Microbiologist turns a page.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: Barbara Osgood-Hartness, Poncha Press - Brief Article

AFTER 15 YEARS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL, MEDICAL DEVICE AND biotech industries, Barbara Osgood-Hartness made the unlikely jump to book publishing. In 1999, she founded Poncha Press in the foothills near Morrison.

"I wanted to do a business that I Could have some fun with,' says the 39-year-old Osgood-Hartness. "You certainly don't do it for the money. This is not a business you get rich in. My goal is to break even."

Osgood-Hartness figures that could happen this year. Early on, she's had some modest successes. Her company's first book, "Durango Gold," made it to No. 2 on the local bestseller list in The Denver Post in November 2001. It was the first novel by Parker-based author Michael C. Haley. Another Poncha Press book, "Gemini," by New England author Michael Burns, was featured in the trade publication Publisher's Weekly.

Poncha Press published another novel by Haley ("The Gold of El Negro"), and now the company's fourth and fifth books will be nonfiction. One is a travel book titled "An English Experience: Exploring the Backroads and Byways of Gloucestershire" by Marge D. Hansen of Castle Rock that will go to print this month.

The other, now at the printer, is "The Execution of a Serial Killer: One Man's Experience Witnessing the Death Penalty," by Joseph Diaz. "It's one that will get us some media attention, and quite frankly that's what a small press needs -- a title that you can get a little hype with," Osgood-Hartness says. "That's probably the title we need to launch us to that next level."

Osgood-Hartness says the biggest challenges in the book-publishing...