A weekend in Portland: Powell’s & Print on Demand machines
A couple of weekends ago Brandon & I met my big brother in Portland, Oregon. Portland is a 3 hour drive south of Seattle and some say it’s very similar, but I definitely felt a different vibe! I’d thought I’d share some of our new memories.
Portland is a GREAT city, but it does live up to it’s reputation of being weird. In a wonderful way. People are completely chilled out, super friendly, and pretty much anything goes. The show Portlandia makes so much more sense to me now!
First stop, Powell’s book store. The largest independent bookstore in the world, it certainly wasn’t easy to navigate. I was happy I found these stairs in the purple section though:
Check this out – a Print on Demand machine. If you’ve ever wondered how CreateSpace, Lulu or Lightning Source produce your book, here it is! Cool thing is, if you have a digital copy of your book on hand (e.g. on a USB stick etc) Powell’s will print your book on the spot. HOW very cool.
Powell’s from the outside.
Of course we hit up the Japanese Gardens. WOW. Best one I’ve seen outside of Japan.
Dave lives in London so I don’t see him enough. We still have a very brotherly sisterly relationship though. Since he’s only 18 months older than me it’s always been this way – we can scream at each one minute and be best friends the next. I like this pic because he does make me laugh a lot, whether he’s trying to or not.
A trip to Portland wouldn’t be complete without a trip to Stumptown! The coffee here is delicious and the interior of the store is minimalistic and ‘unfinished’ in the best sense of the word. I can imagine writing here on a Saturday morning and feeling very inspired. They also have in-store coffee tasting when you’re looking to buy :)
See, I wasn’t lying when I said Portland is weird – and the locals want to keep it that way. And just for you here is me pulling some sort of weird face… (yikes)
Free tofu anyone?
You can also hire a poet for the day. Definitely something I would be interested in doing sometime!
Thanks Portland for a great trip. I can’t wait to go back!
I adore Portland! Great city … great pics! Wish I could have tagged along.
xx, Lauren
Thanks for sharing these, Laura! I’ve never been to Portland but one of my favorite authors moved there from Phoenix and I love reading what she has to say about such an interesting city. :) Love the pics.
Glad you liked them! I have SO many pics, I had a hard time choosing which ones to share. Such a photographic place.
Laura,
Reading your articles has inspired me. I am a new published author of 2 amazing books Velvet and The Union. They are on paperback, hard cover, and all the eBooks devices but I am not generating any sales. Don’t know what to do.
Any advice from you would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Poncier
Laura,
Reading your articles has inspired me. I am a new published author of 2 amazing books Velvet and The Union. They are on paperback, hard cover, and all the eBooks devices but I am not generating any sales. Don’t know what to do.
Any advice from you would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Poncier
Hi Poncier. Do a little each day and keep educating yourself. There’s no easy way to self pub success just a lot of consistent & strategic work. It’s worth it though! Be sure to sign up to our magic Monday tips & keep reading the blog. :)
Portland rocks. I’m Swiss in Switzerland but I go there 2-3 times per year. It’s my favorite US city. I even dedicated a section in my personal webpage, trying to promote it. A lot of my friends visit it thanks to me and 100% of them adore the place! They weren’t aware that a place like that could even exist in the US.