Books worth reading and authors worth knowing: Published 2013-2015

Kelli & Kelly Books for Kids were terrific on Seattle's "New Day" TV Talk Show

Kelli Nielsen and Kelly Hawkins of Kelli and Kelly Books for Kids absolutely ROCKED Seattle's New Day TV Talk Show today! Congrats, Super Mother Publishers! Here's the link for the awesome segment (Best Line: "Okay, which one of you is Kelly?"):

http://kng5.tv/1GJLoZJ

Mom Entrepreneur Publishers Launch New Kids Book on Radio 2/9 7:30AM

For immediate release:

Kelli and Kelly Books for Kids launch: I Am Not Selling My Tooth! with Mike in the Morning

Summary: Mom Entrepreneurs Kelli Nielsen (Author) and Kelly Hawkins (Illustrator) of Kelli and Kelly Books for Kids will appear Mon., Feb. 9 at 7:30 a.m. on Mike Yeoman’s “Mike in the Morning” show (KAPS 102.1 FM / 660 AM) to talk about their newest book, “I Am Not Selling My Tooth!” and discuss their passion for children and books.

“Why can’t I just be small Austin and have small clothes, small teeth and live with my mom and dad forever?”—“I Am Not Selling My Tooth!”

Did you know that February is Children’s Dental Health Month? Kelli Nielsen and Kelly Hawkins do! These dynamic “Mom Entrepreneurs” of Washington State who sold over 1000 copies of their first children’s book, “You Will Always Be My Son” will launch their new book, “I Am Not Selling My Tooth!” just in time for two children’s museums to host the book’s launch during events that will focus on kids’ dental hygiene. Helping them get the word out is Mike Yeoman who will feature Kelli and Kelly Books for Kids on his “Mike in the Morning” show on KAPS (102.1 FM / 660 AM) on Mon., Feb. 9 at 7:30 a.m.

Kelli and Kelly will read and sign “I Am Not Selling My Tooth!” Fri., Feb. 20 at the Children’s Museum of Skagit County in Burlington, Wash. (1-3pm) and Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett, Wash. (6-8pm).

Cate Anderson, Executive Director of the Children's Museum of Skagit County (CMSC), said the museum is "excited" to host Kelli and Kelly because "not only does the book tie in perfectly with the theme in our museum, it really speaks to how many children feel about letting go of their teeth...and their childhood."

Author Kelli Nielsen and Illustrator Kelly Hawkins have been long-time supporters of the CMSC. They were brought up in Skagit County and raised their children there. Nielsen dedicates her new book to her “wonderful” son Austin: “Thank you for giving me the words.”

Hawkins credits her two daughters with giving her “inspiration every day.” Nielsen said, “We are two moms whose inspiring dream is to bring quality children's books to market.”

Title: I Am Not Selling My Tooth!

Author: Kelli Nielsen

Illustrator: Kelly Hawkins

Publisher: Kelli and Kelly Books for Kids

Pub. Date: 11/23/14                             

Genre: Children’s Picture Book (Ages 2-8)

ISBN: 978-1503366077

Website: http://www.kelliandkellybooks.com

Available at Amazon in Paperback (40 pgs) and Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/NOT-selling-tooth-Kelli-Nielsen/dp/1503366073

Author Contact | kelliandkellybooksforkids@gmail.com

Facebook | Kelli and Kelly Books for Kids

Facebook | I Am Not Selling My Tooth

MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW: "I Am NOT Selling My Tooth!"

Title:                           I Am NOT Selling My Tooth!

Author:                      Kelli Nielsen            Illustrator:   Kelly Hawkins

Pub. Date:                 11/23/14

Genre:                         Picture Book (Ages 6-8)

ISBN:                           978-1503366077

Paperback                 Pages: 40             List Price:     $9.97 

Publisher:                  Kelli and Kelly Books for Kids

Website:                      http://www.kelliandkellybooks.com

Order at:                                 http://www.amazon.com/NOT-selling-tooth-Kelli-Nielsen/dp/1503366073

SUMMARY:  I Am NOT Selling My Tooth! honors children's need to be autonomous when coping with the life and body changes that come with growing older. A fun, useful book for parents, small children and anyone who needs to adjust to change.

“The kids in my class are losing their teeth. Yuck!”

                                  —I Am NOT Selling My Tooth!

What is there to say about children’s “baby teeth” that has not already been said? On the face of it, the traditional equation is simple: 1 lost baby tooth = $ from a Tooth Fairy. Kelli Nielsen’s I Am NOT Selling My Tooth puts a charming spin on this scenario with heartfelt warmth and humor by taking the position that children are capable of making their own decisions about how to respond to the body changes that are part of growing older. It is a gentle examination of a rite of passage that adults, as well as children, can relate to and appreciate.

The story takes off when the rebellious Alec declares, “I’m keeping my teeth small just like me.” He doesn’t see why his teeth just can’t grow bigger as he grows bigger. The fact that Alec shares the same name as the author’s son, whom she thanks in the book’s Dedication along with her other son Austin, grounds the story in reality and gives it a very personal tone.

Enhanced by Kelly Hawkin’s fun illustrations that evoke a child’s abstract perception of space, color and line, “I Am NOT Selling My Tooth” never talks down to children, but is right there with the child’s need to have some autonomy in life choices, no matter how “small” they are. It takes readers on a tour of the tooth-loss phenomenon that includes sharks, baseball injuries and even an octopus that receives something other than money for its lost tooth.

I would recommend this book for any parent with a child about to lose a tooth or who has lost a tooth, and as an excellent educational aid for dentists. It might even be helpful for therapists and life coaches who wish to discuss life changes and the various options available for responding and adjusting to them—no matter how old we are.

INDIE AUTHORS: PR FOR YOUR KDP GIVEAWAY (HELPFUL HINT)

For the better part of 2014, I've been working with British mystery author Celia Conrad to boost the visibility and sales of her trilogy, "Alicia Allen Investigates," which never had a proper launch when it was originally published. If you find yourself in the re-launch boat, you might want to take advantage of the free Amazon service known as Kindle Direct Publishing for authors, and offer your book as a Kindle-friendly E-Book for a limited number of days. Yes, you might run the "danger" of over-saturating the sales possibilities, and yes, it does make the heart sink a bit when you see thousands of people have downloaded your book for FREE and even if they'd paid a dollar each...well, let's not go there.

Here's the reason Conrad and I decided to run the KDP specials along with the rest of our re--launch PR:

If you use the KDP as a raison d'etre for fresh publicity (meaning press releases), you could be looking at a win-win victory. PR Distribution services are free, but the editors are very strict about not allowing any pure publicity stunts to leak through your press release. It must be:

• Well written.
• Newsworthy
• Timely (e.g., your KDP offer is coming up shortly)

The last book in the trilogy, "Murder in Hand," will be coming up for the free Kindle E-Book Giveaway on Dec. 13 and 14, and we have used this press release (below) not only for PR Distribution pickup (Broadway World Book News and the BBC Record picked it up, just to name a couple media outlets that thrilled us), but we also sent it via e-mails to book clubs, etc. with a personalized note/

Here then is the press release as it was posted on PR.com a few days ago, with my best wishes for your success along your novel journey!

Onward,

Marlan Warren (Book Publicity by Marlan)

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN LINKED IN NEWS FEED TODAY:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/indie-authors-pr-hint-youre-marlan-warren

For immediate release:

Barcham Books fights “Forces of Evil” with holiday KDP Giveaway (Dec. 13-14) of Celia Conrad’s Italian Crime Romp “Murder in Hand”: Bone up on your Puccini!

“Alicia Allen should be on the top of every woman’s reading list.”

 —Readers’ Favorite 5 Star Award Review

On Dec. 13 through Dec. 14, Barcham Books will gift readers with Book 3 in Celia Conrad’s Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy (AAI), Murder in Hand (MIH), as a free e-book via Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select program. “It’s our way of saying thank you and wishing everyone a happy holiday,” said Barcham Books’ Jane Hall. “Everyone, it seems, just loves Alicia.”

This cerebral legal murder mystery turns on Italian international corruption, Puccini and dead Probate attorneys as it hails the return of Alicia Allen, the potato chip loving half-Italian London lawyer who never lets her thriving relationship with a handsome lawyer cohort stand in the way of fingering a culprit.

“The beauty part is that Murder in Hand can be read as a stand-alone,” Hall added.

Memories of made of this: Thanks for a great year (+One-Sheets for Celia Conrad's Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy)

Happy Holidays!

Like the shoemaker who was too busy to make his own shoes, I've neglected updates for my own PR blog. As the year draws to a close (farewell 2014!), I realize that I have not attended to my own marketing--in other words, Communication.

I began the year with the dual launch of Santa Fe authors Judith Fein and Nancy King (The Spoon from Minkowitz and Changing Spaces, respectively). The prep started in September 2013 with Nancy needing my assistance in the packaging of the book at every level before publication, including a rather harrowing experience where the indie publisher and Amazon got their wires crossed and Changing Spaces was listed with its summary...under another book title and author (complete with the wrong book cover); and fielding 20 emails a day from the Human Dynamo that is travel writer extraordinaire Judith Fein. Personal book appearances galore were organized, ditto radio interviews (including one major cap feather: NPR asked to feature Fein and her book).

Throughout the year, I negotiated and re-negotiated and gave out free how-to info to newbie authors, and learned learned learned....

Barcham Books fights “Forces of Evil” with Kindle Direct Publishing Giveaway (Dec.13-14) of Celia Conrad’s Italian Crime Romp “Murder in Hand”: Bone up on your Puccinii!

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My interview with “tough little cookie” Celia Conrad: The British author shares her journey from law to crime fiction as she endorses Barcham Books holiday launch of “Murder in Hand” via Amazon KDP E-Book Giveaway (12/13-12/14/14). Distributed by PR.com to relevant newswires and picked up by Broadway World Books News and the BBC Record, among other key sites.

Author: Celia Conrad

Copyright: 2012

Publisher: Barcham Books    

Pages: 352

Trade Paperback and All E-Book Formats

ISBN 13: 978-0954623340

ASIN: B00A1O1YQE

"The greatest pleasures lie in Celia Conrad's refusal or inability to write for the lowest common denominator. Instead she aims for the highest." —Midwest Book Review (Murder in Hand)

On Dec. 13 through Dec. 14, Barcham Books will gift readers with Book 3 in Celia Conrad’s Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy (AAI), Murder in Hand (MIH), as a free e-book via Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select program. “It’s our way of saying thank you and wishing everyone a happy holiday,” said Barcham Books’ Jane Hall. “We are very pleased that Midwest Book Review features Murder in Hand this month. Everyone, it seems, just loves Alicia.”

This cerebral legal murder mystery turns on Italian international corruption, Puccini and dead Probate attorneys as it hails the return of Alicia Allen, the potato chip loving half-Italian London lawyer who never lets her thriving relationship with a handsome lawyer cohort stand in the way of fingering a culprit.

“The beauty of Murder in Hand is that it can be read as a stand-alone,” said Hall.

Journalist Marlan Warren recently sat down with Celia Conrad to discuss her author’s journey from law to legal crime fiction:

Warren: All the AAI books deal with the darker side of the legal world. Did you draw from your experiences as a London attorney?

Conrad: As a solicitor I met some rather obnoxious people and a few shady/unsavory characters.

Warren: Did you ever find yourself pursuing a murderer in your law practice?

Conrad: My world is far less dangerous than Alicia’s, although we do share love for Italian culture and a crisp that rhymes with “Tingles.” We both like researching and analyzing complex legal issues.

Warren: The Italophile Book Review recommended MIH for “Italophiles, Anglophiles, fans of traditional British mysteries, and fans of cozy-murder-mysteries.” Would you agree?

Conrad: Absolutely. And I was thrilled when the Readers’ Favorite 5-Star Award Review said Alicia “should be on the top of every woman’s reading list.” My fan mail shows AAI readers like strong but not perfect female detectives, and they love the repartee between Alicia and Alex.

Author Celia Conrad

Warren: Book 1 sends Alicia through London’s urban dangers. Book 2 takes her to Australia, and Book 3 spans New York, London, Italy and Sicily. Italian culture provides color and clues. What inspired you to use Puccini in Book 3?

Conrad: When I first saw Puccini’s opera, Gianni Schicchi, I hoped to use it in a plot of my own, and it did prove most “handy” in Murder in Hand.

Warren: Can you sum up Alicia Allen?

Conrad: She’s a tough little cookie who will stop at nothing.

Warren: And the theme of MIH ?

Conrad: Forces of darkness are everywhere.

Warren: What inspired you?

Conrad: Paul Marsh at the Marsh Agency suggested my experiences could make good novels.

Book Trailer for Book 1 in the Alicia Allen Investigates Trilolgy: A Model Murder

MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW "Murder in Hand" by British-Italian Author Celia Conrad

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MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW Reader's Choice: MURDER IN HAND this month. Congratulations, Celia Conrad!

“Murder in Hand”: Italian Probate, Puccini & Dead Lawyers

Lawyers aren’t the most popular people, Miss Allen…”

—Murder in Hand

In her cerebral legal mystery, Murder in Hand, Celia Conrad pulls her feisty London Probate/Estate lawyer heroine, Alicia Allen, deeper into the quagmire world of unscrupulous attorneys, the unfortunates who work with them and their unsuspecting innocent victims. In this third book of the Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy (AAI), Conrad hits her stride as a bona fide puzzle master in the tradition of Agatha Christie. The easy-to-follow plot line keeps readers guessing and the pages turning, while great pleasures lie in Conrad’s refusal–or perhaps inability–to write for the lowest common denominator of brain power. Instead she aims for the highest.

 
 If you want to roll with Alicia Allen…better bring your A-Game (and some knowledge of the Classics wouldn’t hurt).

Murder in Hand could be enjoyed as a stand-alone book if readers don’t mind not knowing the history between the justice-loving attorney Alicia Allen and her adoring cohort Alex Waterford; her investigator friends, Jo and Will; or her cultured elderly neighbor Dorothy.

The story takes off when Alicia’s Italian American client Fabio confides that he believes someone is trying to kill him. Fabio’s family ties span New York, England and Italy/Sicily; and when his sister is killed in the midst of doing some family estate research in Italy, Alicia embarks on a quest to find the killer.

 

“I can’t leave you alone for a few hours without somebody else being murdered.”—Murder in Hand

   

IN LAW FIRMS NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM: New Midwest Book Review: "A Model Murder" by Celia Conrad

Midwest Book Review: A Model Murder by Celia Conrad

IN LAW FIRMS, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM...

Midwest Book Review "Reader's Choice": http://www.midwestbookreview.com/rbw/aug_14.htm

He told me he was used to getting what he wanted...

--A Model Murder, Celia Conrad

What do law firms and men’s “hostess” clubs have in common? If your first thought is “alpha males,” you’re already on board with A Model Murder. Conrad draws disturbing, often painfully entertaining, parallels between these two worlds where Neanderthals still roam the Earth, and a resistant female might get a bop on the head or worse.

A Model Murder is a fast-paced suspense mystery, full of twists and turns, following in the tradition of Nicci French and Sue Grafton.

BEFORE YOU PUBLISH: HELPFUL HINTS

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Book cover I helped the author design.

So you have your manuscript written and formatted and it's ready to be published. Whether you are "self-publishing" (no longer considered a "Vanity Press" as technology refines our ways of communicating our ideas and stories in order to make them more accessible, as well as more "commercial" in their style) or are affiliated with a "small press" (aka "indie publisher") OR have actually landed a known publisher, you will need to know all you can about grassroots marketing and public relations.

Here are some guidelines to remember (if you'd like links to longer essays by experts online, send me a message and I'll supply them).

Not necessarily in chronological order:

1. Do not trust your own proofreading and editing abilities for that final polish. Hire or sleep with someone (yes, it's a joke) who can assist your tired eyes and brain with this very important task. All it takes is one typo on page 1 or on the back cover (Hint: If you think you know how to spell someone's name, don't trust to memory or spellcheck---look it up! Even famous people. Yes, I've seen famous names misspelled on the back cover! It happens.)

Interview: "Tough Little Cookie" Author Celia Conrad on "A Model Murder" & KDP Select Giveaway 5/31-6/2/14

"He told me he was used to getting what he wanted." 

—A Model Murder

Interview with "tough little cookie" Celia Conrad: The British author speaks out on abuse of women in male dominated hostess clubs and law firms, and endorses the Barcham Books launch of "A Model Murder” as a free e-book via KDP Giveaway 5/31-6/2/14.

What do law firms and hostess clubs have in common? The answer lies at the heart of British author Celia Conrad’s “A Model Murder,” a crime fiction novel featuring the murder of a young model moonlighting as a stripper and the harassed-at-work London woman lawyer who sets out to bring the murderer to justice.

The thriller appeared on the literary scene in 2011 before news events made its plot points seem positively prescient. Last April, a stripper was found murdered after work in Atlanta, Ga.; and last year, a gender discrimination lawsuit against a prominent American law firm settled in favor of its women lawyers. 

Los Angeles journalist Marlan Warren (MW) caught up with Celia Conrad (CC) to discuss the origins of “A Model Murder” (AMM) and why publisher Barcham Books has decided to launch the e-book as a giveaway via Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select program May 31 through June 2.

MW: In AMM, the moonlighting model tells someone, "He told me he was used to getting what he wanted..." when describing an aggressive club customer. Later your heroine Alicia Allen also encounters this attitude with the boss at her law firm. You had a career in London working "within the law" (as they say in the U.K.). How much of your own lawyer experiences found their way into Alicia's world?

CC:  AMM is autobiographical in parts, which probably makes this story even darker because it is real. The legal profession is still male dominated despite what we are told about more women qualifying or more women reaching top jobs. I think for a young woman within the law it can still be quite hard.

MW: What kind of research did you do?

CC: While I was doing a little modeling,  I met a model who worked in a club to supplement her income. To research, I talked with women at the clubs. They told me how they got treated depended on the "boss." They had to generate money for the club by being "nice," but the degree of how “nice” came from the top. Some bosses looked after their employees better than others. Some women felt pressured, and some did not.

Book Trailer for Book 1 in the Alicia Allen Investigates Trilolgy: A Model Murder

Getting Started: Before you publish

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A few helpful hints as you embark on the first leg of your publishing journey:

So you have your manuscript written and formatted and it's ready to be published. Whether you are "self-publishing" (no longer considered a "Vanity Press" as technology refines our ways of communicating our ideas and stories in order to make them more accessible, as well as more "commercial" in their style) or are affiliated with a "small press" (aka "indie publisher") OR have actually landed a known publisher, you will need to know all you can about grassroots marketing and public relations.

Here are some guidelines to remember (if you'd like links to longer essays by experts online, send me a message and I'll supply them).

Not necessarily in chronological order:

1. Do not trust your own proofreading and editing abilities for that final polish. Hire or sleep with someone (yes, it's a joke) who can assist your tired eyes and brain with this very important task. All it takes is one typo on page 1 or on the back cover (Hint: If you think you know how to spell someone's name, don't trust to memory or spellcheck---look it up! Even famous people. Yes, I've seen famous names misspelled on the back cover! It happens.)

The hardest to proof is grammar. And that is really where the expert editor comes in at the very moment when the author just wants to "feggedaboutit" and just get the darn thing "out there."

TESTIMONIALS

PRAISE FOR BOOK PUBLICITY BY MARLAN 

For all your book publicity needs I highly recommend Marlan Warren. As an author with three crime novels in need of better marketing strategies and publicity, I have found Marlan to be a seriously good publicist because she devotes time and trouble in clearly identifying her clients' objectives at the outset and then defining what is realistically achievable in publicity terms--both in the short and long-term. She is very resourceful, has an eye for detail, a talent for writing and research, and a pragmatic--but positive approach--to every issue. From a client’s perspective it is a joy to deal with someone who is so responsive, constructive and supportive. As a client I feel very reassured in her hands and have confidence in her considerable abilities to promote my work. She is very personable and easy to deal with – an added bonus! --Celia Conrad, Author of Alicia Allen Investigates 

***

Marlan Warren is the publicist for my new novel, Changing Spaces, published by Plain View Press in January 2014. She has been an indefatigable advocate and tireless researcher, finding ways to promote my book, arrange appearances, and, unexpectedly, acting like a detective to discover glitches in the listing of my book on Amazon. She’s smart, hard-working, sensitive to my needs as a writer/author, and an expert at communicating complex ideas and practices clearly and thoroughly. I cannot recommend her highly enough.--Nancy King, Author of Changing Spaces

*** 

Marlan Warren is so devoted to her clients that it's a wonder she has time for her own life. She takes her work very personally, and is always thinking about ways to make her clients shine. What's best about her, besides her integrity, is her creativity. Instead of just treading the path everyone else takes, she also walks off the main road and discovers outlets for her writers that few others think of. Kudos!--Judith Fein, The Spoon from Minkowitz

 ***

I have been so impressed with the work Marlan has done for me in promoting my book, ALL STORMS PASS: The Anti-Meditations and my private practice as a Life Coach and Hypnotist. Marlan is sharp and creative.  Probably one of the brightest sharpest people I've ever worked with.  She knows what to do.  She creates a plan, she executes it and she takes care of business.  It is obvious that she has a LOT of experience working with promoting, announcing and facilitating events.  She gets the word and announcements out to all the relevant print media in plenty of time and her excellent writing skills continue to blow me away.  In fact, her writing skills are such a strong asset that they come into play and make every step with her on the mission even more impressive and effective.

She especially did effective, impressive and comprehensive work in organizing my book tour, creating the opportunity for and facilitating my radio interviews, and in designing and maintaining my book's website and Facebook pages as well as scouting and procuring new venues for readings/signings, interviews and workshops.  Marlan is also great with social media including Facebook, Twitter, writing and placing effective blogs and articles and designing web pages.  I am particularly happy with the Facebook pages that she did for me, the independent webpage she designed for my book.  She also knows how to make deft use of Meetup as a tool which continues to pay off in setting up events and workshops for me.

Marlan has a very strong personality which means that she gets things done.  At the same time, I feel like she really listens to what I want and executes the work to make my priorities happen and in the ways I need them done.--Luke Benoit, Author of All Storms Pass: The Anti-Meditations

"Our Interwoven Lives with the Zapotec Weavers: An Odyssey of the Heart" by Susanna Starr

Now taking orders on Amazon (pub. June 1, 2014)

http://www.amazon.com/Our-Interwoven-Lives-Zapotec-Weavers/dp/0991095618

OUR INTERWOVEN LIVES 

WITH THE ZAPOTEC WEAVERS:

An Odyssey of the Heart

by Susanna Starr

 Photographs by John Lamkin

Photograph by ©John Lamkin

I hope this story serves as a reminder that business is not a negative word. Trading is as old as human history, whether for goods or services. It doesn't have to be exploitative nor impersonal to be successful. Rather, if it is infused with joy and happiness, it can provide a vital, important and enriching aspect of our lives. 
                      –  Susanna Starr, Taos, NM    

Zapotec Women at Market - photo ©John Lamkin

PRAISE FOR OUR INTERWOVEN LIVES WITH THE ZAPOTEC WEAVERS

A BEAUTIFUL BOOK, BOTH THE WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHS. I own a Zapotec rug and appreciate the work of these artists. This book gives them credit where credit is long overdue.--Tom Aageson, Executive Director, Global Center for Cultural Entrepreneurship

A MUST READ FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO DO WELL BY DOING GOOD IN THE WORLD. This improbable story about an American "hippie" and traditional weavers in the Oaxaca Valley of Mexico will fire your Imagination and touch your heart. Susanna Starr's life story proves that love, respect, learning and success in business can go hand in hand.--Judith Fein, Author of Life Is a Trip: The Transformative Magic of Travel and The Spoon from Minkowitz: A Bittersweet Roots Journey to Ancestral Lands

Photograph by ©John Lamkin

"ONE OF LIFE'S MEMORABLE INTERSECTIONS"

 With Love it began…With Love it flourished…And with Love it continues.

     OUR INTERWOVEN LIVES WITH THE ZAPOTEC WEAVERS - An Odyssey of the Heart celebrates American entrepreneur and gallery owner Susanna Starr’s forty years of working with the Zapotec weavers of the Oaxaca Valley in Mexico. Starr takes us back to the moment when she first navigated dirt roads into the remote village of Teotitlan in the 70s, and fell in love with the vibrant Zapotec hand-loomed weavings and the warmth of the weavers themselves. She leads us on a three-generational trek of mind and spirit, as the Zapotec families and her own grow in parallels of symbiotic prosperity and mutual respect that reminds us that “business” does not have to be a negative word.

How not to handle a "local author" event (PS - Vromans, are you listening?)

 Shame on you, Vromans Bookstore!

I have attended many author events at Vromans over the years. Until a couple days ago, the authors whom I heard speak were well known. No matter how late they were, the Vromans emcee would always introduce them with almost bowing reverence. And their books would be prominently displayed downstairs in full view of potential buyers.

Full disclosure: Vromans charges big bucks for indie authors who would like an "event" that would give them some time to pitch their book as well as sell it. That kind of sounds all right, unless you understand that most other indie bookstores in the Los Angeles/Pasadena area do not charge authors when they invite them to talk/read/sign.

Of course Vromans has been around for a good long time, and everyone--including me--loves this store for its pleasant, welcoming ambience as much as for its book selection and helpful staff. There's only one problem--when it came to my former client who was slated to share the podium with another author for Vromans' recent "Local Author Day," the bookstore did next to nothing to promote this book before the event.

The blurb about my client's novel that was in Vromans' newsletter was less than the tip of the proverbial iceberg; although an attendee sitting next to me pointed out it was like "War and Peace" compared to the "short shrift summary" given to the book by the other author. 

Customers notice things like that.

I found out about the event a few weeks earlier while searching the Net to check on my press release distribution for that novel. Yes, I care that your book sells. Long after I am no longer paid to do so.

So I called the author to offer some free PR suggestions (e.g., make fliers with a couple strong reviews on them, and pass them out at the event so attendees could get a clearer idea of what was inside the book). 

As I am often in the area, I stopped by Vromans to check the "Local Author" shelves, and monitor how the book was being displayed. They are all grouped together, with some books getting better light and "center stage"--while others are "consigned" to the shadows or the bottom shelf which is the literary equivalent of Siberia.

Does the Vromans staff have certain reasons for not prominently displaying books by authors who will be featured in a "Local Authors Day" event in less than six days? In this case, my former client's book fell deeper into shadows and Siberia--no matter how many times I would place it myself in a more eye-catching position. 

By the next day, the book would have been put back in "Invisible Land."

What's the deal? Does Vromans not let staffers know when local authors will be needing the best spot in the store because they will be actually trying to attract readers in person? Three days before the event, I stormed up to the Information Counter and demanded satisfaction. "Oh I know," the guy behind the counter said. "That's not too good, is it? Well, I don't think there's anybody left here to help you with that. Try tomorrow."

I decided to just let the author know. And surrendered to fate.

This event is every now and then on a Sunday at 4pm. And this was a couple weeks before Christmas. Several feet away from the children's section, for crying out loud (literally).

So you've got busy shoppers, crying, laughing children, and Christmas music blaring over the loudspeakers. Add to this a microphone that isn't adjusted for each speaker so it might as well not even be there, and a bored-looking emcee who says in her introduction:

"The Local Authors Event helps self-published authors have an event for their friends and family..."

and you've got a very tough publicity row to hoe. Perhaps next time, this emcee should just say out loud, we don't think any of these books can be that good because they are not published by a known publisher--but we took their money anyway.

Ah if that were all. But there's more...

Pouring salt in the wound, the bored Vromans employee throws on a game smile, looks over at the author...and gets his name wrong as she tells him to "Go ahead..."

Honestly, is it too much to ask that the Vromans people who will have direct contact with these authors (who have paid good money to do this), just look at the featured book and read some online PR about it?

As for the fliers I'd suggested, the author had indeed made some. Just not given them out. 

Truthfully, as fed up as I am with the disgraceful way Vromans treats authors it never heard of, I honestly wish indie authors would recognize that they really need to hustle and get on the PR for their event, especially if there's no publicist to handle things.

Bookstores' bad behavior is not entirely to blame for low turnout at a book event. Like the tango, it takes two. Maybe that's not the way it was when Steinbeck, Henry Miller and Nin roamed the Earth. But it sure is how things are now.

Best case scenario is when a bookstore does what it can to promote an indie author it has agreed to host, and that author does what he/she can to promote the store's event and that book to as many people as possible.

That would be a win-win.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU LOST YOUR LIFE? - AUTHOR NANCY KING INTERVIEW - "CHANGING SPACES" RECONNECTS THE DISCONNECT

 

For immediate release

Novel Title:  Changing Spaces

Genre:          Fiction

Author:         Nancy King

Pub. Date:    Jan. 1, 2014       Publisher: Plain View Press

Publicist:      Marlan Warren 

Book Publicity by Marlan      E-Mail: roadmap.girl at hotmail

c/o Roadmap Communications

1831 Winona Blvd., #104

Los Angeles, CA 90027

NANCY KING RECONNECTS THE DISCONNECT IN CHANGING SPACES

“How is it possible that one minute I’m a wife

and the next I’m a discard?”

—Changing Spaces, Nancy King

    Santa Fe author Nancy King’s upcoming novel (due out Jan. 2014, pub. Plain View Press) about a Midwestern runaway soon-to-be-divorced wife who gets a “makeover” in Santa Fe could end up doing for New Mexico what Moby Dick did for whales.

     Changing Spaces grew out of three incidents. “First there was a woman who said to me, ‘That was before I lost my life,’” said King. “Her husband of 40 years had divorced her to marry a younger woman.” The following week, another friend “showed up in tears because her husband wanted out of their 40-year marriage so he could marry his secretary.” By the time Nancy King spotted an Op-Ed about the author of a book that touted the joys of being a stay-at-home-wife whose husband now wanted a divorce after 40 years—she knew she was on to something.

     Into this familiar scenario, King injected a “What if?”. What if a Midwestern 60-year old woman woke up as she always did, made love with her husband of 40 years, and several hours later, learned her husband had fallen for a younger woman and wanted a divorce—and what if—she hit the road and ended up in the healing bear-hug that is Santa Fe, New Mexico?

     As one reviewer put it: “Heartbreak turns to intrigue. A season of grief leads to a wig, a closet, a script, cookie recipes, new friendships, and a wide-open future.”

“Hey, ya got the Santa Fe idea. No need to be who you were.

Be who you want to be.” —Changing Spaces, Nancy King

     In 2001, King moved from New York City “and never looked back.” The decision to leave friends and job would have been bold for anyone, but since 1985, King has been living with a rare form of leukemia known as "hairy cell." 

     “When I realized I had a chronic disease with no cure, I made the decision that it was not going to run or ruin my life. I focus on what I can do; not what I lost or what I used to be able to do. Even when I don’t feel well, I force myself to walk or hike or play tennis because I always feel better afterward.”

     The unsinkable Nancy King has trekked Thailand, hiked the Grand Canyon, and “run people 50 years her junior into the ground,” according to one friend. “She overcame the odds of a disastrous diagnosis.”

Laura tried on outfit after outfit, hoping to alter her personality

from the outside in. She practiced taking bigger steps…

—Changing Spaces, Nancy King

     Why Santa Fe? “The nature around Santa Fe is spectacular. Many people find it has a magical energy that renews and regenerates. Even those born in New Mexico talk about this area’s special energy, nature, culture.”

     It’s not unusual for newcomers to experience difficulties. “It’s as if Santa Fe were trying to spit them out. Those who manage to survive their initial problems often experience personal transformations that they couldn’t have articulated before coming.”