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Welcome to Cloquet River Press!

Our Story

Cloquet River Press (CRP) began as a personal response to the dearth of publishing opportunities for new writers. Beginning with the first draft of my debut novel, The Legacy in 1990, I began a journey into the incomprehensible world of literary agents, publishers, distributors and bookstores. These early frustrations were profiled in the Writer’s Journal (November/December 2002;“Toxic Tuesday: or Things Learned Writing a Novel”), and in another article entitled “Bitter Fruit: The Confessions of a Self-Published Novelist”, which appeared in Writer’s Journal in the March/April 2007 issue.

After teaming up with a small local cooperative press to publish The Legacy in October of 2000, I toured bookstores and public libraries promoting the book. Despite modest success, I continued to search for publishing opportunities. I was unable to secure an agent or larger publisher to handle my writing projects. In February of 2002, I acquired the rights to The Legacy from my former publisher. I also purchased the remaining stock of the novel. Unable to find a successor publisher, my wife Rene' and I formed CRP in April of 2002 as a vehicle to publish, market and distribute The Legacy.

CRP began publication by launching two collections of my work: Ordinary Lives (short fiction), and River Stories (essays). In 2002, CRP published my second novel, a tale of love, the law and choices made, Pigs, A Trial Lawyer's Story, to resounding success. Another collection of essays regarding life on the Cloquet River, Doc the Bunny and Other Short Tales, followed in 2004. The success of my earlier work allowed the publication of Suomalaiset: People of the Marsh, a historical novel of immigration, the mines, logging and shipping industries of NE Minnesota, in 2005.

Given the strong regional readership of CRP’s books, CRP approached local writer Susanne Kobe Schuler about entering into the cooperative publication of her debut memoir, Back of Beyond , a collection of stories from the 1940’s and 1950’s set in Ely, Minnesota. The book was launched on February 1, 2007 to much acclaim, making it the first “non-Munger” book in the CRP catalog.

After two years of research and writing, my fourth novel, a contemporary first-person story of Esther DuMont, a 28-year old African American nurse from the Apostle Islands who falls into methamphetamine addiction, was released on April 15, 2007. Esther’s Race is rapidly becoming a regional treasure in its own right. In addition, The Legacy has recently been reprinted in a second edition under the CRP banner.

Interested in what we offer? Click on any book title in the products section to read a sample chapter or go to the “products” section of this site where you can read short descriptions of each title. You can also read what others have said our books by clicking on the thumbnail cover of the book. You can also enter our estore to order copies of CRP books by credit card, or order via the telephone by calling (218) 721-3213 or by snail mail by mailing your order to: CRP Order Processing, 5353 Knudsen Rd. Duluth, MN 55803.

Please take this time to explore our site and send us your thoughts and comments and thank you for stopping by!

Mark Munger (owner)