President’s Page
OUR PREVIOUS/MOST RECENT MEETING
Information about our most recent
meetings is available via a link on the “Welcome” page. (To the left)
Visit the “Programs” page (to the left) to
learn about our next meeting and other writer related events.
We now post current and most recent columns from our President,
our Vice-President, our Editor/Web-master, and any
member or guest who wishes to contribute.
FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Time to hit the books
To at least some of us, summer is the time for vacations,
going to the lake, fishing, and other getaways and relaxation. September is the benchmark for going back to
school or generally knuckling down and getting back in the work groove.
Writing another
book (or two or three) is more like play than work for most of us. We write
because we enjoy it. For those of us who have works in progress, now is a good
time to finish one in time to get some printed for the fall and winter craft
fairs and related events. At least for me, craft fairs are a good time to meet
readers and promote my books, and preparations for them are a good time for me
to nag myself about getting in gear and finishing something. 😊😉
I hope to see you
at our next meeting on September 8 at the Corbin Senior Activity Center. The
room opens at 1:30, and the meeting begins at 2:00.
Sue
Eller President
FROM OUR VICE-PRESIDENT
Hello fellow writers,
I hope you all
have been enjoying the cooler temperatures. I know I have.
At our next
meeting on Sept. 8th, local poet and author, Stephen Pitters will read from his
most recent works. We will also have a short writing exercise, so bring some
paper, a pen, and all your creativity.
See you there,
Marilee
Hudon Vice President
FROM YOUR EDITOR, WEB-MASTER, TREASURER
To once again piggyback on Marilee’s
comments, I too am rejoicing in the cooler weather, the cloudy skies, and the
rain soaking into the earth. Hopefully
the precipitation will do a lot to ease the work of firefighters as they wrap up their
efforts for the Gray, the Oregon Road, and other wild fires. Here’s hoping none of you were directly or
adversely effected by these disasters.
At
times like this, many of us wonder what we can do to help. Yes, we can make a donation
to the appropriate places, if we have the means to do so. And remember, even small donations, if
multiplied by a large number of generous people can
help. But perhaps as authors we could
also use book sales as a way to raise money and donate,
if we should so choose. One could simply set aside a small amount or
percentage from each sale and pass it along to the appropriate agency or fund. One might even think to advertise the
fact. “Fifty cents of each sale will be
donated to…” Who knows, you might be
able to help a worthy cause and increase sales as well.
As always, don’t forget to pay your
dues, or if your Member Web-Page needs updating, contact me with the
information.
SOME RANDOM THOUGHTS
From your editor
The Slow Read
Today’s world is
obsessed with speed and demands near instant results. This translates to the world of reading where
folks try to read as much as they can as fast as they can. There is nothing wrong with that, but perhaps
we should take a look at an alternative… the slow
read.
There was a time
when I read as rapidly as I could, when I would not put a book down until
forced to do so or I had reached the end.
Quite possibly, if my overall circumstances would permit it, I would do
that again. Now I do most of my reading
on my lunch break at work. I get a cup
of coffee, kick my shoes off, and read for a half hour or so. When the coffee is gone and my time expired,
I close the book and set it aside. It
can take a while to get through the typical novel, and if it happens to be a
voluminous one, it may take close to a month.
And quite often on Fridays I instead look through our local weekly
alternative newspaper.
Reading slower
takes me back to my grade school days when many teachers read to the class
every day. Often it was after lunch when
everyone was tired from the lunch hour recess.
One teacher insisted we put our heads down and close our eyes while she
read to us. I remember stories such as Lassie
Come Home, Little Men, Huckleberry Finn, and more. I was thrilled to follow along as we listened
to the day’s excerpt. Sometimes the
story remained in my thoughts as we moved to other scholastic endeavors. And there was always the anticipation of
waiting for the next day and the continuation of the story.
FROM OUR PRESIDENT (Previous)
Harvest Time Will Soon
Be Underway
August is the
month for the dryland farmers in our area to reap the fruits of their yearlong
labors. It is also a harbinger that school will be in session before long.
August is a time of endings – the end of summer, the shortening of daylight,
and the end of the growing season for farmers and gardeners alike. It is also a
time of beginnings – the start of a new school year, the journey toward fall and cooler weather, and the launch of another round of
fall festivals and county fairs.
It is also time
for us, as authors, to renew our goals for that next book, story, or poem.
Let’s face it: as the summer wanes, we turn our thoughts away from outdoor
activities and retreat to our computers to pen a new idea. We also want to be
prepared for the next round of craft fairs and other marketing events.
Even though it
seems like a long way off, October and November will arrive soon. Make sure you
have enough copies of your books to sell. (Last year, I sold out of my Emily
Trace Mystery series before the events ended.) Make sure you also have some
supportive materials like business cards and/or bookmarks, a card reader (I use
Square), and plenty of change for cash customers. It’s always good to have a
new book out, too. Because we are self-published, we don’t have to wait for 2-3
years for our manuscript to become a book. However, we want to take enough time
to do proper editing, have an attractive cover, and have enough books to carry
us through the craft fairs and events in which we have decided to participate.
Good luck, happy
August, and I’ll see you at our next meeting on August 11 at the Corbin Senior
Activity Center.
Sue Eller President
FROM OUR
VICE-PRESIDENT (Previous)
Hello everyone,
I hope this
newsletter finds you all well and feeling creative.
Our speaker for August will be our own Beth Camp (with help from
Sue Eller). Beth will be speaking about diversity in writing.
This summer has
seemed to fly by, and fall will soon be upon us. If any of you have events
coming up, please remember to email the date and time to me at saspworks4u@gmail.com so
I can advertise for you via social media.
See you
soon!
Marilee
Hudon Vice President
FROM YOUR EDITOR, WEB-MASTER, TREASURER (Previous)
To echo Marilee’s note above, let me
know as well, if you have upcoming events.
Depending when they are scheduled and when I
receive the information about them, I can usually include them in the
newsletter. As well, I can usually add
them to the “Programs” page on the web-site. You can contact me at authors@spokaneauthors.org or at my home
e-address.
One of the things Sue mentioned in her
presentation at our last meeting was to use Expanded Distribution for books on
Amazon. The benefits of doing so, I
believe, are well worth it, but Expanded Distribution changes the way the
book’s price is divided between the author and the company. In the basic scheme of things, the author
gets sixty percent, out of which comes the cost of printing. (Everything else is profit or royalty.) In expanded distribution, the author gets
forty percent. It might be necessary for
one to set a higher cover price if going that route. The author’s forty percent needs to cover the
printing costs, as well as provide some amount of royalty. I will be changing over and unfortunately,
raising my prices slightly in the next few days. (No, this is not because of the slight rise
in printing costs announced by Amazon in the past month or so. As
always, don’t forget to pay your dues, or if your Member Web-Page needs
updating, contact me with the information.
WHY I WRITE (Previous)
By D. Andrew McChesney
Should you ever
wonder why writers write and think about
it for more than a second and a half, you might realize there is a different
answer for every writer that is, was, or ever will be. Every writer has his or her own unique set of
reasons and motivations for writing.
That means I can only answer or attempt to answer for myself.
If asked why, I
would say because I enjoy it. It’s
fun. I like being creative. I like the process and the challenge. Eventually, I usually like the results. For me and many others, I believe writing is
an outgrowth of reading. Rarely do you
find a writer who is not an avid if not voracious reader. Much of what I write is based on, influenced
by, or inspired by what I read.
Writers also
write for reward. It may be for a sense
of self accomplishment, and/or recognition by others. Position and prestige as a writer certainly enter into the equation.
For me, one of the greatest enjoyments of writing is sharing my work
with others. When I do, my first hope is
that people enjoy it and find it entertaining.
If readers learn something, that’s great, and if they are persuaded or
convinced of something, that’s an added bonus. If I primarily wrote something besides
fiction, I might revise the order of those effects.
People also write
for material gain… for money. Some earn
a living, or generously supplement other income sources through writing. But writing for money, especially writing
fiction for money is not always that lucrative of a
venture. It’s a good bet that the
typical mid-list fiction author has a day job or some other source of steady
reliable income. This comes in handy
when book sales aren’t as brisk as hoped, royalty checks are smaller and less
frequent than expected, or the advance on a new book doesn’t carry as far to the
left of the decimal point as it should.
We’ve all heard
stories of writers who come out of nowhere while their books shoot to the top
of the best-seller lists. Six months or
a year ago, these individuals may have been dodging bill collectors, engaging
in creative financing, and possibly facing eviction or foreclosure. Now they can afford to purchase any and
everything they could want. It’s a nice
dream and one that has no doubt entertained nearly every writer at some
point. While I admit that this ideal has
passed through my brain, I realize it isn’t practical. The more common-sense ideal is to someday
break even, to one day get back from writing and publishing efforts, all that I
have, and all that I am putting into them.
And yes, I was
one of those writers with a day job, even though I then worked a night
shift. At that time
I planned to retire in a couple of years and use some of my available time for
writing and publishing projects.
Anything earned would supplement other retirement incomes. If writing allows me to keep gas in my truck,
beer in the fridge, and take my lovely wife to dinner now and then, I’ll be
well satisfied.
Spokane
Authors & Self-Publishers
Page revised 08/31/2023
DAM
©2005 www.spokaneauthors.org