invitations and to participation in an Irish books, art, and music festival. She delights in detailing how each connection continues to lead to another. A contact at the Irish festival led to a presentation to the Irish Immigrant Support Service, and that led to a speech at a retirement community. “And I continue to make new friends and connections with every appearance,” says the author/publisher.

Selling Rights

The Sedge Group has sold Italian rights for its new release, Death Watch, a novel with an Ebola-terrorist theme by Michael Sedge and Joel Jacobs, to Ciesse Edizioni of Padova, Italy, with publication scheduled for May 2015.

Aquila Polonica Publishing has sold Portuguese-language rights for Brazil to Editoria Valentina, Rio de Janeiro, for The Color of Courage—A Boy at War: The World War IIDiary of Julian Kulski. Publication of the book in Portuguese is scheduled for later this year.

Media Mentions

Joel Friedlander of the Book Designer was among those quoted in a recent Publishers Weekly article, “Self-Publishing Predictions for 2015.” He focuses on two trends he believes will be common among indie authors in 2015: collaboration, with authors cooperating on publishing and marketing tasks; and the maturation of online bookselling and marketing, including “new services, new products, and new ways to connect with readers that leverage the broad acceptance of mobile platforms.”

Another recent PW piece—”North Carolina Indies Build Lists, Community”—described John F. Blair Publishers as “renowned for its nonfiction list focusing on the history, culture, and cuisine of the Southeast, as well as for its travel guides.” It and the two other