The Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram will no longer publish local, freelance-written reviews of books about Maine, set in Maine, or written by Maine authors. The decision is effective now.

While the newspaper will continue to cover books in their Audience section, the book reviews will only be national reviews from a wire service, not locally generated reviews of Maine authors by talented and trusted reviewers such as William David Barry, Michael Berry, Joan Silverman, Frank O Smith, and Thomas Urquhart.

Local book coverage is important to Maine’s thriving and growing community of Maine authors, independent presses, and independent book shops—not to mention Maine’s librarians, who rely on local book coverage as they make decisions about what books to acquire with their limited budgets.

But, most importantly, substantive local book coverage is crucial to Maine readers.

PLEASE SIGN this petition if you believe your local newspaper should carry local book coverage.

PLEASE SIGN this petition if you would like the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram to reconsider their decision and work with the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance to find a solution to this unfortunate situation.

*To Be Clear: This petition is in no way meant to be confrontational with the newspaper. It is not meant to shame or harangue the newspaper. They made a mistake. We all make mistakes. This petition is simply the first step in working with the newspaper to help correct this unfortunate decision.