Does anyone out there know what has happened to Story Line Press? They seem to have shut down their web site and quit answering their mail. The press has managed to hold death at bay for a decade - has it finally succumbed? Any
Information will be appreciated!

I'm with Gail. Anybody even know what number to call or address to write to in order to get an answer from Story Line? Some of us have books whose rights we might want to reclaim. Others need to know if they should submit work.

Gail/Paul

I did some some researching on-line, and found this question has been asked repeatedly since early April of this year. I haven't found any answers, though.

I have an announcement from them dated June 10, 2006 (not certain when I actually received it), indicating that a Ken Letko of Crescent City, CA won their Frederick Morgan Poetry Prize, and announcing the deadline for the next competition as October 15, 2006 - but the web site it lists, www.storylinepress.com is non-functional. No phone number. The June announcement certainly gives every indication of an ongoing organization.

The announcement also provides an e-mail address: slp@mind.net, and a mailing address as PO Box 1240, Ashland, OR 97520.

[This message has been edited by Michael Cantor (edited September 25, 2006).]

These are the numbers given on another site, but I don't know if they work:

Phone: 541.512.8793
Fax: 541.512.8792

Regards, Maz

I've been googling around and have found this story, at http://www.n2hos.com/acm/slpdown.html

Please note: it has no date; I can't figure out how old it is. The writers themselves sound none too sure. And the outfit doing the writing has its own troubles.
_______________

"Fire Sale at Story Line Press?
by T. Ponick, E&P, Edge City Review and
A. Mortensen, Expansive Poetry & Music Online

[Note: this story is continued from June; what may be news to some is that Story Line is still in operation.]

Has Oregon’s Story Line Press, once the beacon of hope for Expansive Poets in search of a sympathetic, non-Postmodernist book publisher, breathed its last? There are so many rumors about SLP whizzing about overhead today that it's getting hard to sort them out.

An e-mail message, of which EP&M and Edge City Review have received copies, recently went out to "Storyliners," apparently sent directly by SLP Publisher Robert McDowell. This initial message stated that SLP’s board of directors had resigned over the press’s financial problems and what was described as an ideological dispute. New board members had been selected, the message said. The message's author expressed hope that SLP would continue in some form, and certainly intended to maintain distribution of its existing titles. Much of this message’s content was confirmed late this afternoon via email sent to EP&M by a staffer at the press in response to an inquiry. The email missive stated that publisher McDowell was currently in Los Angeles meeting with new board members and working on a new business plan for SLP.

Other rumors continue to fly, detailing the prospective withdrawal of manuscripts and reprint rights by several poets. But, again, there have been no reliable, independent confirmations so it would be wise to draw conclusions after something is resolved. Another rumor asserted that all of the staff but McDowell had departed. This afternoon’s email confirmation of Story Line’s problems, however, would indicate that at least one other staffer is still on board, at least for now.

We are unable to confirm assertions that new capital and a new partner had definitively been found and that negotiations were proceeding with existing creditors. It is worth noting, however, that sometimes a business will put out such signals as a means of convincing backers to send more money as well as persuading prospective customers to buy that book now instead of sitting on the fence. It is currently not possible for us to sort out the mess. But clearly, something is going on at Story Line and it doesn’t sound positive.

Our suggestion? If you’ve enjoyed reading SLP titles in the past and have been considering a title or two recently, now’s probably the time to act, but use your credit card.

Meanwhile, if anyone out there in the land of non-random electrons can help us fill in the blanks on this
late-breaking story, please drop an email Edge City Review or at Expansive Poetry & Music Online."
_______________
Also for what it's worth is a listing from Goliath at
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/prod...2842-page.html

which seems to have been updated during the last month.

Hope this helps somebody,
Maryann

>>>Meanwhile, if anyone out there in the land of non-random electrons can help us fill in the blanks on this
late-breaking story, please drop an email Edge City Review or at Expansive Poetry & Music Online.">>>

I actually received a letter from Edge City Review just the other day in which they announce with regret,
they're throwing in the towel.

Thanks to all who responded to this. The news about the Morgan Poetry Prize is an encouraging sign of life!

The demise of the Edge City Review is a huge loss, however. I'm very sorry to hear that it's gone.

I'm afraid that I can't share your sentiments, Gail, concerning Edge City Review. As far as I'm concerned, they shut it down years ago, and making it official does us a favor.

I admit that my fond memories of ECR go back to the days before they went on line.

This is revealing my true character (Aging Curmudgeon), but the truth is I have never paid hard-earned money to read an on-line magazine. I prefer the feel of genutine pages in my hands.

This thread could actually be closed now, if I knew
how to do it...
Or do they close automatically if no one replies for a certain length of time?

Yesterday, I emailed a note to the address Michael Cantor listed above, but have so far not received a reply. It wasn't bounced back to me as undeliverable either.

Actually, Gail, the threads stay open forever. Millenniums from now, travellers from another civilization will find these threads and read some of the squabbles on General Talk, and doctoral theses will postulate that we probably jabbered ourselves to death. "The end apparently began," adherents of the philosopher-king Woody Allen will state, "when a man named Mark Allinson came into possession of a thermonuclear device."



[This message has been edited by Michael Cantor (edited September 27, 2006).]