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.