November 2009
November 2009
Hello
Fellow SASP Members,
For too long we have neglected to
communicate with those members who do not have e-mail. It has also been evident over the past
several months that some of the e-mail addresses we have are faulty and
messages sent get bounced back.
Therefore, you are receiving this because we do not have an e-mail
address for you, or because we have one and it doesn’t seem to work.
Hopefully this will be a step in the
right direction… to reestablish communications will ALL our members. If you haven’t been to a SASP meeting for a
while, I hope you would consider returning.
Big things are in store for the group and we would like to have your input
and participation.
The
bulk of the pseudo-newsletter will be the latest President’s Page as is
currently posted on the web-site.
Depending upon space and time, I might also include other stuff from the
site.
Dave
The
President’s Page
November
2009
In
my time as President of Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers, the monthly President’s Page has largely been a news
article about our most recent meeting. I
usually mention a little about the presentation, new members, guests, members’
accomplishments, and door prizes. If you
are expecting that format again this month, I hope my veering from it does not
disappoint you to any great extreme.
Rather
than re-hashing our November meeting, I think it more important that we
actively think about the future of this organization. Current officers, yours truly included, feel
that in order to remain a vibrant group, we need to expand our horizons, our
goals, and our activities. Failure to do
so means a loss of interest amongst present members and a failure to attract
new members. Over time membership levels
will shrink until we are nonexistent. We
may even need to redefine and expand our purpose for existing. We have grown beyond a group of
self-published authors discussing the pitfalls and the highlights of getting
their work out to the public. We should
be guiding fellow members through the obstacles of the publishing world, and
helping them find the publishing option best suited to their work. Most importantly we should be working hard to
eliminate the stigma that the traditional publishing industry often attaches to
self-published work.
During
October, Bob Weldin, Robert Pillsbury, and I kicked around an idea of Bob’s
that we hoped would invigorate SASP.
This single idea revealed the need for other additions to SASP
operations. These proposals were
presented at our recent gathering, and while some ideas were quite well
received, others were met with a bit more skepticism. A few members have since come forward with
ideas of their own, whether they are means of implementing or alternatives to
what has already been suggested.
As
we finish out 2009 and progress into 2010, we will be incorporating those ideas
that all seem to find favor with. I
sincerely hope that the ideas and proposals keep coming, and that the most
worthwhile and practical become a part of our operation.
The
end of 2009 also means that current officers have served for the past two
years. While I do not mind continuing
that service, and I believe my fellow officers feel the same way, we would want
to do so, only with membership approval.
With our Treasurer Elizabeth Michael’s resignation due to health
considerations, we also need to choose a new Treasurer. Therefore, we will hold elections at our
December meeting. Ballots will be made
and e-mailed along with the meeting reminder a week or so prior to the
meeting. You may return them via e-mail
or print them out, vote, and bring them to the December meeting. Blank ballots will also be on hand at the
meeting. Besides a chance to confirm the
current slate of officers or choose new ones, this election will also allow us
to approve changes to the by-laws and select individuals to fill positions
provided by those changes.
While
a large majority of SASP members have e-mail, some do not. In order to improve communications will all
members, I will send this via USPS to those members and former members who do
not have computers, as well as the five or six individuals whose e-mail doesn’t
seem to work. I will send the meeting
announcement and ballot via surface mail to those same individuals.
As a
final note, remember 2010 is nearly upon us.
Please pay your dues early. We
don’t want to remove anyone from the web-site roster. Please note, we will
also be dropping those persons who last paid for 2008 from our mail and e-mail
rosters as well.
And
now some quick notes about our recent meeting.
I want to thank those in attendance for the opportunity to present my
thoughts on the Basics of Publishing and
Publishing Options. Your kind
remarks regarding my talk were warmly appreciated. With that sort of response, I may be inclined
to speak again.
Let’s
all extend a heartfelt welcome to new members Bruce Meyer and Felita
Prince. Amongst guests and visitors we
had, as best as I can recall and read my hastily scribbled notes; Joan,
Juanita, Rebecca, and Jack. I seem to
recall at least one other guest, but unfortunately I didn’t get a name. I hope you all will come back and join
us.
SASP
member Russ Davis of Gray Dog Press donated a copy of the latest edition of
Spoke Write as a door prize. Long time
member Marian Sheafor had the winning ticket and took home a free copy of this
collection of work by local authors and poets.
The
program for December has changed. Anne
Mini will not be here, but famed local author Patrick McManus will. He has agreed to present a short talk and do
a question and answer session. In
addition he will sign books. While he
doesn’t sell books himself, we are working with a local book store to provide
copies of his work if anyone desires to buy one. In addition I’m sure he’d be willing to sign
copies of his work that you may have purchased previously.
I
hope to see all of you at our December meeting, and I wish all of you a Happy
and Joyous Holiday Season.
&
Self-Publishers
News
Listed below are acknowledgements of our member's accomplishments,
book signing dates, locations, and
other items of note:
Poetry
(Book Signings)
Scheduled
SASP member Dr. James Vasquez will have poetry readings and/or book
signings at the following places and dates. Selections will be from each of his
two recently published books of poetry, and from his forthcoming book,
“Prophets of the Old Testament.” Poems will relate to the seasonal theme of the
birth and life of Jesus.
Book Preview
Up and coming fantasy author Joshua Palmatier has been granted
permission by his publisher to post
the first six chapters of his first
book, THE SKEWED THRONE on his Live Journal page. All six chapters are now available. See
http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com/240277.html
This will give you an idea of what the book is about that Molly
Saty won at our September meeting.
Contest
It’s time once again to start polishing up your work for entry into
the annual
Pacific Northwest Writers Association’s Annual Literary Contest.
The twelve categories include full length fiction and non-fiction,
as well as poetry, screenwriting, short stories, and short non-fiction work.
For more information go to
Something of Interest
Rather than continuing to post the e-mail announcements from www.WritingRaw.com, we’ll simply include
this link to their web-site.
Check it out for interesting interviews with both new and
established authors, as well as with literary agents and others in the
publishing industry.
Contest Winner!
SASP member and President Dave McChesney recently won one of two first place awards in
the first periodic
Author! Author! Award for Expressive Excellence
Contest. His essay, TENNIS BALLS
AND BROADSIDES deals with the existence of both subtle and direct censorship in
the publishing world. Dave’s winning
entry can be viewed at www.annemini.com/?p=5092
TENNIS BALLS AND BROADSIDES has been published in the fall issue of
SPOKE WRITE: THE
A 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:
Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!