Why would the Twin Cities be home to three of the top five independent literary presses in the United States? Publishers Fiona McCrae (Graywolf), Allan Kornblum (Coffee House) and Daniel Slager (Milkweed Editions) offered their explanations at a panel talk Tuesday at the central library in downtown Minneapolis. They were joined on stage by Jocelyn Hale, director of The Loft and moderator Marianne Combs of Minnesota Public Radio. McCrae credited the "strong board of directors here," who hustle to raise money for nonprofit publishers. For Slager, a culture of philanthropy is key, along with a literate, well-educated population of serious readers. Kornblum, who moved his small press here from Iowa in the mid-1980s, said he was originally drawn to the Twin Cities because of an offer to sleep free at someone's house during a weekend-long literary event that also included free food. In the ensuing years, Kornblum said, he also discovered that "there are no limits to how you can grow as an artist here." McCrae briefly outlined Gray Wolf's biggest success to date, the 2007 publication of "Out Stealing Horses," by Norwegian novelist Per Petterson, which went on to win prizes and sell more than 250,000 copies in hardcover and paperback, a nearly unheard of sales figure for a small-press title. Despite studies citing a downturn in reading by young people, Milkweed has been publishing more books aimed at middle-schoolers, Slager said. Digital-only books are another niche, he said, and Milkweed will put out three or four dozen e-books by the middle of 2010. Emerging technology was much on the minds of panelists, who all talked about new reading devices such as the Kindle and a new Apple tablet. Hale reported that The Loft is seeking funding to launch online creative-writing instruction for interested students who don't live in the Twin Cities. McCrae said that Graywolf has an official "tweeter" with thousands of followers. Gender plays an overlooked role in the dismal reports about the decline of young readers, McCrae said. "Girls read a lot, and boys are the ones driving down the statistics," she said. The publishers seemed to take some comfort in the thought that young people, who may be reading fewer and fewer books, are actually spending more time than ever before "interacting with text" on their computers and handheld devices.