My name is Joanne Shwed and welcome to my company, BACKSPACE INK. We've been providing a wide range of publishing services for authors (see the Services tab above) for the last 40 years. Please contact us today for your complimentary estimate.

Scroll down on this page to see a few of our design samples. Click the Portfolio tab at the top of this page to see all of our cover and interior designs.

In addition to providing publishing services for others, here are a few of our own published books (select the Products tab above for our complete collection).

Carpet Creatures: Tales from the Deep Pile

$8 (paperback)
Order on Amazon or e-mail joski@backspaceink.com.

It all started with a carpet and a sketchpad. Storyteller Joanne Shwed has created compelling vignettes of fictional characters, each living in a moment of time. Based on portraits by illustrator Thomas A. Ekkens, who was inspired by the play of light and shadow in carpets, Joanne spins her yarns cleverly with a twist at the ends.

You can also read these stories in the My Writing section of this website.

For more information about the Carpet Creatures project, visit the Carpet Creatures section of the TAE Gallery website.

Click on the cover design samples below:

Backpocket Crosswords: Handmade Puzzles 

$8 (paperback) 
Order on Amazon or e-mail joski@backspaceink.com.

$12 (spiral-bound)
E-mail joski@backspaceink.com to order.

The idea to publish a puzzle book began at an outdoor festival where Joanne enjoyed the music and worked on one of her favorite hobbies: creating crossword puzzles. Before long, a crowd gathered around her and she noticed how much interest her hobby created. Many years later, while Joanne and her husband Tom Ekkens waited for his radiation treatments, they (and others in the waiting room) worked on the clues for the first crossword puzzle book, which seemed to calm their nerves, raise their spirits, and even get a couple of laughs.

For your reading enjoyment, Joanne has written a (very) short story about her puzzle demonstration experience at Jigsaw Java, In a Word: Backpocket Crosswords.

Backpocket Crosswords (Volume 2): Handmade Puzzles

$12 (spiral-bound)
E-mail joski@backspaceink.com to order.

The impetus for making the second crossword puzzle book came from a fellow editor who told Joanne how much she and her husband enjoyed doing Joanne's first volume of crossword puzzles and wondered if a second puzzle book was in the works. She fanned the fire within Joanne and ultimately helped create many of the clues.

For your reading enjoyment, Joanne has written a (very) short story about her puzzle demonstration experience at Jigsaw Java, In a Word: Backpocket Crosswords.

Collected Poetry of Thomas A. Ekkens—Early Works

$12 (hardcover)
E-mail joski@backspaceink.com to order.

This one-of-a-kind art, music, and poetry book includes 46 original poems, a custom-designed typeface, artwork, and music.