MARCH 2010
MARCH 2010
Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers (SASP) began in 1998 when Chuck O’Conner, Elmer Freeman, Joe Meiners,
and Dan Vollmer, Spokane area authors
formed a club in order to share their knowledge and experience with those
interested in writing and alternative ways of publishing. Today, SASP is a large non-profit
organization dedicated to anyone with interests in any aspect of writing and
art. Members now include aspiring (and
successful) authors, poets, journalists, illustrators, editors, publishers,
printers, writing instructors, and many others.
Monthly luncheon meetings provide inspiration and education by way of
knowledgeable and entertaining guest speakers, and the cheerful camaraderie of
people sharing common interests and goals.
Membership is open to all who love writing, art, and interesting people.
Spokane
Authors and Self-Publishers meets
the first Thursday of each month, September through May, in the banquet (back)
room of the Old Country Buffet
(509) 484-5026
Speakers’
presentations begin at NOON. The room opens at 11:00 AM to allow members and guests to dine, converse, join, pay
dues, browse, and perhaps buy other member’s books that are on display. Generally a short business meeting is held,
either before or after the formal presentation.
New members and guests are introduced, members relate their
accomplishments, and various door prizes are awarded.
All
members and guests are requested to buy lunch upon entering the establishment,
and to leave an appropriate tip for the waiter/waitress.
Members
need to be present to win door prizes.
Current
membership benefits include a
listing on the SASP website, www.spokaneauthors.org. Many
members provide short biographies and links to external personal websites,
creating more marketing exposure.
Current members may list and describe their published works on the SASP
website and offer their work for sale at meetings.
Guest speakers at our monthly meetings
inform, inspire, and entertain members and guests with a variety of topics, all
designed to provide knowledge pertinent to writing and publishing.
SASP
members are encouraged to purchase or trade completed works of and with fellow
members. They are also encouraged to
donate examples of their work for use as door prizes. Those who win other members’ works are
expected to provide a review of that work.
Dues for SASP membership are $15.00 per
calendar year. Dues may be paid directly to our Treasurer at our monthly
meetings. Alternatively, you may remit
your dues to:
2010 Officers
President:
Dave McChesney (509) 325-2072
Vice-President:
Bob Weldin (509) 327-2897
Secretary:
Robert Pillsbury (509) 842-6803
rvpsasp07@comcast.net
Treasurer:
TBA
Public-Relations:
Russ
Davis (509) 768-6206
Newsletter Editor:
Jim
Parry 509)
325-9922
Web Master:
TBA
Advisory Board:
Jolene Feher (509) 489-0544
fehersong@yahoo.com
Gail Mangano (509) 535-1434
mamamia3224@comcast.net
Bob Manion (509) 448-2901
gunnerbob@comcast.net
OUR
NEXT MEETING!
Please join us for our third meeting of 2010 on Thursday March 4th at 12
noon. We’ll be at our usual location
(Old Country Buffet,
Mr. Rogers has been the illustrator of many
books, including Harry Merrick’s Grandpa’s
Stories, and has also done illustrations for Nostalgia Magazine. He has experience in both commercial and fine
art, and for twenty-six years taught art at
Jack has exhibited his paintings throughout the Northwest and the entire
THE
PRESIDENT’s PAGE
February
2010
At the February 4th meeting of Spokane
Authors and Self-Publishers, Doreen Fox Kelsey spoke about the TRIALS AND
TRIBULATIONS OF A FINANCIAL WRITER. Her
presentation provided our members with insight into a different field of
writing as well as the current state of the economy.
We
welcomed several guests, a majority of whom became new members. Joining SASP were Janet Forsman, Orania
Hamilton, Esther Hildahl, and Vikki Madsen.
Bob Hildahl accompanied his spouse, and Mike Fallon, a potential
presenter also attended.
Members
Barbara Cagle, James Parry, and James Vasquez announced upcoming book signings
and readings. Michael Marsden told us
that his newest book, SAM THE BEAR, is to be published by Gray Dog Press. Russ Davis of that organization mentioned
that several of his authors would be signing and reading in the near future.
A
month earlier, Loren Robinson had donated UPON A MID DAY CLEAR, a “books in
motion” CD, so that members could borrow it between meetings. Lee Moore had borrowed it but reported that
it didn’t seem to work. Loren provided
another copy for her to try, and Orania Hamilton volunteered to see if she
could get the first copy to play.
Although
he wasn’t there, SASP member Rich Leon donated a copy of NATURE EXPLORING IN
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO. B.
J. Campbell had the winning ticket and took this first door prize home. Loren Robinson won a copy of Bob Manion’s
SANTA’S HEROES, and James Parry took home a copy of CRIES OF THE SOUL by new
member Orania Hamilton.
At
the time we did not have a speaker lined up for our March meeting. Thanks to a suggestion by recently returned
member Bill Ferguson, we are now scheduled to hear Jack Rogers, an illustrator
speak on the 4th of March. He
will speak on illustrating stories and will compare creative art and creative
writing.
Following
the general Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers meeting, a majority of the
Board of Directors and the Advisory Board met briefly. Items discussed were changes to the recently
instituted Peer Review Program. Once
these are finalized, they will be presented to the membership. We will also be working to include a more
complete calendar of upcoming events, such as signings and readings on the web-site
and in the newsletter. While we are
exploring various means to accomplish this, it will help if you notify Dave
McChesney, acting web-master of any of your upcoming events. Do bear in mind that notification today of an
event tomorrow will probably result in its not being listed. Please allow enough time for it to be posted
and for members and other visitors to the site to plan on attending.
Dave
McChesney and James Parry discussed handing over of the Newsletter Editor
position. Quite possibly the March issue
will be the result of collaboration between the two, and subsequent issues due
to James efforts. (Does anyone have an
idea for a name for our newsletter?)
As
we are into a new calendar year, we are also into a new membership year. If you haven’t paid for 2010, your dues are
due. We normally allow a grace period
through March. To extend that as far as
possible, those who are not paid up by the close of the April meeting will be
deleted from the web-site membership roster.
At the same time, those who have not been paid up since 2008 will be
dropped from the master roster, electronic and surface mailing lists. If you cannot attend either the March or
April meeting, and wish to continue your membership, please send a check or
money order for $15.00 to SASP’s mailing address:
For those who have published books, please send along
information so it can be included on the web-site. Also, if you do not have a biography linked
to your name on the membership page, please write one and send it along.
Write on,
Don’t forget to
bring your submissions for the:
SASP Volunteer peer review program
Paul Lecoq
Rationale:
Self-publishing allows you to avoid the
arduous job of making your writing great – if you so choose. To go beyond family journals, to compete in
the marketplace, you must become competent. Having others evaluate your work,
bringing others into the process of creating, builds that competence.
Process:
Before each meeting I will set up a table for the
review. Participants will stack five
copies of their work in the following format on the table. Leave a copy of your
cover sheet for reviewers to sign upon.
·
Cover sheet –
listing your name, title, audience and purpose
·
five pages,
double or 1 ˝ line spacing to allow specific comments
You leave your work for others to critique. During the break, you take three other
people’s work for you to review.
Interested members who aren’t submitting may also review. Reviewers, put
your name on the register for the manuscripts you take. You agree to dedicate
an appropriate time to review each before the next meeting. (Please don’t wait
until the night before.)
Review for:
Grammar, spelling, structure, content,
persuasiveness, and style. Point out both the good and the less than
great. Be honest but helpful.
Return
your reviews to the next meeting and leave them in one stack per writer.
Reading the reviews:
Don’t take criticism personally; it’s the quickest way to learn. There will be differences of opinion and style. If someone wrote something, he must think it’s important. Pay attention even if you don’t take the advice. Don’t just look at it as editing; apply what you learn throughout your manuscript.
(Please
note that changes to the process have been proposed. If When adopted, these will be passed
along to all members.)
News
Listed below are our members’
accomplishments, book signing dates,
and other items of note:
Congratulations
Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers
member James Vasquez has been designated as the Lilac Poet of 2010 by the
Poetry Scribes of Spokane. He will read
his Lilac Poem at the Lilac Festival Luncheon at the
Price Reduction
SASP Member and former President Barbara Cagle has announced that
the price of her book, 16 x MOM: A MASTERY OF MOTHERHOOD, is now
$17.95
Local Publisher
Recently, Ditto’s Print and
Besides publishing SPOKE WRITE,
The
of Art and Writing, Russ Davis and
his crew offer three levels of printing and publishing for local writers. Depending upon the writer’s desires and the
marketability of the work, Gray Dog Press will print self-published work, publish
in partnership with the author, or publish totally at their expense.
For more information, go to:
Attention
Self-Published Authors
Time to consider the 18th
Annual Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards. Enter online at: www.writersdigest.com/competitions
Deadline is 3 May 2010
MFA
Request brochure FA35
by email: mfa@spalding.edu,
by phone: (800) 896-8941, ext
2423, or
see our website:
New “LINKS”
We’ve recently added several
“general interest” links on the web-site page of the same name.
From the
Editor
Hey,
it’s me, Jim Parry, and I’ve taken over your newsletter. I’m old-school, and, thus, was taught to
avoid the use of “I” where possible.
Same deal for other first-person words, such as “me”, “mine”, or “my” as
in “my book” (Book All the Teachers,
$14.95, graydogpress.com/bookstore or at local bookstores). So I shall, henceforth, refer to myself in
the third-person; and Third-Person Jim has something to say:
First,
Jim wants to acknowledge and thank Spokane
Authors and Self-Publishers for
introducing him to Russ Davis and Gray
Dog Press. Russ and crew have been
so easy to work with. (Old-School would say, “Never end a
sentence with a preposition.”) The Gray Dog folks always produce a
professional product, have many connections, and work hard to promote a book.
In
addition, Third-Person Jim wants to acknowledge and thank Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers for being such a warm,
welcoming, well-informed, interesting (and interested) organization. When Jim joined SASP three years ago, his primarily focus was centered on the many,
fine foods offered by Old Country Buffet, but almost immediately
he realized that the camaraderie and knowledge-laden conversation was far more
valuable and satisfying (although Jim still enjoys the food – too much). Jim takes pleasure in conversing with the many,
varied members, and recently was offered a chance to review one member’s
partial manuscript. Not only did Jim
enjoy reading the three chapters, it gave him a chance to better know this
author. It was also an opportunity to
help a fellow SASPer improve his writing, and, in doing so, improved Jim’s
writing because he learned from the other’s mistakes, and learned even more from
his excellent phrasing and descriptions.
Jim encourages all to help other members by reading, reviewing, and/or
editing their works. Jim realizes that
it takes away from a writer’s own writing time, but it pays
huge dividends in
the end. And
the best way to do this is through our new and exciting Voluntary Peer Review Program (but just informally offering to look
at someone’s work is also a good way to go).
Jim
hopes that you continue your good work and prosper with it. He has found that it’s usually just a matter
of perseverance.
Jim Parry
“FROM HERE TO
Wendy
Carroll is offering a series of three classes on screenwriting through the
Tell
Me a Story: Where do story ideas
come from? What makes a story attractive to producers? How
does a story idea evolve into a screenplay? This class examines sources
for stories – what sells and what doesn’t.
How is a story “developed”? What’s the process? We’ll take a
story idea, learn what outlines are, and develop it into a treatment. What is story structure? Examine the basic
principles of the three-act story structure and variations. Virtually
every screenplay depends on story structure. It is essential to a
successful screenplay
Who
Are Those Guys? It was funny when Butch Cassidy said
it. It’s not funny when the audience does. Learn how to create
three-dimensional, authentic characters. Avoid the dreaded cardboard
cut-outs that populate unsuccessful screenplays.
Throwing
Rocks: Mama was right. It’s not
nice. But in screenwriting it’s essential. This class explores how
to weave conflict and tension into your screenplay. Your screenplay falls
flat without it.
Classes
will be held Monday, March 8, 15, and 22, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the North
Idaho College HED 133. Cost for the
three classes is $75.00
Register at http://workforcetraining.nic.edu/
Wendy
Carroll has been in the film industry for 29 years as a story analyst and
producer at Disney Studios, guest lecturer to writers’ groups, conducting
screenwriting seminars and workshops, private lessons and providing script
analyses for producers and individuals. For three years she operated the
highly regarded “Film in Arizona Screenwriting Competition” for the Arizona
Film Commission. Wendy was on the adjunct faculty at