INGALLS PUBLISHING GROUP

About IPG

     Ingalls Publishing Group (IPG) was formed in 2001 as High Country Publishers, Ltd., a small traditional publishing house located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. It was originally formed to provide a publishing outlet for regional authors, but soon broadened its purview to include authors of note who write fiction of national and international interest. In addition to award winning Appalachian regional fiction, IPG publishes quality mysteries, romantic suspense, historical novels, young adult fiction and historical fantasies.

     Barbara Ingalls and her husband Robert Ingalls, along with Judith Geary, were members of the High Country Writers organization in Boone, North Carolina. They recognized an opportunity to take advantage of the talents and skills of the local writers and to provide quality fiction for readers. Other publishers in the Carolinas seemed to focus on non-fiction or regional tourist books. They decided to fill the gap. In addition to authors living in the area year round, part-timers from all over the United States retreat to the mountains in the warmer months. So, armed with enthusiasm and love of the written word, they began High Country Publishers, Ltd., with Barbara Ingalls as Executive Editor, Judy Geary, as Senior Editor, and Robert Ingalls as publisher and patron, at the helm.

     Judy Geary, besides being an excellent editor, was on a fast track to learn all she could about publishing. She subcontracted with professional typesetters and designers, and they soon published their first two novels, Weather of the Heart: a Child’s Journey Out Of Revolutionary Russia, by Nora Percival (then 88 years old) and Dear Mouse…, Murder Love, and Movie Making in the Carolina Mountains, a mystery by schuyler kaufman. Weave me A Song by Lila Hopkins, an award winning young adult author, followed within the first year. All three books won local awards and have garnered others around the region since. Nora Percival’s Weather of the Heart is in its third printing and is currently a featured book at Ellis Island in New York.

     As more books were published, the company needed someone to help handle the growth. In the fall of 2003, Wendy Dingwall joined the company wearing two hats, as Operations and Sales Manager. Having a strong background in both sales and accounting, she reorganized the operations and accounting department, and then began a sales effort that started along the Appalachian Trail and ended with travels to other southeastern states as far south as Florida.

     In 2005 the name of the publisher was changed to Ingalls Publishing Group, Inc. to reflect its expanded focus. IPG continues to publish Appalachian regional fiction under the High Country Publishers imprint and added Claystone Books to cover young adult fiction and selected other national titles. Albert A. Bell, Jr. is senior editor in charge of this newest imprint.

     Books from Ingalls Publishing Group have been honored by the Publishers Marketing Association (IPPYs), the North Carolina Society of Historians (Clark Cox Award and Willy Parker Peace Award), the East Tennessee Historical Society (Wilma Dykeman Award) and High Country Writers (Book of the Year Awards).