November 21, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Science Fiction Press Wins Book Design Award
Aio Publishing Honored for Design of Ian R. MacLeod Novel ‘The Summer Isles’

Charleston , SC – Aio Publishing Company’s book design for its limited edition of Ian R. MacLeod’s novel The Summer Isles took top honors in its category at the 54 th Annual Chicago Book Clinic Book and Media Show on November 10th.

The design won the Award of Excellence in the General Trade Category. The Book and Media Show honors excellence in the planning, supervision, and execution of the physical and visual aspects of publishing media in all genres across fourteen U.S. states. The General Trade Category heads the list of thirteen award categories.

Prior to winning the award, the author and publisher both received compliments from readers about the book’s design. “The book itself is the most elegant thing I’ve seen in a modern novel,” wrote one Chicago book collector in a review of the novel.

Book printer McNaughton & Gunn, Inc., which prints more than 6,000 titles per year and manufactured The Summer Isles, nominated the book for the award.

The design was produced in-house by Aio publisher Tiffany Jonas and art director Patrick Jonas. It was the company’s first book design. Incorporating a suede-like cover, a debossed image card featuring a mock replica of a historic travel poster, and the author's signature in gold, the book was produced using environmentally friendly materials and acid-neutral paper.

The two designed the cover image to accommodate a request by author Ian MacLeod, who approved the final image used.

“Part of our philosophy at Aio is to encourage our authors to take part in discussions about the cover design for their books,” said Tiffany Jonas. “We tend to view fiction as an organic creation and feel the book design should be an extension of that. Since authors conceive and form a story, it follows they should be part of the creative process for the cover—and readers benefit by holding much more of a story’s essence in their hands.”

Aio’s next book, written by Canadian first novelist Dana Copithorne, will take that process one step further: the cover design will be painted by the author, who is also an artist, and several additional illustrations by the author will appear throughout the book.

The Summer Isles is the original novel version of the World Fantasy Award-winning novella of the same title, and is the first English-language version of the book produced in the world. The novella also won the 1999 Sidewise Award for Alternate History and was a finalist for the coveted Hugo Award. The novel edition is currently under consideration for the 2005 Sidewise Award for Alternate History in its long form category.

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About The Chicago Book Clinic The Chicago Book Clinic was founded in 1936 to encourage excellence in publishing by providing a platform for educational, social and professional interaction of its members. Its members are professionals in book and media publishing, printing, editorial, design, and all business aspects of the publishing industry. For more information, see www.chicagobookclinic.org or call (773) 561-4150.

About Aio Publishing Co., LLC Aio Publishing Company was founded in January 2004 in Charleston, South Carolina. Dedicated to broadening speculative fiction bookshelves by adding works of a literary and sociological strain, the company seeks to publish complex, satisfying fiction in a high quality format encompassing visually striking covers, quality paper, graceful typesetting, and innovative design. Its flagship novel, a limited edition of World Fantasy Award winner Ian R. MacLeod’s The Summer Isles was followed by Nocturne by first novelist Jus Neuce, and two new Aio books are currently slated for release in 2006: The Steam Magnate by Canadian author/artist Dana Copithorne and World Fantasy Award-winning author Zoran Zivkovic’s mosaic novel Seven Touches of Music. The company recently won top honors for its book design for The Summer Isles at the 2005 Chicago Book and Media Show. For details about the company and its books, see www.aiopublishing.com.

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For more information, contact:

Tiffany Jonas, Publisher
Aio Publishing Company, LLC
P.O. Box 30788
Charleston , SC 29417
trjonas@aiopublishing.com
877.756.5429
843.225.3698 fax