering questions.

Maine Authors Publishing Islandport Press

06/10/2026

Welcome to the team Mira Ptacin!!!

“Katie Lowe (Associate Editor) of Maine-based independent publisher Islandport Press has acquired world rights for literary journalist, memoirist, New York Times–bestselling ghostwriter, editor, and professor of creative writing Mira Ptacin’s second memoir. PAPER ROADS: ESSAYS ON BECOMING OF A PLACE is a collection of short essay pieces, organized by season, detailing life on Peaks Island, Maine with an expected publication date of July 11, 2028.

Peaks Island is a peaceful hamlet off the coast of up and coming Portland, Maine. Mira has been one of aprrox. 900 year-round residents for over a decade. Her book unfolds through linked but non-linear vignettes, tracing the slower, less visible process of becoming accountable to a place—how island life shapes ethics, perception, and responsibility over time. Her narrative voice, as a mother, writer, and activist remains present but not dominant; the work privileges texture, sound, weather, and community. Akin to THE SUMMER BOOK by Tove Jansson and THE COUNTRY OF POINTED FIRS by Sarah Orne Jewett, PAPER ROADS is a slim, richly-peopled Maine classic in the making.”

06/05/2026

Have you seen Rylan Hynes' review in Kirkus Reviews yet?

"[T]he story is elevated by Hynes’ rich prose and well-rendered details about grafting different trees to grow new varieties of apples (hence the novel’s title); fine art (a famous painter commemorated the orchard and Eben’s grandfather), and (especially) religion.... Braiding chapters alternately narrated by Chris and Eben, the book evokes “Brokeback Mountain,” Call Me by Your Name, and Gilead...it’s a fine debut and a rich portrait of the fierceness and intensity of first love and futile attempts to stand in its way."

We think they captured just why GRAFTING is such a satisfying literary journey---a perfect blend of familiar yet boundary-testing, sincere to the joy of q***r romance, with a serious undertone of "the brutality of deep-seated homophobia." Thank you to Kirkus for highlighting debut novels by small, independent publishers! GRAFTING is out wherever books are sold 🍎❤️

06/04/2026

We love to hear what you think... 💭💭 Loved these recent Goodreads notes for SKYLAND by Ann Joslin Williams.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Normally my timing is rather wobbly, but in this case I timed my becoming a fan of Ann Joslin Williams perfectly. That is, I was able to read her collection of linked short stories and her two novels in fast succession. They've left me breathless, but grateful for the experience." --- Tim

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "Beautiful writing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book." ---Sarah

We love to hear how you're engaging with our books after we send them out into the world! Drop us a line via email, or a review on one of the big platforms. Happy reading!

06/03/2026

"A moving and lyrical memoir about Maine, woodworking, and the life-affirming joy of working with one's hands."-- Tess Gerritsen, NYT-bestselling author of The Spy Coast

Thank you Tess for your thoughtful words on Stephen A. Smith's forthcoming memoir, WOOD WORK: Crafting a Living, Building a Life.

In January 2019, former white-collar worker Steve Smith entered the snowy Maine woods to see if he could make a living using only an axe.

With no formal training and no safety net, Smith began hand-hewing logs into beams, learning a heritage craft once essential to human survival and now nearly forgotten. Over six years of punishing labor, financial risk, and personal upheaval, he built a thriving timber business—earning more than he ever did behind a desk.

Structured around the seasons, WOOD WORK traces the physical and philosophical journey of forging a livelihood outside the modern nine-to-five. Drawing on Smith’s upbringing in a religious cult and his long search for meaningful work, the memoir explores what is lost—and what can still be reclaimed—when we separate ourselves from craft, land, and family.

Set in the Maine woods and written with clarity, humility, and hard-won insight, WOOD WORK is a powerful meditation on work, purpose, and the enduring appeal of making something real with your hands.

WOOD WORK is out on December 1, 2026.