Lib Ramos has always been a collaborator.
In 2010, her collaboration with local makers led her to co-found the Indie Craft Parade, an annual festival showcasing handmade goods and the creative entrepreneurs behind them.
These days, Ramos has turned her attention to collaborative books — specifically, small batch books published through her own tiny publishing company, Good Printed Things, which recently released its second anthology: “Holding Patterns: A Collection of Words on Ritual.”
The book, which is divided into two parts, features 29 poems, essays and short stories about rituals of every kind and the ways they save us, challenge us and shape who we are.
“You can pick it up, read a piece or two, put it down, pick it up again,” Ramos said. “It gives you a chance to digest things a little bit at a time.”
Part two of the anthology features the authors’ own personal rituals when it comes to writing, which “was a really nice way to bring it back around to practical daily habits,” Ramos said.
Ramos worked with two local editors, Beth Brown Ables and Angie Toole Thompson, to go through the nearly 250 submissions made through the website Submittable. The 29 authors selected hail from nine different countries. Seven of the authors are from the Carolinas.
“It has been a really fun project,” Ramos said. “I really get energized by working and collaborating with other people and helping make ideas happen, so it’s been a great fit.”
Ramos said she hopes to publish more anthologies like “Holding Patterns” after hearing feedback from the writers, many of whom have never seen their work in print or been paid for a piece of writing.
“Just hearing them talk about their experience and their excitement of seeing their work on paper, in a book, on a bookshelf … all of that was really fulfilling,” she said.
It’s also been a learning experience for Ramos, who worked as a freelance graphic designer before founding Good Printed Things.
“My background is not in sales, or even publishing for that matter, so this has been quite a learning curve for me to not just get something pulled together, created and out into the world but then also to sell it,” Ramos said.
“Holding Patterns: A Collection of Words on Ritual” can be purchased at M. Judson Booksellers in downtown Greenville or Given, a gift boutique located at 1631 E. North St.
For Good Printed Things’ full catalog, visit goodprintedthings.com.
