The submission deadline for the upcoming "Poets Facing the Wall" anthology (The Raving Press, 2018) has come and gone. We have received an abundance of amazing poetry. We were astounded at the level of sophistication of most of the submission material we received. This anthology will be our first to include three different languages, and contributions by writers from as far as New Delhi, India, making this not just an international publication, but a global one.

Many of the works you will see in this anthology come from prize-winning authors, as well as from writers relatively new to the publishing process, but who exhibited a lot of heart and passion. And that is why we went to the poets primarily for this project.

It is the poets who speak from the heart. It is the poets who are historically willing to risk liberty, life, and limb to stand up for justice, for humanity in an inhumane phase of history, and for beauty in an otherwise savage world. Poetry may not bring riches. Poetry may not win wars. Poetry may not even sway the masses when the track that's been laid before them leads the train down a dark and irreversible path to their own destruction. But poets (as opposed to historians, politicians, media talking heads, and Monday-morning quarterbacks) call the plays as they should be in real time regardless of the fury and fire they may spark in those whose interest is to keep the people blind to the truth. 

We hope that this project and future ones (here's wishing the First Amendment a very long life still) will inspire and fill with hope everyone who comes across it. That they may sample the brilliance of the minds that contributed the sacred fruit of their ponderings to this publication and feel elevated. That they may repurpose the walls that ignorance and hate erect to divide people and use them as bridges on which all can walk in each other's shoes and see a common humanity. 

Thank you, poets, friends, authors, editors, reviewers, our introduction writer (soon to be revealed), collaborators, teachers, family, and compatriots. We will be announcing the publishing date in early Fall. 

Until then, keep writing and reading books. If you are ever in need of reading material please consider getting yourselves a copy of one of our latest titles  like "Lost:Children of the River" ​

or "Bad Hombres & Nasty Women". ​

The deadline to the "Poets Facing the Wall" poetry anthology is approaching fast! We have received submissions from around the country from writers with an impressive array of past publications. We are also receiving submissions from poets who are relatively new to the publication game. This makes for an interesting time sorting through the submissions, since neither of those two backgrounds is a true determinant of the quality of individuals' works. But the result will be the selection of only  the top material for this very important publication. 

We want to encourage individuals who are still considering submitting to do so asap. Don't let the deadline pass you by. Once we go past the deadline we will be moving on the selection process "like a bitch" (LOL) to determine the shape of the book and its flow. Get in on this now. The surprising thing about it is that, although it is a publication about a topic affecting primarily people of the borderlands of Mexico/U.S., most of the submissions are from outside of this area. Strange because the border is filled with poetas who have things to say. This is your chance to join a diverse crowd of wordsmiths from around the country. 

No notices have been sent out to authors who have submitted material. So if you are one of those authors, please know that we won't send out any notices until AFTER the July 1 deadline. Thank you for your patience and for taking part in this project. It's going to be a great book. You will be proud of the final product when it is published. 

​Remember, only 6 days left. Go HERE for submission guidelines!

Saturday, April 14, 2018 was the date of the 2nd Annual Book & Art Festival by The Raving Press Events held at Speer Memorial Library in Mission, Texas.  Several important things happened that ensured the success of this great effort in collaboration with the Speer library staff and Barnes & Noble. In this post, we remember the greats...the individuals that showed up and represented. 

The Raving Press (through one of its promotional arms "The Raving Press Events" partnered with Barnes & Noble among other entities) is proud to announce the very first book fair event of 2018!

We want to invite you to another book signing to kick off 2018's very first book fair by The Raving Press Events hosted by Barnes & Noble. The event takes place in McAllen, Texas (see the flier for details). 

 Being that we actually have stuff written about this by our partners at Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande and Barnes & Noble, we'll just shut up and let you read their messages for yourself. 

​Help us by supporting our efforts in publishing books through various imprints, as well as promoting other local small press publications. You'll also help the Catholic Charities, authors of the Rio Grande Valley, and Barnes & Noble: the last great nation-wide bookstore. This one particular store in McAllen, Texas is supporting local authors and presses in full force. Society simply cannot do without any of these groups. 

We hope to see you at our kickoff book signing event on February 23, 2018. 

It's somewhat of an odd feeling to write about myself here because most of the time this is a blog about events and other things happening along the RGV and the border in general. But I would be remiss if I let you miss out on a gift I am giving to all the people that follow the work that I do here and on other platforms. On October 31, 2017 I will be making my book "The Martian Ones: Tales of Human Folly" available for FREE for four days. This is a somewhat feminist, somewhat political critique, Latino/HIspanic/Chicano-themed sci-fi/dystopian horror collection of fiction stories. 

I won't lie to you. If you miss this event, you will end up hating yourself. Oh, and also, please come out to this event and help us fill up 174 seats!!!
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It's 12:22 am at the moment this letter is being written. It's a last minute push to put the word out about our event at the Weslaco public library theater. There are 13 1/2 hours to go until we get up on that stage. You might wonder what is a newsletter about books and publishing doing talking about a "show"? I'll explain briefly. 

​I have been around poetry readings and book signings so much that I am more than familiar with the common approach. Usually, it involves people sitting around watching an individual get up to a podium or microphone stand and literally read to the audience. The reader will usually use a book or one of a variety of devices to read from. This approach is good when all you care about is the actual poetry itself more than the person who wrote it. But after many outings to similar events, you start to want something more. That's what happened to me. I wanted to see a show, not just someone reading off a book. 

That is how "The Raving Press Events" was born. We organize and coordinate events centered around authors and their books. But we ask them to try to make it a show. This is accomplished in several ways: video presentation, dramatic performances, recitation (that is, reciting your works without reading it off a page or a device), and or, delivering a motivational/inspirational/enlightening speech.

So, if you are still wondering what an event like this would be like, there you have a gist of it. But you know the best way to experience it? By being there in person. Every time we hold one of these events people leave it with smiles on their faces and books in their hands. I think it is because they realize while they are there that they have been part of something different. Something transcendental. That is what we aim for. That is what you will get. And even if you don't buy books or cds, you can't deny that nothing beats going to a show in a great, classic theater, enjoying a FREE show in the cool a/c while all the other poor souls burn in this South Texas heat. And if you are not in the area, you should plan to come down this way sometime. There is magic happening in the borderlands. You need to be a part of it.

I want to impart something useful. The secret technique to ensure you have an overflow of courage to do what you dream of. Want to know the secret? It's simple...it's being fully present in your every moment alive. Hard to do, but not impossible. If you are putting off an item on your bucket list (something you dream of doing before you die) for later I got news for you, that item is as good as lost. There is no "later" when it comes to dreams. There is only NOW. 

I did something different in the last book signing and reading we held this past Thursday, June 29, 2017 at the Public Library in Edinburg, Tx. A sort of motivational speech. I talked about the one thing that I hear everyone say no matter who they are. People from all walks of life, all educational backgrounds, all professions, even house-husbands or wives. What is that? It's "If I tole you the things I've been through, you could write a whole book about it!"

That has made me think lately, why do they say that I could write the book of the story of their lives? Why don't most people say that THEY could write a whole book about their experiences? I think it has to do with one thing primarily: fear. The fear of being ridiculed. The fear of putting down the details of their lives and finding out from a third person's perspective that it really isn't as interesting as they had thought. They are irrational fears but they are very real. For everyone. Even for some of us "established" writers, or people who are known to engage in the act of writing. 

In the event I mentioned above I asked everyone (a group of easily 50 people if not more) if anyone thought they did not have a unique, interesting set of stories or anecdotes which they could turn into a book at some point. No one raised their hand. Everyone believed that their life experiences were unique and special. Yet not even 1/8th of the room had ever tried sitting down to write their experiences down for posterity. It is surprising because everyone believed they had a unique story. So I said that I would like to see more and more people take the time to write down their experiences because when we pass away, we take the most important thing about our lives with us, our wisdom. I said, "We don't have time...Time has us." 

More times than not we get caught up in the everyday routines of life. Work, school, chores, bills, relationships, Facebook, the list goes on and on. We let ourselves get consumed by distraction. Anything that will quiet the inner voice that screams at us from deep inside begging for us to let it shine. It doesn't shine if we are constantly flooding our mind's eyes and ears with throwaway content. That's what I mean about being fully present. Does that mean you can't take a breath without being completely aware that it is happening? No. But it would be useful if we would set aside time every day to think about our accomplishments, our dreams, and our goals, and just let the inner voice speak. How much creativity could we bring out if we did that at least a couple of times a day, for about 10 minutes each time? Anyone, no matter who they are, could write a whole novel within a year. I'm speaking about writing because that's what this letter is about overall. But this idea applies to anything you want to do.

So the next time you tell someone they could literally write a whole book with all the crazy, cool, or incredible things that have happened in your life, don't just say so. Do it. You write it. Take 10 minutes twice a day. Write down anecdotes, lessons, principles, ideas in general. By the time you know it, you'll have a book in your hands and you will live forever...or maybe just have a very extended life after death as people keep reading your book 'till the end of the world. :)

Coming up July 22, 2017

​I hope you can make it out. It will be at the library's "Mayor Eugene A. Braught
Memorial Theater​." It is a beautiful theater. We are inviting authors, actors, and other performers. So don't think it will be just another poetry reading. There will be fun for everyone. Maybe even a motivational short speech! But get there on time so you can get a good seat. There are only 174 in the main seating area. It's a theater hall, so it's going to be an amazing afternoon. Don't miss it. And tell others about it. Share the flier. See you there!
 G.H.S.

​
​I thought, "Hold on a minute. Say what? Just 1 dollar provides 5 meals!? How is that possible?"
​
I don't know what kind of magic they are employing over there, but doesn't that sound like superhuman powers? They're feeding the many with the efforts of the few. They're quelling hunger mostly with good intentions and feeding the minds of the needy and the hungry with hope, too. 

Many questions came to mind when I saw that figure. It seemed incredible. But then I thought that I don't really need to see how the sausage is made, as the saying goes. I'm just happy to know that it is really that easy to make a huge positive impact on another person's life. That right there is worth any effort on our part to pitch in. So I did. 

And that is why now we are asking for your help in our next Book Fair at Barnes & Noble in support of the Food Bank of the Rio Grande Valley.

​The fair begins with a book launch event on May 26,2017, from 8 pm to 10:30 pm at 

Palms Crossing 
Barnes & Noble #2311 
3300 W. Expressway 83, Suite 1100 
McAllen, Texas 78501 
Store: (956) 686-4231    Fax: 956-631-0438 
Email: crm2311@bn.com / bn.com / nook.com

The Raving Press' Book Festival at Speer Memorial Library held Saturday, February 25, 2017 was a complete and total success! 
These are not our words. They are the words of the participating authors, artists, photographers, and event presenters. They are also the words of the library's own staff at all levels. AND they were also the words (or general sentiment) of the public in attendance at that mega festival. 

Five (5) results stood out:

1)The local media (such as The Monitor newspaper, KVEO News, Televisa, Telemundo, Univision, KGBT, and In The Blink of an Eye radio show) all came out in support of our efforts. Everyone was surprised with what we were doing because it was completely free to all, and because the nature of the festival was simply unheard of.

2)The Speer Memorial Library staff noted that this event brought in many more people than they had ever had in previous efforts of any kind. ;)

3)Authors and artists who usually struggle to profit from selling their art enjoyed a sales bonanza at no cost for the space and no commission to the organizers nor the host institution. 100% profit to the artists and writers. NOTHING beats that!

4)The public got a full day of events for the entire family to consume at absolutely no cost to them for entry. They met artists and writers of all walks. Got signed books for the whole family. Attended a theater performance by Pedro Garcia, a Short Film hour with Maida Lee Saenz, a Poetry Reading with McAllen Poet Laureate Priscilla Celina Suarez, a Children's Book Reading headed by Christopher Rocha, and two totally FREE publishing seminars by Gabriel H. Sanchez (that's me!). 

5)This event alone brought out some great talent that our community did not know of. The outcome of the entire effort and the response by the public convinced us that this must only mean that the demand for something like this to continue is huge. Therefore, we fully intend on holding more similar events throughout the year...on a rotating basis. That is, this was the first stop of The Raving Press' Book Carnival (or Traveling Book Fair, the title is still tentative). 

If you would like to see this mega festival in your city, contact your library, city hall, school, or college and have them contact us to make arrangements for us to visit your area and bring the fun to you and your own home-grown artists and authors. 

Email: theravingpress@gmail.com
Website: www.theravingpress.com

Thanks!

Gabriel H. Sanchez

Welcome to the new year 2017! The most anticipated, highly orchastrated, and biggest event of the season is here!

It is the Speer Memorial Library Book Festival hosted by The Raving Press!We have invited authors from all backgrounds from children's book writers to poets. English and Spanish books will be available for signing by the authors.

There will be a children's book reading hour, a short film hour, a poetry reading and open mic hour, and TWO completely FREE publishing seminars offered to the public in both English and Spanish by none other than yours truly.

We welcome everyone to attend this event in Mission, Texas on February 25, 2017 from 10 am to 4:30 pm. It will be an event like none other. Bring friends and family. Writers, published authors, unpublished dreamers, everyone is welcome to join the publishing seminar. If you are interested in finding out your publishing options at a local and global level, if you are looking for examples of how an unpublished "nobody" can become an established author, or if you simply want to be surrounded by other go-getters to catch a little motivation, then this free seminar is for YOU!

​"The publishing world is a fast-changing landscape. No longer are the common folks like you and me left hopeless on the sidelines looking in at the big players having all the fun. Now all you need is imagination, skill, and self-reliance...and a whole lot of time, but anyone can be a published author." 

All we ask our participating authors, event presenters, and attendees is to please help us get the word out by sharing the flier that you see here. We will be sharing other fliers featuring each individual author and presenter as the days go by. 

Thank you all for your continued support and I hope to see you at this mega-event! 

All we ask our participating authors, event presenters, and attendees is to please help us get the word out by sharing the flier that you see here. We will be sharing other fliers featuring each individual author and presenter as the days go by. 

Thank you all for your continued support and I hope to see you at this mega-event! 

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