Rita Mills

Publisher and Co-Founder — The New Era Times

 

     Rita Mills’ passions are the First Amendment, books, and literacy so it is understandable that her career would take its charted path.  Her career started at The Odessa American, in far West Texas.  In the early ‘70s she moved to Houston and started a 20-year stint at a major metropolitan newspaper, The Houston Post, where ink permanently took up residence in her blood.  She left there in the early ‘90s to become the Managing Editor of Arte Publico Press at the University of Houston where she organized their production department and coordinated a half-million dollar annual print budget.  While there, Rita also helped with the start-up of a new children’s picture book imprint, Pinata Books. 

     Rita left Arte Publico Press in 1997 to start her own company, The Book Connection, where she consults with small and independent presses in proper book-publishing-industry standards and protocol.  TBC works with a roster of 35+ freelance individuals with book-specific experience in all areas of writing, editing, design, illustration, marketing and public relations.  She guides her clients through the publishing maze to produce and sell bookstore-quality books.  She brokers printing worldwide.

     Her 15 years in the book business has resulted in the packaging of more than 400 different titles, ranging from simple mass-market paperbacks to hard-cover, coffee-table books.  Included in that smorgasbord of books are a 4-book reference set; companion books for two PBS series; 25 hard-cover children’s picture books; 4 cookbooks; 5 books used as fund raisers for nonprofits; and 11 books that have won various publishing awards.

     Rita Mills started a small publishing house called Bluebonnets, Boots & Books Press, and has published 15 titles since 1997.  She also has a children’s picture book imprint called The ABC’s under which she publishes the winners of the ABC’s Children’s Picture Book Competition.  She will be launching a new publishing house called New Era Times Press in 2012 where she will be publishing books that deal with all things metaphysical, spiritual, alternative health and history, paranormal and green living.

     She has served on several nonprofit boards and supports many projects that involve children’s literacy.

     In 2009 while in a meeting on another project, the idea for The New Era Times came about.  So, now Rita in her retirement years is going back to her first love which is the newspaper industry.

 

Please join Rita at her column A Skeptic's Reflections on a regular basis to take a look at her critical eye in stories about various aspects of the metaphysical and spiritual world as well as alternative healing and green living. Her first series of articles will be about her ongoing search for healers.

Rita Mills
713-937-9184

713-896-9887 fax 

rita.mills@TNETimes.com

www.bookconnectiononline.com

Articles by Rita Mills