top of page
Meet the team
at Islandport Press
All submission requests should be directed to submissions@islandportpress.com, refer to our submission guidelines for more information.
Alexandra Hinrichs
Children's Books Editor
Alexandra Hinrichs is an award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction picture books. She earned her undergraduate degree from Colgate University and her graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Alex has wanted to make children's books since she began reading them as a child. Her inner-10-year-old is quite pleased with her career path, which has included working as a librarian, a children's bookseller, and as part of the publishing team at American Girl. When not reading, writing, or editing, Alex can be found wrangling one of her three sons into playing a game--preferably cribbage--baking, hiking, or encouraging the growing friendship between her family's cats and tortoise.
Bangor, Maine
If you were a Maine animal what would you be?
New England cottontail rabbit
Understated Maine food:
Fiddleheads
Krista
Warehouse Manager
Krista (Keek) joined the team at Islandport in 2021 as Warehouse Manager. She is the person responsible for getting all of the Islandport stories into the hands of New England readers and beyond. She is often the person who you chat with if you call Islandport. One of her favorite parts about this work is connecting with readers and learning about their stories. She loves people who make her laugh, make her think and make her coffee (though not necessarily in that order). She loves cleaning, organizing and spending time with her beloved puppers, Tallulah Xi (3.5 yr) and Niko Swahvay (11 mo) who loves to come to work with her!
If you were a Maine animal what would you be?
Chickadee
Understated Maine food?
Lobster (preferably in a Bloody Mary... on the beach... toes in the sand)
Jeff Howland
Founder, Islandport Media
Jeff Howland's career has spanned the fields of engineering and technology, finance and marketing, and media and publishing. He grew up in northern Maine, graduated from the University of Maine, and has lived in the Camden area for 30 years. He co-founded Islandport Media, the parent company of Islandport Press and the Midcoast Villager, around the central themes of an informed citizenry, an engaged community, and the innate human desire for connection; with a mission to preserve the foundational connection points—physical spaces, books, newspapers—that evolve culture and sustain society. Jeff hosts the Silent Reading Club at the Villager Cafe in Camden.
If you were a Maine animal what would you be:
Cardinal
An understated Maine food:
Potato
KJ Grow
Publisher
Originally from Montana, KJ Grow is "from away" but here to stay, joining Islandport Press as Publisher in 2025. Her publishing career has included stints at Graywolf Press, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Shambhala Publications, and Forbes Books. KJ now happily calls Raymond Cape on Sebago Lake her home, and enjoys the daily sunrise, yoga practice, boating, lake swimming, and of course, all things books & reading.
Raymond, Maine
If you were a Maine animal what would you be?
River Otter
Understated Maine food?
Italians
Katie Lowe
Editorial and Marketing Coordinator
Katie Lowe is an avid reader, writer and new-thing-trier from Limerick, Maine. She graduated from the University of Southern Maine in 2020 and immediately dove into the literary scene in Portland while working in fine dining. She served on the board of Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, interned at Alice James Books, and worked as an editorial assistant for a travel writer in Paris (the French one). In her spare time she saunas, embroiders clothing, swims in the ocean, watches old movies and reads Joan Didion. She's eternally available for a leisurely chat over a game of backgammon.
Rockland, Maine
If you were a Maine animal what would you be?
Coyote
What's the best way to eat lobster?
As a vehicle for butter
Will Bleakley
Chief Executive Officer, Islandport Media
Originally from New York City, Will fell in love with Maine at 17 driving along the road to Orr’s Island, and convinced he needed to go to Bowdoin College. His career spans being an editor at Down East Magazine, reporting in Southeast Asia, hosting a weekly standup show in Brooklyn, and working with the news industry through the Facebook Journalism Project and CrowdTangle. He is currently CEO of Islandport Media, which oversees the Midcoast Villager, Ellsworth American, and Mount Desert Islander newspapers, as well as Islandport Press, the Villager Cafe, and more. You can find him eating a cardamom bun while walking with his wife Lynn and their dog Mo on the Eastern Promenade.
Perfect Maine Weekend:
Blue Hill Peninsula. Tinder Hearth pizza, 44 North coffee, camp on Isle Au Haut, then,
of course, Nervous Nellies.
An understated Maine food:
Maine has the best morning pastries in the US.
bottom of page