Tell Us Your Story: We'll Feature Your Press In March, Let's Tell a New Story Every Day!

We'd like to post a new story about a Northwest publisher member each day during March, Small Press Month. Let's celebrate by telling our stories. Let us know what inspired you to begin your business, what keeps you publishing, what's new in your world!

Doing an event during March? Be sure to send a listing to Book Publishers Northwest. We will be featuring a "Small Press Month Events" calendar on the website.

For ideas on how to celebrate Small Press Month, check "31 Ways to Prepare for Small Press Month (March)" in our articles by BPNW members archive.

Send your news and event listings to bpnwnews at aol.com.

January 15 Meeting: The Elevator Pitch

How do you answer the question "What is your book about?"

Every author/publisher/illustrator needs a clear, concise and memorable answer to that question. If you are struggling with creating an engaging elevator speech, or if you have one that needs refreshing, you won't want to miss this session. Lorraine Howell, author of Give Your Elevator Pitch A Lift!, will take you through her step-by-step proven process for crafting your own 30-second commercial. In this tough economy, how you talk about your writing is the least expensive way to build buzz for your work. Her method helps you eliminate the verbal clutter, build confidence, and keep your networking conversations alive!

In this session you will learn tips, tools, and strategies for:
-Identifying your target audience/constituencies
-Developing key phrases and language that resonates with your audiences
-Keeping your "elevator speech" fresh and relevant

The Elevator Pitch meeting runs 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on January 15 at the Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside N., Room 221, Seattle, Washington. The meeting is free for Book Publishers Northwest members; $5 for others.

You Book Tube: New Video Site for Publishers

A new video hosting site, Your Book Tube, encourages authors and publishers to publish their book videos on their site.

PNBA Preparing Spring Catalog for Booksellers

The Pacific NW Booksellers Association is following their popular Holiday Catalog with a new "Leafing Out" Catalog for regional booksellers to distribute in the Spring.

PNBA Marketing Director Brian Juenemann suggests that publishers consider buying space in the catalgo for books with regional appeal, gifts for moms, grads, dads, inspiration for the garden, or activities to keep the kids busy when school lets out.

"Flip through your catalogs, confer with your rep and pick my brain--if I have your catalog on hand, I have surely flagged my odds-on favorites for success. It all has to be in place by February 11th, when production begins--and, space sold out last year--so don't push your decisions too far into the new year. I'm looking forward to talking a little spring with you," Juenemann wrote in a recent e-mail to publishers.

Junemann's contact information is:

Brian Juenemann
Marketing Director
Pacific NW Booksellers Assoc.
541-683-4363
brian@pnba.org

A Gift from Betsy in Florida

Betsy Wright-Lampe, Association Executive of the Florida Publishers Association, Inc, sent the following list of helpful websites. Enjoy!

Website Analytics and Search Engine Optimization Tools
Alexa: http://www.alexa.com
Google Analytics: http://www.google.com/analytics
Technorati: http://www.technorati.com
Del.icio.us: http://www.del.icio.us.com
IceRocket: http://www.IceRocket.com
Feedster: http://www.feedster.com
Feedburner: http://www.feedburner.com


Social Network Sites
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com
Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com
Bebo: http://www.bebo.com (Primarily in UK, Europe, growing in the US)


About Blogs
www.bloggingtips.com
www.bloglines.com
www.dailyblogtips.com
www.startingablog.com
www.blogit.com


Blog Hosting Services
TypePad: http://www.typepad.com
Blogger: http://www.blogger.com
WordPress: http://www.wordpress.com
Blogflux: http://www.blogflux.com
Movabletype: http://www.movabletype.com
LiveJournal: http://www.livejournal.com
Windows Live Space: http://home.services.spaces.live.com/

Email Services
Vertical Response: http://www.verticalresponse.com
Constant Contact: http://www.constantcontact.com
Topica: http://www.topica.com
GetResponse: http://www.getresponse.com
Aweber: http://aweber.com/?298144


Happy Holidays, cousins!

Best,
Betsy

Betsy Wright-Lampe
Association Executive
Florida Publishers Association, Inc.
P. O. Box 430
Highland City, FL 33846-0430
phone/fax (863) 647-5951
email: FPAbooks@aol.com
website: www.FLbookpub.org

FPA is an affiliate of the Association of American Publishers (www.publishers.org), the Independent Book Publishers Association (www.ibpa-online.org) and the Small Publishers Association of North America (www.SPANnet.org). FPA is a member of the Florida Library Association (www.FLAlib.org) and the Florida Association for Media in Education (www.FloridaMedia.org).

Some websites recommended for promoting fiction

Janey Bennett, author of Pale Surface of Things, was BPNW's guest speaker on November 20. Following are some of Janey's suggestions from her talk on promoting fiction:

Awards – Pale Surface has seven of them. It’s one of the miracles of this book’s promotion. We found the competitions mostly through ads on www.shelfawareness.com, which I recommend reading daily. It’s a great source of ideas.

I also received one fellowship and two awards before publication, for the manuscript of Pale Surface, from sites I found in Poets and Writers Magazine. Those start the process of moving the air molecules around your title and name.
http://www.pw.org/content/grants_amp_awards_your_guide_writing_contests


Press Release – When Pale Surface got the seventh award, we sent out a press release on www.PRWeb.com and it’s still (5 months later) drawing hits to our website, www.palesurfaceofthings.com. I would only send a press release when I had news, like seven awards, because puff press releases annoy people. Use press releases wisely.

Websites – My website, www.palesurfaceofthings.com has grown into a collection of information, an interview, a press area, reviews, reader comments, a slide show of my research photos of Crete, a lot of things connected to the book. But for interviews, we found it a good idea to set up a second website at www.janeybennett.com which offers information on my other writing (including a sample), and some mention of my other endeavors and my background. The two sites are linked.

Other internet ideas keep coming to me, and will come to you. Some are great, and sometimes I just roll my eyes and go back to work on the next novel. It’s a balancing act, how much you want to do. This is what I have done. I’m sure I’m forgetting some things, but here we are. The book is alive and kicking, and life is lovely.

It's All in the Display: Road Lessons from Basho

Greeting from Sandy, Utah!

I learned a valuable lesson on this tour at a very low "hard-knocks" cost. I spent the day Wednesday doing a string of courtesy calls at small independent NCIBA-member bookstores in northeast California and Reno, Nevada. A couple minutes after driving off from one of my stops, I heard a loud bang as though something heavy had fallen over in my trunk. I pulled over and checked my trunk: and all seemed well. It wasn't until I got to the next store 40 miles away and couldn't find my cardboard sample box that I realized what had happened. I had left it on the roof of the car at the last stop. It stayed there until I was out of town. Once I got up to highway speed, it flew off the car, hitting the trunk on its way to the ground.

Fortunately, there were only six copies total and some bookmarks and business cards left in the box: I was going to have to replenish it anyway. But how to carry books around for my remaining stops?

The only thing to do was dig out a wooden display case that was already set up for a future trade show. It holds five copies each of all eight of my titles and makes a very nice presentation. But I had never taken it in to a shop before. It's a bit weighty and there was no way to protect the books from the weather. At least it was a lovely day.

The response at my remaining four stops was fantastic. I sold ten copies outright at one store, and two others were checking ISBN numbers, saying they would put in an order with Partners West. One was the Barnes & Noble in Reno!

Presentation really is everything, and I will certainly keep doing this on my homeward stops. Who knows, I might start combing my hair too!

David Ash
Publisher, Basho Press

You can follow David's adventures at www.BookTour.com (search for "David Ash)

Book Video: Sikulu and Harambe

Sikulu and Harambe by the Zambezi River

More on Circle of Seven Productions

Sheila Clover English, CEO of Circle of Seven Productions, spoke to a packed meeting on November 11.

For those wanting to find out more about book video promotion, she provides a number of resources at her company's website: www.cosproductions.com.

Or watch this short video:

Book Video: Two Examples from Big River

Honor Due by D. H. Brown




Standing The Watch: The Greatest Gift by R. J. Brown

Members' Book Video: Crypt of the Moaning Diamond

The following book video was created for member Rosemary Jones with the help of a fellow author:




Book Publishers Northwest members are encouraged to share their book videos here.

Site seeking articles on publishing

Sellingbooks.com is looking for articles on any aspect of writing, publishing and marketing books, including publicity, speaking, internet marketing, copyright, or design.

Articles should be 300+ words, and informational not promotional. All articles may include a short (2 - 3 sentences) author bio with promotional copy and links.

Articles may be submitted at the site
Sellingbooks.com

Internet Review of Books

The book review website Internet Review of Books is looking for books in the fields of science, social science, history, art, music, biographies, and current affairs. The site also reviews literary fiction.

A query about non-fiction manuscripts, should be e-mailed to Carter Jefferson at editor@internetreviewofbooks.com. Julie McGuire at jmcguire@internetreviewofbooks.com reviews literary fiction.


Site editors suggest keeping e-mails brief and including the press release in the body of the message.

Display Your Books at Florida Show

FAME (Florida Association for Media in Education, www.FloridaMedia.org) is set for September 24–26, at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. Attendees are school librarians.

The Florida Publishers Association is once again offering to display the books of affiliate members, such as BPNW members, at their booth.


Display of each product in the Florida Publishers Association booth costs $60 for publishers that are not members of FPA. (A booth of your own costs $800.) To learn more about how to display with FPA at FAME, visit http://www.flbookpub.org/fame.html.

Author's Den Recommended

I'd like to inform my fellow members of another opportunity to get their names and titles known in the writers/publishers community. It's called AuthorsDen (www.authorsden.com) and, along with an extensive amount of information about you as an author and samples from your books, cover, and other pertinent info, the writing of articles to be published on the site is encouraged.

I urge BPNW members to check it out. With the help of my internet-savvy husband, I am now listed on the site, and you can check my listing out as an example of how you and your works will be displayed. More good news: there was no charge to do this.

Regards,

Chris Salditt
Mother Love Publishing

2008-09 Catalog Closed

Once again, Book Publishers Northwest and the Northwest Association of Book Publishers new catalog of members’ books will be distributed at the PNBA Fall Trade Show and Wordstock.

Registration for this catalog closed on July 30, 2008.

Those who registered for the catalog through BPNW will be sent receipts on August 2-4. Please DO NOT SEND new registrations after July 30.

Free Webinar Offered by Bowker

Maximizing Sales Through Quality Data

SPAN (Small Publishers Association) and Bowker present a Free Webinar
July 9, 7:00 pm, Eastern Time

Bookstores, libraries, and other book buyers are looking for
your books. Can they find them? Learn how to sell more books
by effectively using Bowker's Books in Print and other free
services.

To register, e-mail Denielle.Starr@Bowker.com.

PNBA Author Proposals Due June 27

Appoximately 400 booksellers from more than 130 Northwest stores and librarians from as many as fifty libraries to attend Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association's Fall Trade Show. Proposals for author signings are due at PNBA on June 27.


Send books or ARCs, along with your proposals, author bios and reviews to PNBA at the address below. Contact Thom Chambliss at 541-683-4363 or thom@pnba.org, and visit www.pnba.org for more info about the PNBA show.

SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES
PNBA has spots for eight nationally-known authors to speak:
· four at the Book & Author Breakfast Tuesday, September 16.
· four at the Book & Author Breakfast Wednesday, September 17.
(Publishers donate 150 pre-signed books or ARCs for these events)

AUTHOR FEAST
PNBA has twenty spots for nationally and NW-known authors to meet with booksellers during dinner. Authors will rotate through tables of booksellers, spending 20 minutes with each group, at a banquet on Tuesday evening, September 16.
(Publishers donate 150 books or ARCs for this event)

AUTOGRAPHING SLOTS
PNBA has 50+ autographing spots of one half-hour each:
· Monday, Sept. 15 from 8-10 p.m. at a dessert party
· Tuesday, September 16 from 4:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., at the close of the exhibits
· Wednesday, September 17 from 9:45 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the exhibit show floor
(Publishers donate 50 copies of each book for these signings)


PNBA MUST RECEIVE YOUR PROPOSALS AND BOOKS BY THIS FRIDAY, JUNE 27.

If there is a day that your author is NOT available, include that information with your materials. A contact email address must be sent with each proposal.

The list of the proposed authors will be submitted to PNBA's Selection Committee, which will supply a priortized list to PNBA staff by July 7. PNBA staff will begin sending invitations for authors on Tuesday, July 8.

To help off-set the expense of promoting authors, PNBA charges $350 for breakfast authors, $250 for feast authors and $125 for each author at a signing.

Authors' expenses are their publisher's responsibility.

Send proposals to:

PNBA's Fall Show Author Proposals
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association
214 East 12th Avenue
Eugene, OR 97401-3245

Self-Promotion for the Chronically Humble Writer

Wendy Call is organizing an one-week marketing blitz to the boost a writer's literary life needs. Call recently spoke to BPNW as part of our Editor's panel.

"We’ll start on Monday with time management and goal setting," said instructor Wendy Call. "On Tuesday we’ll tackle queries to editors and publishers, also touching on book proposals. Wednesday, we’ll grapple with grant writing. We’ll finish up on Thursday by writing our way to a writers’ conference or residency. (The dizzying pace will keep us from remembering we’re shy, introverted writers!)"

Each class session includes hands-on practice, examples and resource lists.

Wendy Call is co-editor of the craft anthology TELLING TRUE STORIES: A NONFICTION WRITERS' GUIDE (Plume/Penguin, 2007). In the last two years her writing has been supported by 4Culture, Artist Trust, Hedgebrook, Jack Straw Writers Program, the Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, and the Washington State Arts Commission, and she has served on peer review/selection panels for three of those six organizations. She recently completed two years as Writer in Residence at Richard Hugo House.

Meets: Monday, July 07, 2008 - Thursday, July 10, 2008
4:00 PM to 6:00 PM each day
maximum of 15 students
$145.00 for non-members
$130.50 for Hugo House members

Scholarships are available! contact Brian McGuigan (registrar@hugohouse.org) for more information.

Register here: http://www.hugohouseservices.org/home/SubPages/Classes/Classes.aspx
If you have questions, contact: wlc@wendycall.com

Seattle Graphic Artists: Web Design with CSS

Seattle Graphic Artists Guild June 2008 Workshop:
WEB DESIGN II WITH ERIK FADIMAN

Rock Salt Steaks and Seafood on Lake Union
1232 Westlake Ave. North , Seattle , WA 98109 206-284-1047
Wednesday, June 25, 2008 . Arrive 11:30 a.m. , meeting noon to 1:30 p.m.

Learn How to:
Build web pages with Cascading Style Sheets
Use CSS to change how a web page looks without changing content
Lay out web pages with CSS in Adobe Dreamweaver
Use list for navigation

Understand:
The CSS Box Model
The importance of DIV tags and structural mark-up
The separation of presentation and content

Tour: The CSS Zen Garden site

Erik Fadiman is a freelance graphic designer working in Seattle , Washington . His business services include branding, corporate identity, marketing collateral, web standards, interactive media, packaging and advertising. In his web design classes at Seattle Central Community College , Erik teaches the importance of creating clear, compelling content with current web design techniques and considerations.

Walk-in members and students : $35. Students must show current, full-time student ID. Walk-in non-members : $40.