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Ingram Taps Bookseller Stephen Sparks to Write New Poetry Newsletter

March 21, 2017

NASHVILLE, TENN. — Ingram Content Group announces the launch of a newsletter, Little Infinite, focused on highlighting poetry’s hottest titles, excerpts, publisher profiles and all things poetic.

Bustle, the popular women’s blog, has already taken notice by including Little Infinite as one of “6 literary newsletters to diversify your reading list.Little Infinite, a quarterly publication, showcases the success poetry is having across the publisher spectrum from university presses to independent publishers.

Ingram tapped seasoned poetry writer and bookseller, Stephen Sparks, to curate and collaborate on the newsletter. Well-known in the industry, Sparks has been a witness to poetry’s evolution over the past 10 years.

"[Little Infinite] aims to be a tool for discovery; to facilitate conversations between booksellers, librarians and readers; and to bring into focus poetry that speaks to the essential truth of the human condition,” said Stephen Sparks. “Like many, I have found myself drawn more insistently to poetry in 2016. Poetry has cropped up in unusual places: a little over a month ago, Wired magazine ran a feature on the resurgence of the form. And Dan Halpern, a poet and publisher, recently also found himself asking (and answering) “Why Poetry?” in The New York Times.”

Sparks, the Little Infinite editor, was a bookseller at Green Apple Books for many years in San Francisco and is now the owner of Point Reyes Bookshop in Pt. Reyes, Calif. He is a devoted poetry lover with a strong following amongst publishers and poets alike. He is also a writer and contributor to literary outlets like the Paris Review Daily, Tin House, Music & Literature magazine, BOMB and Lithub

Julie Schaper, VP, Ingram Publisher Services-Consortium, adds: “Poetry publishers have long been a part of Consortium’s identity as a distributor. We distribute BOA Editions, Ltd., Wave Books, Alice James Books, Coffee House Press, City Lights Publishers, Copper Canyon Press and many other publishers with strong poetry lists. I am gratified to see Ingram staking a claim to poetry. It’s a bold move and it speaks to Ingram’s long-term commitment to independent publishers and their passion for publishing books of quality that may fall outside the mainstream.”

“Poetry has always been a unique part of our industry,” said Phil Ollila, Chief Content Officer at Ingram Content Group. “After we acquired Perseus’ distribution businesses, we had new connections with some of the best and most notable poetry available due to our new independent publisher clients, such as Grove, Coach House Books and others who publish poetry. We saw an opportunity to shine a light on poetry and start conversations about how poetry remains an important part of our industry and our culture through Little Infinite.”

About Consortium

Consortium grew out of a small book wholesaling cooperative in 1985 to become a full-service distributor, quickly earning a reputation as an advocate for independent publishers. Consortium now represents more than one hundred independent publishers from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Europe, India, and Australia, enabling them to successfully reach the trade, library, and academic markets for their books. Consortium understands the importance of ideas, and our goal as a distributor is to introduce those ideas—some that may otherwise not be heard—to the widest possible audience. For more information, visit www.cbsd.com.

About Ingram

Ingram Content Group (“Ingram”) is comprised of several subsidiaries to Nashville-based Ingram Industries Inc. Ingram includes a comprehensive suite of publishing industry services companies that offers numerous solutions, including physical book distribution, print-on-demand and digital services. Committed to the success of its partners, Ingram works closely with publishers, retailers, librarians and schools around the world to provide them with the right products and services to help them succeed in the dynamic and increasingly complex world of content publishing. Ingram Publisher Services LLC is one operating unit of Ingram. Ingram Publisher Services’ brands are Perseus Distribution, Legato, Consortium and Publishers Group West. Learn more about Ingram Content Group at www.ingramcontent.com.