THE DESIRE "to do something of my own" plunged Louise Fleming into publishing in November 1989. To do so, she even lei a secure government job. She has no regrets, though, as she works toward building Ragweed Press in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. With a new logo for Ragweed, which bills the company as "The Island Publisher," Louise Fleming is "cautious but ambitious" for this already successful Atlantic business. Although she has been with Ragweed for only a year and a half, she has made some very important changes, especially with regard to business and technology. It is important "to control costs and to deliver books on time," and she adds that the need to "keep promises" about publication dates is key to a successful enterprise. In an impressive spring 1991 catalogue, Fleming states that "we have computerized our information and management systems, acquired new desktop publishing equipment and improved our mar keting by hiring a full-time manager." This was an integral change that will enable the company to utilize the latest technology and to 11 stay healthy and prosper." Ragweed began in 1973 when Harry Baglole, a Prince Edward Islander, saw a need to publish titles that would reflect the provinces and Atlantic Canada`s life and culture. In 1980 Baglole teamed up with Libby Oughton to incorporate the company and make it an official - and still the only - voice for publishing on P.E.I. The team did not last long because Baglole moved on. It was the determination and verve of Oughton that gave Ragweed the spirit to keep going, despite the odds against success in Canada`s smallest province, where potatoes and tourists are often regarded as much more important than cultural pursuits. The odds were more mountainous than Libby Oughton ever dreamed. There were successes like selling foreign rights to Deirdre Kessler`s "Brupp" series for children, and the production of the landmark The Atlantic Anthology in three volumes - poetry, fiction, and critical essays. As well, Janice Kulyk Keefer won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for White of the Lesser Angels and Susan Kerslake`s Book of Fears was nominated for a Governor General`s Award. Ragweed began to attract national attention. A devastating fire, however, almost wiped it out. In July, 1987, an arsonist set the press`s 140-year-old building, which housed 18,000 books, ablaze, and Oughton was forced to rebuild. The insurance helped, and moral support from across Canada also gave the everdetermined Oughton new vigour. Ragweed not only rebuilt, it renewed: Oughton came up with a new imprint, gynergy books. Concerning the new imprint, Louise Fleming says "we are a woman-owned and operated feminist press. The philosophy behind gynergy books reflects our commitment to publishing writing by women whose works exploit acts of resistance, both personal and political, sensual and cerebral" Gynergy books is "a market area for women writers" The feminist/lesbian imprint continues to publish books by and about women. Its newest release is The Montreal Massacre, the translation of a title that originally appeared in French. The book is a collection of letters, essays, and poems from a feminist perspective, about the murder of 14 women at the University of Montreal`s engineering school. After Libby Oughton rebuilt Ragweed, she sold her interests to Louise Fleming. Interrupting Fleming on a very busy afternoon when everyone was going "straight out," preparing the manuscripts of spring publications for the printers, emphasized that. It was obvious that the deadlines she spoke of were serious, and that she meant to keep them. It was also clear that quality was in the forefront. As Louise Fleming puts her hand to the tiller at Ragweed she has definite plans for growth. She wants to produce "quality books for an audience outside the region" That kind of expansion has already begun: Ragweed held book launchings in Ottawa and Toronto last fall. More outside-the-region launchings are expected. Fleming, nevertheless, will not desert the local scene. Since the island is a tourist haven each summer, "we need to be more attuned to the tourist season" To do that, Ragweed is bringing out "Island Pathways," a series of guide books. The first two, Finding Anne on Prince Edward Island and Familiar Birds of Prince Edward Island, are ready, and more are planned for 1992. They are colourful and factual coil-bound manuals. Fleming will also consider the marketing of more children`s titles. There are books here for children that "are good, not just for the region, but beyond" She hopes to do her share. That movement will be launched with Lena and the Whale, a new spring title by Deirdre Kessler. The international reputation Kessler is getting for French, Dutch, and German translations of her books almost ensures that Lena and the Whale will be another winner. Already Fleming has tasted the sweetness of success. She presided at the press`s 10th anniversary celebrations in October 1990, a gala evening attended by the former owners and many Ragweed authors. Recently Peter Cumming`s Mogul and Me was a 1990 finalist in the Geo6ey Bilson Award for historical fiction, and Rita Donovan`s Dark jewels was short-listed for the 1990 W. H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award. Ragweeds staff is small but enthusiastic. Lynn Henry, the senior editor responsible for editorial and production, has been with the press for five years. The new marketing manager, Mary Lasovich, came to P.E.I. from the Kingston (Ont.) Whig-Standard, and brings a creative mind and fresh ideas to the firm. Lee Fleming (Louise`s sister) looks after the accounting and advises on finances, while Sibyl Frei assists with production and coordinates the guidebook series. Fleming`s chief goal is a well-run, fully staffed press that will maintain the reputation of Ragweed and promote gynergy books as a powerful voice for women in Canada. She expresses a keen desire to increase the market for her small business, and to provide herself and her staff "with reasonably remunerated jobs" She declares "we are optimistic, despite the GST and the recession" Ragweed Press is a proven voice for publishing in Canada`s smallest province. In the December 1990 Island Side, Douglas Malcolm opined that "Ragweed has defied the staggering odds," and thereby become a recognized and influential Canadian small-press publisher. The entrepreneurial spirit of Louise Fleming and her associates should ensure success for the second decade at Ragweed Press.