Publishing Consultations Available with Bobby and Lee Byrd of Cinco Puntos Press!

Bobby and Lee Byrd are owners and publishers of Cinco Puntos Press, which publishes books for children and young adults as well as fiction, poetry, nonfiction and graphic novels.  Started in 1985, Cinco Puntos Press (CPP) is a small, very independent publishing company rooted in El Paso, Texas, not three miles north of the U.S. Mexican Border.

Bobby and Lee Byrd are both writers and they started the press in order to carve out more time for their own writing.  As they moved further and further into the publishing life, they discovered that publishing, like writing, is an act of self-discovery. Each book takes them to a new place; each book leads them into unexpected intellectual terrains, places they might never have experienced without the provocation of new books and the business of making and selling them. In recognition of its importance as a voice for the southwest region and its commitment to literature, Cinco Puntos Press has received the American Book Award for excellence in publishing and been inducted into the Latino Literary Hall of Fame. The Press has received five publishing grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and three similar grants from the Texas Commission for the Arts.  In addition to awarding Southwest Book Awards for many of CPP books over the years, the Border Regional Library Association presented the Press with a special Southwest Book Award in 1993 for outstanding achievement in bringing national recognition to regional literature. CPP has also received two grants from the Fideicomiso para la Cultura de México y Estados Unidos (funded jointly by the Belles Artes and the Rockefeller Foundation).

An accomplished poet, Bobby will consult with participants interested in marketing poetry manuscripts, nearly all of which are published by independent presses such as Cinco Puntos. We encourage writers of fiction, including YA (young adult) and children’s books to schedule a meeting with Lee Byrd, who is herself a gifted short story writer.The Byrds will be at the conference July 10 through 13th.

To learn more about the press, visit the website: www.cincopuntos.com/