“Like many other projects in Riverside, this book was Jane Block’s idea.” These are the opening words from Inlandia’s latest publication, “Riverside Women Creating Change.”
Several years in the making, this new groundbreaking book includes oral interview transcripts of women in the city of Riverside, women who’ve worked hard to lift each other up, to build equity, support initiatives, and strengthen community.
I’ve written about this project before. Finally, after four years, it’s here.
In the time it’s taken to produce the book, some of the women have gone to join the ancestors: Ofelia Valdez-Yeager, Jennifer Vaughn-Blakely, Nancy Takano.
There’s no time like the present to get things done. Jane Block herself just celebrated her 95th birthday.
“Riverside Women Creating Change” is the Inlandia Institute’s latest publication. (Courtesy of Inlandia Institute)
“Dead bodies hadn’t been all that common at Boy Scout Camp Matulia, so Harry Vincent quickly became the focus of scuttlebutt.” This is the opening gambit of “Scouts’ Honor” by Carlos Cortés, a debut novelist at the tender age of 90.
Carlos may be best known as professor emeritus of history at UC Riverside and a renowned expert and sought-after speaker on multiculturalism and diversity. Yet, he has some juicy stories to tell and he’s not letting a little thing like time stop him from realizing his novelist dreams.
“As many writers are fond of saying, we don’t choose our subjects; they choose us. In my case, my subjects tapped me on the shoulder or whispered in my ear, but, for a long time, I didn’t hear or stifled them.” So begins Judy Kronenfeld’s memoir in prose and poems, “Apartness,” which examines her life through the lens of her own Jewish identity and culture.
Judy is best known as a poet and renaissance literature scholar, and her essays demonstrate a poet’s facility with language and keen observation. She will be coming up on her 83d birthday when her book is released.
For those who are unfamiliar with Inlandia’s publishing journey, when we first began — way back in the aughts — we knew nothing except that we loved books. At the time we were co-publishing with Heyday, which meant the onus on book production was on them. But that meant we had very little control over which books they accepted and what their ultimate forms would take.
We began to dabble in independent publishing with the advent of our “Writing from Inlandia” anthologies, the first of which I personally did the layout for. In Microsoft Word.
At the time, I was the mother of two young sons, more accustomed to running off copies and using the laminator in the teacher’s lounge at their school as a room mom. I was eager and industrious. I had no experience as a publisher of books, but I was sure I could figure it out.
I was proud of the clean copy that I submitted for printing — and then mortified when the final product came back in a mix of greyscale and black text, some of which was so light it was nearly illegible.
Marion Mitchell-Wilson was still executive director of Inlandia, without the crystal ball that would have shown she’d be gone within five years. The organization at that point was only a few years old, but already I felt a responsibility to our authors. So I paid out of pocket to have the books reprinted and learned my lesson.
Now, Inlandia hires professional book designers to do the interior layout and cover design for each book. There are mysteries to printing that one must be privy to. It’s said that a book is like an author’s baby, and as publisher I feel a duty to get it right.
Fifteen years after our first attempts at indie publishing, we’re now a bonafide small press. We’ve been publishing prize-winning manuscripts for a decade. And yet, there is still so much we have to learn. Even with the current state of technology we have to be ever-vigilant. As much as we’d like to publish every good manuscript that comes over the transom, we just don’t have the people-power or the monetary resources to do so.
This year, we’ve begun hiring copy editors and cover artists and expanded our slate of book designers so we can spread out the workload. It’s a rigorous, expensive process. We’ve also been adding eBook options and, hopefully in the very near future, audiobooks. (I am myself an audiobook convert.)
Between 2025 and 2026, we have 10 books under contract, not including our annual “Writing from Inlandia” anthologies.
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That’s one heckuva lot of books.
Why am I telling you all this? Because Inlandia Books needs your help.
Be a part of something special and add your name to the roster of individuals who believe independently published books by diverse voices matter: https://gofund.me/bbeeb1bf. It’s not just our legacy that is at stake, it’s yours. And our region’s. Join me at the Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13 to meet the inspiring Riverside Women Creating Change and learn more about Inlandia Books.
Cati Porter is a poet, essayist, and executive director of Inlandia Institute. Her latest poetry collection is “Small Mammals”. Find her on the web at www.catiporter.com.
