nity for artists and musicians, there
haven't been quite so many re-
sources for writers. That changed
this spring when Salt Water Media
opened shop in town and the past
few months have been more than
encouraging, said owner Stephanie
Fowler.
for writers interested in independent
publishing, said Fowler. The facility
has its own on-site printing press,
the aptly named "Espresso Book
Machine" which is able to produce a
bound paperback book about every
five minutes. There are only 40 Es-
presso presses in the country and
just 80 worldwide. Fowler can also
help prospective authors produce
an e-book and can manage hard-
back manuscripts as well, though
those are outsourced.
every related service to independ-
ent publishing.
photographers, different people that
I can tap to help create the cover
art," said Fowler. "If they need illus-
tration, I have people that are avail-
able to me to help with that."
less conventional assistance with
things like website design, social
media networking and teaching a
self-published author how to reach
and engage their target audience.
you have to become a brand," said
Fowler.
experience trying to build that
brand. In fact, one of the major moti-
vations behind her decision to open
Salt Water Media was to help other
writers navigate the self-publishing
process as it can be complicated
and frustrating to enter into blindly.
when she independently published
her book, Crossings, a collection of
creative non-fiction stories set on
Maryland's Eastern Shore. Before
deciding to publish the book herself,
Fowler had sought to go the tradi-
tional route with an agent and a
mainstream publisher. However,
despite winning the Sophie Kerr
Prize, the country's largest under-
graduate writing award, in college,
Fowler was frustrated by publishers
categorizing Crossings as "too re-
gional" to pick up.
or that was both rewarding and
challenging, especially for a first-