On Air: Improving Interview Style

"You're on the air---or at the lectern!" Tips for authors and publishers who find themselves being interviewed for audio or video presentations---or speaking at bookstores, libraries or professional associations. What to wear, how to handle difficult questions, how to stay calm, how a reading differs from a talk or teaching, how to handle differing kinds of venues: no-puff advice from Linda Carlson, longtime former BPNW board member and author of 11 books. She continues to make at least a dozen speeches or media appearances a year and coaches Parenting Press authors.

On Air: Improving Interview Style
October 19, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Good Shepherd Center
4649 Sunnyside N., Room 221, Seattle, Washington

PMA Scholarship

PMA awards a PMA-U scholarship to one member of each Affiliate group. The scholarship should be awarded to a publisher who needs assistance in growing his/her publishing company. The scholarship includes free registration to attend the May 2007 Publishing University, plus a $500 stipend to help pay for travel expenses to New York.

The criteria for applicants is as follows:

• Must be a member of BPNW in 2006 as well as PMA.
  
• Must be a publisher, preferably in the early stages of developing his/her company.
  
• Has not received the scholarship in the past.
  

Application process:
Download application from the PMA website, fill it out, and return it to Rosemary Jones, attn: PMA Scholarship, PO 19575, Seattle WA 98109/

The BPNW Board will review the applications and then forward them to PMA (PMA rules require all applications be submitted to the Affliate's Board to verify that the applicant is a publisher/member in good standing, applications cannot be sent directly to PMA).

PMA staff and the PMA Board Affiliate Liaison will make final recommendations for the Scholarship to the PMA Board.

Applications can be found on the PMA website – www.pma-online.org. You must send application to BPNW by November 30.

Sept 21 Meeting: Tradeshow Training

For the September meeting, Jeff Backstrom, president and CEO of Skyline Pacific NW, will discuss how companies should plan for tradeshows. Backstrom conducts seminars throughout the Pacific Northwest to educatepeople about how to be more effective with their tradeshow marketing. The topics that he will cover include:
-Setting Measurable Objectives
-Budgeting for Success
-Exhibit Staffing Skills

Backstrom encourages participants in his seminars to examine their tradeshow programs to determine what events will be best for them, based on their individual marketing situations. Publishers are welcome to discuss their own tradeshow experiences and ask Backstrom’s advice on how to make tradeshows an effective part of their marketing plans.

“I am a Seattle native, who grew up in the advertising industry. I began selling advertising in 1986, then opened a small ad agency in 1991. In 1995, I found tradeshows and haven’t turned back since. In 2001, I partnered with my brother John to buy Skyline Pacific NW,” said Backstrom.

This BPNW meeting will be held Sept. 21 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside N., Room 221, Seattle, Washington.

Directions to Good Shepherd

From I-5 north or south, take the 45th/50th street exit turning westward onto 45th or 50th, Sunnyside is about 1/2 mile up, at the top of the hill. Buses: From east/west, Metro bus route #44 stops 2 blocks south of the Good Shepherd Center at 45th Ave and Sunnyside Ave N. for north/south travel, route #16 stops on the west side of the Good Shepherd Center on Meridian. Free parking is available on-site.

PMA Offers Online Learning

Under the direction of PMA Board Member Frank Gromling, PMA/Independent Book Publishers Association has begun to explore online learning.

The first e-learning session will feature Jonathan Kirsch, PMA's General Counsel and publishing attorney, in an Legal Track, entitled How to Build a Better Book Contract on September 20, 2006.

This live session on September 20 will then move online and can be easily accessed throughout the year for those needing this information.

A longer explanation of this new PMA program and a complete description of the Kirsch session can be found on the PMA website.

Northwest Publishers Invited to Display at Midwest Shows

From our friends at MIPA

MIDWEST BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION TRADE SHOW
The Midwest Independent Publisher's Association (MIPA) invites all of our "cousins" to display books at the Midwest Booksellers Association (MBA) Trade Show. Booksellers from all over the Midwest will gather on September 29 and 30 in St. Paul to find books for their stores. MIPA will have a table at MBA (formerly called UMBA) and we invite you to display your book for all of the booksellers to see.

Books will be displayed face out and will be listed in our catalogue. The cost is $35 (additional titles, $25). We will need the following information about your book(s): title, author, publisher's address, isbn, price, format (paper or hard cover), category, year of publication and distributor(s) a short (75-100 words) description of your book(s), and your contact information in case we need more information.

THE DEADLINE FOR ENTERING BOOKS IS SEPTEMBER 8. Please send the above information about your book(s) and payment (made out to MIPA) to Pat Morris, MIPA, 1729 A Street, St. Paul, MN 55106. A .jpeg of the cover to be used in the catalogue should be sent to parmorris@comcast.net. Books should be sent to arrive at the same address by September 15.
_____________________________

TWIN CITIES BOOK FESTIVAL

MIPA will also have an exhibit at Rain Taxi's Twin Cities Book Festival on Saturday, October 14. If you wish your book to be included in both shows, please include an extra $10.00 in your payment.

The Twin Cities Book Festival is held at the Minneapolis Community & Technical College in Minneapolis. Exhibit hours are 10 am-5 pm. This festival is open to the public.

PNBA: Last Call for Buzz Books

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association is closing the "Buzz Books" promotion on September 1. Larry West of PNBA sent the following reminder to Northwest publishers:

"With so many books out there vying for bookseller's attention, this program has really worked to highlight titles and guarantee that store buyers see your book at the show and stop by your booth to talk about it.

BuzzBooks is also a real advertising bargain, as you will receive nearly $1,000 worth of exposure for only $400.

PNBA ust need your sign-up sheet and payment by September 1. We will send you a confirmation explaining what advertising materials we need to have before the show in October."

Forms for Buzz Books are available on the PNBA website or by contacting Larry West at PNBA. His contact infomration is listed below.


Larry West, Executive Assistant
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association
317 West Broadway, Ste 214
Eugene, OR 97401-2890
T: 541-683-4363
F: 541-683-3910
E: larry@pnba.org
W: PNBA
2006 Fall Show: Thursday - Saturday, October 12-14, Oregon Convention Center, Portland

Hugo House seeks young writer-in-residence

Richard Hugo House will hire a writer between the ages of 16 and 19 to serve as the Youth Writer-in-Residence from October 2006 through September 2007. Candidates should be active writers, either poets, plays, fiction, or creative nonfiction. They should have experience writing for a school newspaper (or another established publication) or have produced their own publication (such as a zine or chapbook). Candidates should also have experience in or enthusiasm for running writing-based performances and programs for youth from diverse backgrounds. Hugo House's open mic for youth, Stage Fright, is an example of this kind of programming.

For more information, contact Alix Wilber, 206-322-7030 or e-mail programs@hugohouse.org. Applications are due September 15, 2006.

Planning Ahead: Start Now for October Show

Besides displaying and sellling your book at Book Publishers Northwest's table at the PNBA Fall Trade Show, there are also a number of ways to promote your books to the booksellers attending the show. Deadlines are approaching fast (reservations for the BPNW table needs to be done by Sept. 1), which makes August the month to plan.

Also mark Sept. 21 on your calendar for BPNW meeting on maximizing trade show experiences. Jeff Backstrom of Skyline Pacific will lead a seminar on how to work out the cost effectiveness of a trade show, how to display your product to the best advantage, how to make the best use of contacts made at a show, and more. The meeting will take place at the Good Shepherd Center from 4 pm to 6 pm.


PNBA Advertising Offers for the Fall Trade Show
Please contact Jamie Pasaro for further information on the PNBA Fall Trade Show (contact information shown below).

NORTHWEST NEW TITLE PREVIEW

Target your distribution of forthcoming books (ARCs, galleys, finished copies all work) directly to bookstore buyers in the Northwest through PNBA's Northwest New Title Preview. For $100, PNBA will include your book in an online listing of new and regional titles with jacket art, a blurb, and a linked email address of the contact person at your company for bookseller requests. The next listings will go up in September. Deadline is September 1 for payment and materials. For more information on New Title Previews, e-mail brian@pnba.org.


STUFF-ITS

You produce flyers and PNBA stuffs them into the canvas bags that they distribute to the first 250 booksellers on the exhibit floor October 13 (BPNW members displaying at the BPNW table will be listed on the BPNW stuffer). Flyers and payment of $100 are due by October 6 for inclusion in the show bag OR send 150 copies and payment of $100 by September 22 for inclusion in the packet sent to pre-registered booksellers. A form for this promotion is available on the tradeshow page of the PNBA website.

SHOW PROGRAM

Promote author signings or tradeshow exhibits through an ad in the PNBA show program, which gets mailed to pre-registered booksellers before the show and gets distributed on the exhibit floor to everyone attending the show. Rates range from $200 for a 1/4-page ad and $600 for a full-page ad. For a list of all of the rates, go to the PNBA advertising rate card. The deadline for materials and payment is September 1.


BUZZBOOKS

For exhibitors only: BuzzBooks is a new PNBA program that works like a scavenger hunt on the exhibit floor Friday. Since booksellers must meet with each BuzzBooks publisher at the show in order to be entered into a drawing to win some nice cash prizes, the program creates enthusiasm for participating books/authors/publishers before, during and after the show.

Each BuzzBook package costs $400 and includes:
• a chance to win Biggest BuzzBook of the show
• a prominent display at the show
• a posting on PNBA’s BuzzBooks webpage
• booksellers required to talk to you or your rep about your book
• promotion in pre and post-show newsletters
• promotion in the show program
• one free Stuff-it insert (a $100 value, these are inserted in the canvas bags distributed to booksellers on Exhibit Day One)
• an announcement at the Author Feast
• post-show press release with announcement of winner to PW, Shelf Awareness, Bookselling This Week and other book media

The BuzzBooks form is availableas a downloadable PDF.

Further information on Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association's programs and trade shows is available from:
Jamie Passaro
PNBA Executive Assistant
317 W. Broadway, Ste. 214
Eugene, OR 97401
T: 541-683-4363
F: 541-683-3910
www.pnba.org

2006 Fall Show: Thursday - Saturday, October 12-14, Oregon Convention Center, Portland

SCBWI Announces Eastern Conference

The Northwest chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators announced that the 2nd annual SCBWI Eastern Washington/ Idaho Panhandle Conference will take place September 23, 2006. The theme will be "On The Road to Publication" and the conference will be held in Coeur D'Alene Casino, Highway 95, Worley, Idaho.

Featured Speakers:

Ginger Knowlton, Agent with Curtis Brown Ltd.
Susan Kochan, Assistant Editorial Dir, Putnam
Verla Kay, IOCL Instructor & Picture Book Author
Deborah Nourse Lattimore, Author/Illustrator/Art & Literature Teacher at UCLA & Pasadena Art Center College of Design
Linda Joy Singleton, Mid-grade & YA Series Author

More information

August 14 Barbecue

Book Publishers Northwest members are invited to a barbecue at the home of publisher Duse McLean, Thistle Press.

This event is a potluck, so bring your favorite grill item and a sidedish to share. BPNW will be bringing sodas and chips as well as the basic utensils.

For directions, please email dusem@thistlepress.com.

BPNW Will Sell Books at PNBA Fall Trade Show

Book Publishers Northwest will have a display table at the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Fall Trade Show in Portland. A special order form will be made up for this show and BPNW will take orders for books at the trade show. This is the first time that the organization has taken collective orders at a show aimed at the trade.

2006 members of BPNW will receive a letter this week outlining how orders will be taken. To participate in this event, a publisher must become a member of BPNW prior to Sept. 1.

Space on the order forms and display table will reserved on a first come, first served basis.

If you are interested in learning more about this event, contact Rosemary Jones at bpwnews@aol.com.

If you are interested in volunteering to work at this event, please contact Lani Jacobsen at info@74thstreet.com.

PNWA Summer Conference

The Pacific Northwest Writers Association Summer Writers Conference will be held July 13 through July 16, 2006. Session presenters include Mercedes Lackey, Robert Ferrigno, Larry Dixon, Meg Chittenden, and Ann Rule.


PNWA Summer Writers Conference
Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center
July 13 through July 16, 2006
Book-signings are open to the public on Saturday, July 15, at 8:00 p.m to 10:30 p.m.
 

Revised Meeting Schedule

This meeting schedule replaces the schedule previously announced in the June issue of the BPNW News. If you have any questions, please contact bpnwnews@aol.com.

2006 Meeting Schedule: July through December

July 2006
No Meeting

August 14 2006
BPNW Barbecue in Bellevue
Barbecue is a members only event.

September 21, 2006
Tradeshow Training
Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, WA

October 12-14, 2006
Pacific Northwest Bookseller’s Trade Show
Portland, Oregon
Display limited to member books.

October 19, 2006
On Air: Improving Interview Style
Good Shepherd Center, Seattle WA

November 16, 2006
High Quality Low Print Runs,
Good Shepherd Center, Seattle, WA

December 2006
Books & Bubbly, Annual Celebration
Members only event, time and location TBA.

Welcome to New and Returning Board Members

In June, Book Publishers Northwest added new board members Tom Blaschko, Margaret Doyle, Tom Masters, and Charlene Woodward.

Continuing and returning board members are Lani Jacobsen, Rosemary Jones, Duse McLean, and Kent Sturgis.

June Meeting: Opportunities for a Small Press

PMA Pub U and BEA Report

June 15, 2006
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Scott’s Bookstore
121 Freeway Drive, Mt. Vernon, WA

1-800-532-2665

Learning From Others at Pub U and BEA

by Margaret Doyle, Port Gamble Publishing

I arrived at Publishing University, a three-day seminar conducted by PMA, the Independent Publishers Association, to grow my one-person publishing company.

I chose courses from the following tracks: general business advice; finance, legal, marketing, editorial, sales, publicity and Internet. Over and over we are told three things:
1. Watch out for publicists
2. Do what you’re good at, what you like the best. Farm the rest out.
3. Have fun

Kent Sturgis, Epicenter Press publisher and retiring board president of PMA, greeted us on Tuesday morning saying that a straw poll shows that about 60% of us have published one to five titles, and tells us that 20% of independent publishers survive five years. He said, “Publishing is a competitive business, but folks help each other.” I’ve found this to be true in my two years as a publisher, and it is the greatest benefit of this nutsy business.

Robin Bartlett, the education chair of PMA, spoke of “extenuating markets” beyond “the Trades.” I remember when “the Trades” referred to winds of a certain latitude, and being mystified by reference to “trade” books and the “trade” market. Now I understand Bartlett when he says, “Look for places outside of bookstores to sell your books.”

One advantage of independent publishing is that you can set your own time-table and promote your book as much and as long as you want. But the best way to capitalize on the experience and expenses of marketing The Fisherman’s Quilt (my first book) is to publish more books, keeping in mind the vision and integrity of my company.

So I went to Washington DC with the successful sales record of 1.500 copies of The Fisherman’s Quilt selling annually, a memoir on the horizon (early 2007), and a planned oral history collection from soldiers who had served in Iraq in 2003-2004. My course selection at Pub U was a mix of hard knowledge of bookkeeping , planning for growth, and motivating courses on making my best year yet happen.

Join Margaret Doyle at Scott’s Bookstore in Mount Vernon for a discussion of PMA’s Pub U and BookExpo America, the largest book trade show held in the U.S., as well as opportunities for a small press in today’s bookselling climate.

Rosetta Solutions Exhibits For First Time At BEA

We shared a booth with OSoft.com (from Tacoma, WA), a new advanced software reader. BEA was in Washington DC this year, after a 20-year absence. The location was excellent--down one aisle from a main escalator. Show organizers reported that 31,971 people registered for the three-day convention and 20,000-plus attended. Our two primary goals were to generate revenue and to build credibility by being an exhibitor at BEA.

There are currently two sales pros generating sales opportunities and following up on leads for Rosetta. We picked up numerous leads during the three-day event. They included assorted publishers, sales channels, investors and potential partners. The sales team is deep in follow-up activities and has several face-to-face meetings throughout the US.

There were very few peers from digital publishing or technology exhibitors at BEA this year. There was no direct competitor exhibiting. Three major search-the-book vendors exhibited: Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. They all want to digitize the world’s books.

Publisher response is mixed; from excitement that someone else is paying to digitize their books, to extreme paranoia, believing that these companies are becoming their most formidable competition.

Some of our best prospects at BEA came to the booth with advance intent to meet us, as a result of the exhibitor directory. They had specific issues to discuss and wanted to learn what we can do for them.

We met with the VP Business Development and Marketing, and the CEO/Pres of R.R. Bowker. We talked about the NetGalley suite of services, focusing on the ONIX Engine and the eGalley services. It was a particularly good first meeting. They sat in cramped quarters inside our small exhibit, during a very busy time at the booth. The CEO would like a Web-based demo in the next couple of weeks. We invited her to select someone to join our advisory team for the NetGalley blog to contribute to the shaping of the NetGalley services.

submitted by Ted Treanor, Rosetta Solutions

Rosetta Solutions, Inc. (www.RosettaSolutions.com) also does business as Seattle Book Company (www.SeattleBook.com), a publisher and an eBookstore. In 1996, this Northwest company began as an ePublisher called Alexandria Digital Literature. This part of the business is now doing business as AstraTM (an imprint of Seattle Book Company). NetGalleyTM (www.NetGalley.com) is under development as a destination site for reviewers, booksellers, libraries, media and the reading community.

Small Press, Big Author, A BEA Story

For more commentary on Publishing University and BEA, go to www.PortGamblePublishing.com or attend the BPNW meeting at Scott’s Bookstore in Mt. Vernon on June 15 at 4 pm.

Margaret Doyle, Port Gamble Publishing, submitted the following article. Doyle founded Port Gamble Publishing in 2004. She was the 2006 PMA Publishing University scholarship recipient, represented BPNW at Pub U this year, and will be the speaker at our June 15 meeting at Scott's Bookstore. More information on the meeting can be found in the newsletter. Click on the link on the right to download a PDF copy of the newsletter.

From Doyle:

One of the most inspiring conversations I heard was the lunchtime interview by Jan Nathan, Director of PMA, of Paul Coates, Publisher of Black Classic Press, and Walter Mosley, author of 19 books, among them, the “Easy Rawlins” mysteries.

Paul Coates related how he heard Walter Mosley challenge the mainstream publishing industry as being dominated by white men, racist in fact if not in intention. Coates went to a Walter Mosley reading to thank him for his brave comments to publishers, and Mosley told him he was looking for a small black press to publish his next work. Coates related that he’d identified himself for so long as a black press, that to think of his publishing company as a small, independent press, required a mental adjustment.

But Coates came to match Mosley’s integrity with his own courage in taking on a major author, whose print run would be in the hundreds of thousands. Coates’ second challenge came in figuring out the finances of publishing a well-known author and a large print run.

Where would Black Classic Press get the money for printing, staffing, and promotion of a Walter Mosley publication? When meeting with Mosley’s previous publishers, they made an offer of financial assistance, and Coates thought they should take it. But Mosley wanted the integrity of truly publishing through an independent press, so he refused their offer. Paul described it as a unique experience “of saying no to someone who’s larger than me.”

Nathan questioned, “What should an author expect, or not expect from an independent publisher?” Coates replied that the author can’t expect of lot of money up front.

From the author’s standpoint, the publisher needs to keep author “informed of everything you do,” Mosley said. “Writers don’t know anything about publishing,” and “it behooves the publishing industry to inform writers into the reality of their world,” he added. Authors must understand returns, royalties, and other intricacies of this complex industry.

When Nathan asked Coates if he’d repeat the experience with another best-selling author, his honest answer surprised me: “Probably not, the stress is not worth it. There’s millions in, millions out, and nobody’s getting paid.”

“If you want to make a lot of money, go into real estate,” Coates concluded, which is ironic for me as my day job providing internet and marketing services to a small real estate company provides the ongoing budget in support of my publishing ventures.

However, Coates described the close friendship and respect that developed between Mosley and himself; a friendship that goes beyond royalties and best-seller lists. Coates did publish Mosley’s next book, What Next, a collection of social and political essays. Mosley felt that going with a major publisher would limit his freedom to express himself, so he again chose to work with Black Classic Press in 2003.

When Mosley was asked if he was disappointed that other successful black authors didn’t choose to support smaller black publishers; his response brought applause: “I’m disappointed in the same way I’m disappointed with the United States being in Iraq.” He clarified his statement by adding that we as a nation are experiencing two ideas at war: democracy and capitalism.

I can’t remember if it was Mosley or Coates who said, “If something is true and you know it’s true, you have to take an action.” But I do know that it’s an ideal that publishers as a class aspire to communicate; and that the brotherhood that Coates and Mosley found in their publishing relationship is one that I’ve seen played out over and over as members of the publishing profession help each other achieve and succeed.

Franca's Story Receives Two Awards at BEA

Franca's Story: Survival in World War II Italy won the Publishers Marketing Association’s Benjamin Franklin gold award for best interior design of a book using 1-2 colors. Seattle designers Peggy Zafarana and Lautaro Gabriel Gonda worked with author Diane Kinman on the book, published by Wimer Publishing Company of Mercer Island, WA.

The book also received ForeWord Magazine’s Silver Award: 2005 Book of the Year for Autobiography/Memoir. Kinman's debut memoir is based on the true story of her friend, Mercer Island artist Franca Mercati Martin, who helped her family and 300 elderly citizens live through the trauma of WWII in northern Italy. It provides a window into a fascinating time and an intriguing family determined to survive amidst increasing devastation and loss.

Librarians and booksellers across the U.S. selected ForeWord’s winners from 1,500 entries and 613 finalists. “The books were all wonderful,” said librarian Angela O’Kane. “It was hard to narrow it down.” Entries were judged on criteria including originality, writing and production quality, and patron/customer interest in the subject matter. Award announcements were made during ceremonies at the Book Expo of America held May 18-21, 2006, at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center. Book Expo of America is the largest trade show for the book industry in the U.S.

Pioneer Distribution: Nonprofit Fulfillment Service

Looking for local fulfillment help?

At a recent BPNW meeting, Kent Sturgis of Epicenter Press (“Alaska Book Adventures”) recommended a warehouse/fulfillment center for publishers large and small. Sturgis said he likes doing business with the Pioneer Distribution Center at 606 S.Othello St. for three reasons.

First, Pioneer is a division of Pioneer Human Services, founded in 1963, a not-for-profit company that puts to work people from what a spokesman called “the fringes of society,” including reformed alcoholics and drug addicts, parolees, and others who want to turn their lives around.

Second, Sturgis said the prices are very competitive. “I don’t believe we could find this level of service anywhere else for the price,” he said.

Third, the company strongly emphasizes quality control, with an error rate under 1%. Sturgis found out about Pioneer from Sasquatch, which has warehoused and shipped books from Pioneer for several years. Pioneer is interested in serving publishers ranging from the Sasquatch and Epicenter size down to the “one pallet” publishers.

For more information, contact David Lawson at (206)768-5151 or email the company at pds@p-h-s.com. For more information about Pioneer Human Services, visit www.pioneerhumanservices.org.