Sunday, March 17, 2013

Mike & Jeff Show - Manuscript to BOOK - a Tell All


The New Age writer/publisher team of Michael Ray King (brand name) and Jeff “Swesky“ (1st keyword in his meta-tag list) revealed much of what they've learned in recent years since digital books became a reality.

Jeff Swesky and Michael Ray King together with books they've written and published

           They appeared before a full house of writers in the St. Augustine Main Library, in all stage of the process, eager to learn or refresh, how to get from manuscript to published book. It was staged by the FWA (Florida Writers Association) Ancient City chapter, yesterday.
Mike aka professionally as Michael Ray King, emphasized the brand-name marketing facet which lodges the author's name, appearance, genre, into the buying-mode of readers. His full name; only heard aloud when he was in trouble with mom - “Michael RAY King...who did this?” has become an asset amongt many pages of Michael Kings' found by search engines. And the conservative jacket atop open-shirt, jeans and sneakers is his “casual but serious publisher” upgrade uniform.
                                           Jeff Swesky guided writers through the Kindle maze

         Jeff Swesky, who broke into big-time print as a “ghost writer” relating a Holocaust memoir of a local Rabbi, emphasized a frequently overlooked tip for writers anxious to tease readers to the stories they have to tell. Often, the author's NAME is the only constant readers remember about a book they liked. So, the author's name is the first clue registered in the keyword field of ALL those little boxes which need to be filled in before a manuscript file can morph into a down-loadable Kindle book.
        Sixty!
       The number of people – not the aggregate age – sat through two hours of the Mike & Jeff Show. And the doors were NOT barred!

Friday, March 15, 2013

If you write it - might be best to Go to THEM!

    In the constatnly shifting world of publishing and marketing the Book Store and Sunday Supplement  Book Page are not the only venues to explore in getting the right book to the right reader ( an old antiquarian bookseller motto).
   Parking was at a premium Friday, March 15, when former Florida Game Warden Lt. Bob Lee launched his hardbound book Backcountry Lawman in the warehouse of the Putnam Feed and Seed Store on SR20. No limos or valet service ala Palm Beach - but plenty of pick-up belonging to hunters and lawmen (not always on the saw side of the law) - and fans or foes of Lee and his "guest" co-signer, Putnam's notorious poacher, Roger "Kat" Gunter.

   One of these days, when I'm not chasing deadlines and racing the clock, I'll reconfigure this snippet, but I do want to illustrate it IS possible to have a successful book-signing outside the norm.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Way to Start the Day - BLOGGED!


Most happy to start the week by being included in Lee Kirk's blog on Tomfolio, the independent cooperative book-dealers site, with a thumbnail biography of my Old Book Shop and a preview of my story “Books Before NOOKs – And Beyond”.
        As a fellow bookseller and freelance writer Lee noted, she recognized a piece of “blatant self-promotion” when she saw it!
         In (one) of my other lives beyond bibliopole, journalism has (mostly) paid the bills for the past half-century or so. Both fields have undergone major changes in recent decades but both have retained the allure of a certain degree of independence which partially compensates for the poor pay.
         For sure a doctor, plumber or garbage-collector are higher up the income ladder, but would they have uncovered the dormant tale of a miracle book from the Vatican which survived the sinking at sea of the SS Andrea Doria?


Please, pick it up here:
Enjoy!

Sunday, February 24, 2013

A busy time ahead - TG!

   In the "feast or famine" course of events, the next couple of weeks could be a Rolaid period:

         *       Three Book Signings - for three books
         *       One Book Fair - looking, listening ...selling
         *       Compile and Launch ANOTHER book.

      Plus - with a little bit of luck - the timely publication of a short story about the miracle of an antiquarian Vatican book which survived the tragedy and sinking of the S.S. Andrea Doria.
     The book signings will be::
      *    Wednesday, Feb. 27, Black Horse Winery 6:30 - 8:30:
                *   Friday, March 1, Gallery 26, Melrose Art Walk, 301 State Roard 26, 6 - 9 pm.
                *   Sat.  March 2, Read (Think) Books, corner of St. Johns Ave. & 7th St., Palatka, 1-2 pm
               BEWARE: Impromptu sales and signings can occure whenever Juanita, my Mazda pickup, and I are spotted stopped somewhere!