Portland has a vibrant arts community, including a lot children’s & YA Authors. Some, like Craigmore Creations, began as self publishers, and have grown into a fully operational publishing house.
If you go a little further afield from the metro area, there are others, too. Like Black Ship Publishing. Their front page states that they specialize in adventure novels and their flagship series, if I may continue in a nautical vein for a moment, is the Red Hand Adventures series, by Joe O’Neill.
The series for middle readers begins with Rebels of the Kasbah.
When Tariq is captured from his safe life in a Tangier orphanage and sold into slavery as a camel jockey, his adventures begin.
Along with his new friends Aseem, Margaret and Fez, Tariq gets sold to the tyrant Caid Ali Tamzali—entering a dangerous world of deceit and violence.
Forced to compete in deadly camel races, and suffer the abuse of his slave master, Tariq must rely on his wits and his newfound friendships to survive.
From the corrupt slave trade of Tangier, to the wild frontier of the Moroccan desert; into the heart of ancient China, and onto the pirated seas of the Mediterranean; Rebels of the Kasbah is an exhilarating tale of adventure, daring, danger, and friendship.
In the second book, Wrath of the Caid, the adventures continue. And a third books is on its way.
If you visit the website, one of the most notable things, besides the books, is that Red Hand Adventures encourages kids to write and offers writing contests on adventure themes.
So check it out and see what a small publishing house can do.
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