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University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point > Department of English > Cornerstone Press > AboutUs

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Mission

Cornerstone Press provides experiential learning opportunities to students pursuing careers in writing, editing, and publishing, by acquiring and developing writers that inspire, interrogate, and inform; fostering collaboration with community, university, and industry partners; and preparing students for life beyond college.

Vision

To be a leading advocate for Midwestern and regional voices, to develop literary community through strategic growth, and to manage resources ethically through responsible business practices. 

Statement on Artificial Intelligence (AI) 

Cornerstone Press is committed to empowering human art and human labor through our publishing program. Our covers are designed by students, staff, and artists, not AI. Our books are written by writers, not by AI. The use of AI as a tool for design and writing does not align with our Mission or Vision, and therefore will not be allowed as part of our publishing program.

Experiential Learning and Outcomes for Students

All books are produced in classes and internships offered by the Department of English. From editing and cover design, to media and sales, our undergraduate students get a chance to work in all the fields of professional publishing. Cornerstone Press provides students with the unique opportunity to work within a professional, working literary press at the university level. Student staff work primarily in editorial, cover design, social media/marketing, and events management, as well as local sales and campus outreach.

​​Careers our graduates were prepared for and p​ursued after working with ​Cornerstone Press.

Advertising

Literary Editing

​Business Administration

​​​Magazine Editing

​Business Communications

Nonprofit Services

​Copy-Editing

​Public Relations

​Copy-Writing

Production (Publishing)​

​Document Design/Graphic Arts

Sales & Marketing

​Education

​Technical Writing

​Educational Materials

​University Student Affairs

​Human Resources

​Web Development

​Journalism

​Library and Information Sciences


​Books We Publish

Cornerstone Press publishes trade literary fiction, poetry, and nonfiction in our Legacy Series in Short Fiction, Portage Poetry Series, and Back Home Series in Nonfiction. We also administer two awards: the Linda Nemec Foster First Book Award for Poetry​ and the Larry Watson First Novel Prize. Visit our Books page for a complete list of press titles, and our Submissions p​age for information on submitting your manuscript. 

Executive Staff

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Ross K. Tangedal, Ph.D.

​​​Director & Publisher​​

Dr. Tangedal is Associate Professor of English and Director & Publisher of the Cornerstone Press at UWSP, a role he has held since 2016. A scholar of bibliography, textual editing and American literature (with emphasis on Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald), he is the author of The Preface: American Authorship in the Twentieth Century (Palgrave Macmillan 2021) and editor of Good Country: Ernest Hemingway and the American West (University of Nevada Press, forthcoming 2028), The Routledge Companion to F. Scott Fitzgerald (Routledge, forthcoming 2026), Michigan Salvage: The Fiction of Bonnie Jo Campbell (Michigan State University Press 2023), and Editing the Harlem Renaissance (Clemson University Press 2021). His work has been published in multiple journals, including The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, South Atlantic Review, the Hemingway Review, the F. Scott Fitzgerald Review, and Authorship, as well as in various essay colle​ctions. He is a contributing editor for the NEH-funded Hemingway Letters Project (Cambridge University Press), where he is associate editor of volume 6: The Letters of Ern​est Hemingway (1934–1936) (2024​​). He is also a trustee of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation & Society and the president of the Society for the Study of the American Short Story. 

As director & publisher, he has overseen the expansion of Cornerstone Press from a one-title per year operation to a 50+ title per year traditional small press and publishing house. Courses are offered year-round to staff the press and teach students the business of publishing in the twenty-first century. Dr. Tangedal directs all press operations, with emphasis in acquisitions, business operations, distribution, contracts, production layouts, interior design, and quality control. 


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Jeff Snowbarger, M.F.A.

Executive Editor​

Jeff Snowbarger is Associate Professor of English at UWSP and co-editor of Midwest Review, a leading regional literary magazine. He has been featured in Tin House as their New Voice in Fiction, and Best American Short Stories 2010 declared his story “Bitter Fruit” one of the year’s notable publications.  He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received the Truman Capote Fellowship and served as a distinguished Post-Grad Teaching Fellow. At UWSP he teaches advanced fiction, intro to creative writing, and freshman and sophomore English.  

As executive editor, he focuses primarily on outreach and special projects, with particular focus on Wisconsin-based writers and the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference. He ​​also advises the director/publisher on issues pertaining to press infrastructure and partnerships. 
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​​F​​reesia McKee, M.F.A.​

Executive Editor

Freesia McKee is Assistant Professor of English at UWSP, specializing in poetry. Her work has appeared in Plume, Fugue, Cleaver Magazine, About Place Journal, The Ploughshares Blog, So to Speak, Gertrude, Bone Bouquet, CALYX, Nimrod, Painted Bride Quarterly, Huffington Post, New Verse News, Lavender Review, Pleiades Book Review, and many other venues. She won the 2018 Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry from Cutbank, and in 2020, she won a Christopher F. Kelly Award for Poetry through the Academy of American Poets. She holds an MFA in poetry from Florida International University.

As executive editor, she focuses primarily on public event planning poetry acquisitions. She also advises the director/publisher on issues pertaining to press infrastructure and partnerships. ​​

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​​​​Bret​t ​H​​ill

Editorial Dire​​ctor

Brett was hired as editorial director in Fall 2024. He is a graduate of UW-Stevens Point (BA, English: WEP, 2022), having served the press as Managing Editor and Student Editorial Director while an undergraduate and as a Senior Editor for Fiction and Nonfiction prior to his new role. As editorial director, he oversees all editorial operations for the press, as well as the training of student editors and editorial staff. Over the course of his time with the press he has edited 100+ books and worked with countless authors.​ He holds an editorial certification from the University of Chicago.

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​​​​Lhea Owens, M.F.A.

Senior Editor

A UWSP graduate (B.A., English), Lhea holds an MFA from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She worked as a publicity and marekting intern for Simon & Schuster UK in Fall 2017​​ while studying abroad in London. She focuses on communications, proofreading, and author relations.


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Paige Biever

Senior Editor

A UWSP graduate (B.A., English: WEP), Paige served the Cornerstone Press as Managing Editor and designed covers before becoming a Senior Editor. She focuses on fiction and poetry, as well as proofreading. 

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​Editorial​

Karlie Harpold, Senior Managing Editor (English: WEP)​

Lillian Kulbeck, Managing Editor (English: WEP)​

Brianna Loving, Foster Poetry Editor (English: WEP)

Samuel Zajkowski, Managing Editor (English: WEP; Philosophy)

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​Production & Design

Allison Lange, Production Director (Art; English: WEP)

Abby Paulsen, Production Editor (English: WEP; Communication)

Ari Pinder, Production Editor (English WEP)

Jolie Chambers-Moffitt, Production Editor (English: WEP)


​Sales & Media

Samantha Bjork, Media Director (Sociology; Communication)

Sophie McPherson, Sales Director (English: WEP)​​

Elizabeth Kyser, Media Manager (English: WEP​)

Andrew Bryant, Sales Manager (English: WEP)

Autumn Vine, Sales Manager (English Education)
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