Signature May 2014

Colorado Independent Publishers Association 1

An e-Publication of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association

Important Dates

Saturday, May 17 Turn Your Book into a Speaking Opp. Saturday, May 17 LAST CALL: CIPA EVVY Awards Deadline

Saturday, August 23 CIPA EVVY Banquet & Awards Ceremony

Join our mailing list to keep up to date with all of CIPAs events!

Inside Presidents Letter May Monthly Meeting

2014-2015 CIPA Board Nominees

Submit Your Book by Saturday! CIPA EVVYs

ARTICLE: 2014The Year to Self-Publish

Member News

Upcoming Events

10 Reasons to Join CIPA

7 Ways to Make CIPA Pay for You

CIPA Board Members

November 2010 May 2014

Presidents Letter Wow, what a month! I have spent the last month buried in CIPA EVVY submis-sions. We are having a record-breaking year. Our top year was 2009 when we had 201 category entries. Weve blown past that and we still have a week to go! What does this mean for CIPA? Recognition and acceptance, which is what youre always going for in PR. What does it mean for you? You know that if youve entered, youre still in competi-tion, which makes winning that much sweeter! (Were accepting submissions until this Saturday!) As the owner of Hugo House Publishers, Ltd., I work with my authors on how to market their books. This means doing all the PR you can, promoting your book whenever and wherever the opportunity arises, and constantly putting yourself in a position where you can sell your book! So many authors think that they never could get up in front of a group of people and sell their book. Theyre missing out on some prime opportunities to let peo-ple know about their book and ask for the sale. I really stress this with my authors: You do the PR work so that you, your book, and your message are accepted by po-tential readers. Only then are you able to promote your book which then leads you to asking for the sale. Only when you ask for the sale can you sell anythingthats true for any product or service anyone sells. So, when youre in a speaking situationsay in front of a Rotary Clubas you speak to the group, you become safe. They get interested in your message. At the end of your talk,

Find us on:

www.CIPACatalog.com Colorado Independent Publishers Association

3361 W Monmouth Ave Englewood, CO 80110

Phone: 970-315-CIPA (2472) [email protected]

2014 Colorado Independent Publishers Association

you very gently and with a lot of inten-tion and confidence, let them know that you have books to sell and that if anyone is interested, you will be staying on after the meeting, and youll be happy to auto-graph a book for them. Once youve done it a few times, the intention and confidence come easier! But heres the key to selling books this way. You have to know how to speak effectively to the group so that theyll get excited about who you are and what youre talking aboutso much so that theyll want to take a piece of you home with them. Thats your book! So thats why for our last meeting, were going to tackle this potentially frighten-ing subject head on. Come and find out how you can put together a presentation that you can talk to someone about. And don't think your book wouldnt qualify. These groups are always looking for good quality content. If you have a memoir, whats the message of the book? I bet its a good one. Maybe your book is about historyyour history situated in the larger historical context. They could be interested in that. Dont let the word speaker fool you. Youre all potential speakers! I look for-ward to seeing you all on the 17th! Much love,

Dr. Patricia A. Ross CIPA President 2013-2014

Save $10 if you register by 6pm Friday evening! Register here.


May Event

Did you know that one of the best ways to promote your book is with speaking engagements? Even if you have no plans to launch a speaking career, if you are asked to speak you need to be ready. Dont pass up these important, career-building and book-selling opportunities!

Speaking engagements create powerful buzz, offer fantastic new contacts and opportunities, and can be quite lucrative in terms of back-of-the-room sales or even speaking fees!

Join us May 17 to learn everything you need to turn your book into a powerful talk, and present it with authority. We have two dynamite speakers on tap:

From the Page to the Stage 3 Secrets for Creating a Dynamic Speaker Platform,

presented by Lori Hanson

This short, info-packed program includes steps for transitioning your message from your book to a speech. Well highlight the basics you need to get started in the speaking business, including:

Defining your speaker market and develop-ing a powerful program people want to hear

Understanding what you need to market yourself as a speaker and

The three secrets you need to succeed.

Speaking With Power, Presence and Ease, presented by Marilyn Sudbeck

Selling your books at speaking engagements? There is a direct correlation between your presentation performance and the number of books going out that day, and in the future. Marilyn will demonstrate speaking skills learned in Toastmasters and will show you basic rules of PowerPoint presentations. Nail your presentation and sell your book by presenting yourself effectively:

Public speaking rules and best practices to capture an audiences interestand hold it

How a PowerPoint presentation can convey your mes-sage much more effectively

Climb up on the CIPA stage (if you dare) and be coached on presentation skills by Marilyn!

More about our presenters here.

Roundtables for Saturday's meeting:

Turn Your Book into a Speech Lori Hanson Speaking Tips to Sell More Books Marilyn Sudbeck Create Profitable Book Marketing Plan Kathy Mason Google Hangouts Don Schmidt Family albums, etc. - Concept to print Bookcrafters Effective One-sheet Karen Saunders

Dont forgetSave $10 if you register online by this Friday evening, 6pm!

$20 for CIPA Members by 6pm Friday before Event $30 for Nonmembers, Guests, Member Door Pricing

Were on Meetup. Let your peers know you are coming.

RSVP via Meetup after you register!

Turn Your Book Into Speaking Opportunities!

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Free Breakfast and Coffee Doors open at 8am for Registration

8:30am to Noon: Meeting

Church of Scientology 2340 Blake Street Denver, CO 80205


Board Nominees for 2014-2015

Come to the May 17 CIPA meeting and vote

to elect the following volunteers to CIPAs Board for the new year

of 2014-2015!

Grady T. Birdsong was raised in central and southwestern Kansas before enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1966. After serving two tours in the |Northern I Corps region of Vietnam in 1968 and 1969 he traveled the world, enjoying a successful career in business devel-opment, marketing and technical sales in the tele-communications, data, and the fiber-optic industries. Now retired, Grady lives with his wife Pamela in the Denver area, where he enjoys his grandchildren and spends his time writing, volunteering and hunting big game. Grady is a graduate of Regis University in Den-ver, Colorado.

Karen Douglass is a Colorado writer. She has published several short fic-tion pieces, many poems, a collection of short fiction, Bones in the Chimney, and five books of poetry. The most recent is Two-Gun Lil. She has an MA in English Lit and an MFA in Creative Writing (Vermont College). She is a member of Lighthouse Writers Workshop and Colorado Independent Pub-lishers Association. She teaches creative writing at Front Range Community College. You can visit her blog and publication list here.

Mary Walewski, owner of Buy The Book Marketing, is a past member of the CIPA board of directors, serving first as Board Secretary and then Public Relations/Marketing Chair. She is currently working with board members to grow CIPA's online platform to promote the organization and its members.

Kathy Mason, President of Mason Works, LLC, has successful experi-ence with high impact consulting results. Kathys past experience includes owning an award winning, million dollar business for eleven years (The Bugle, Ltd), Sales and Marketing Director for four businesses and a high-level management position with the Change Enablement Team at Arthur Andersen. She is fluent in Italian and has successfully consulted with international audiences. She is a high energy cause-marketing expert with over twenty-five years of expertise at rolling-out cutting edge technologies for business building communications, training and book or e-book publication.

Melanie Mulhall

2008 First Place, 2009 Third Place, 2011 First Place, 2012 First Place, and 2013

First Place EVVY Award winner for

Editing

Author of the EVVY Award winning book, Living the DreamA Guidebook for Job

Seekers and Career Explorers

Office: 303-469-5780 | [email protected]

TheDragonHeart.com | DragonheartWritingandEditing.com

MelanieMulhall.Wordpress.com


Last day to submit: 5/17 Saturday!

This is a big year for the CIPA EVVYswere one of the longest-running independent book awards in the United States. Our goal with the CIPA EVVYs is to help audiences everywhere know which are the best of the best books published from 2010 to 2013.

Below you will find specific directions on how to submit your book (or books!) for awards. We ask that you do the entire submission process online. However, if you prefer to submit a hard copy of the form with a check for the entry fees, please contact Patricia Ross, CIPA President.

We are opening the competition to print, eBooks and audio books. However, please note the following:

IMPORTANTIf your book is in both print and electronic for-mats (eBook and/or audio book) you must submit a print book for all print and appropriate technical categories. If your book is produced in an eBook or audio book format, then you may sub-mit only those files.

For example: You have a childrens book that you want to sub-mit for the childrens storybook and the childrens illustration categories. You have a print and an eBook. ONLY send the print books to the address listed below. If you submit your childrens book for the eBook technical category, then you would submit an eBook as well as the print books. If your book is ONLY pro-duced in eBook or audio book format, then you would submit the eBook or the audio book for all categories.

The process for submitting books to the 2014 CIPA EVVY competition includes several steps. Please visit the full details here.

20th Annual CIPA EVVY Awards CIPA Membership not required!

Deadline: Saturday, May 17, 2014


2014The Year to Self-Publish

Dust Off That Manuscript and Self-Publish in 2014

By Kelly Schuknecht

Recently 2013 came to an end and 2014 came storming in. The new year is a time for fresh starts, commitment to change and, most importantly, a new determination to meet new goals. For some writers, the New Year is the perfect time to produce new works. For others, dusting off an old manuscript might be just the ticket.

If there are abandoned works taking up space on the hard drive or in a desk drawer, dont let them go to waste! Dig them out and see if a dash of New Year enthusiasm and determination is all they need to become a great book. Follow these steps to freshen up the manuscript for self-publishing in 2014:

Awaken. Its time to wake up and reassess that long-dormant manuscript. It may be considered as either utterly brilliant or complete rubbish (although if it's considered liter-ary gold, it would be self-published by now). All writers feel one of those extremes about their own work just after com-pleting it, and its almost never as good or bad as they think. Bring it out of deep freeze and give it one more chance.

Dissect. Dig into each page like it's being read for the first time and leave no stone unturned. Set aside whatever feel-ings or impressions about the manuscript and look at it with fresh, new eyes. It's easier to be much more objective about it now that time has passed. Pretend its someone elses work, if that helps. Strokes of genius may be discovered that weren't recognized before.

Reshape. Of course, along with unearthing forgotten bril-liance, it's possible that a fair share of thorny passages may be discovered that inspire What was I thinking? moments. Time to toss out the junk and tighten up that manuscript. Be merciless. It is okay if the manuscript looks and sounds com-pletely different when it's done. The New Year is all about redefining and changing.

Build. Fill in the bald patches elements of the story that require elaboration, such as further plot and character devel-opment. Build on what is already there; the entire manu-script doesn't need to be redone.

Nurture. Cultivate a plan to nurture those parts of the book that are weakest. Sprinkle it generously with notes about what changes need to be made as it is reviewed and re-viewed again; gradually, the writing and overall story will transform into the masterpiece that has been imagined. New projects arent about quick success; they are about a year of nurturing goals and dreams.

Expand the mind. Read the works of others. See a good movie, or listen to some favorite music. Exchange ideas with other writers. The idea is to borrow inspiration that will better inform the book.

Realize. Once all the efforts have turned the old manuscript into a great book, it is time to take that product to market and enjoy the success of completing a book. It's done, and readers cant wait to read the work!

Fresh eyes and a few good brainstorms may produce all the fresh ideas needed to turn that literary New Year project into a chart-topping book published in 2014. Good luck!

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book mar-keting services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interest-ed in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at kellyschuknecht.com.


Member News

CIPA Member Invited to Speak at a Convention An art article Gary Michael wrote appeared in the digital version of Plein Air Magazine and the editor invited him to give a talk on "What Is Plein Air" at the annual Plein Air Con-vention & Expo in Monterey, CA. He received lots of wonderful comments on his presentation. He even had people wanting to take their photo with him. It was also a successful business venture as he sold three copies of his book, Journey From Little Left.

CIPA Member Publishes Guest Post Kirk Axelson has published a guest post to the CIPA Bookshelf Blog. The post can be found at the CIPA Blog here. He discusses how beneficial and important the previous CIPA meeting was for his new book, Fantastic! How One Word Shapes Your Destiny. Thanks to the advice of the panelists, he had his cover designer redo his book cover with great success. His book is available now on his website.

CIPA Associate Member Proud to Share News of Book Award Pratt Brothers Composition is pleased to announce that one of its favorite authors, Estes Parks Historian Laureate James H. Pickering, is a finalist for the 2014 Colorado Book Award. His

book Joe Mills of Estes Park (Estes Park Museum Friends & Foundation Press, 2013), featuring cov-er design, page design, and typesetting by PBC, is one of three finalists in the Biography category. The winners will be announced on Friday, June 13, in Aspen, Colorado. Best of luck to Jim Pickering and to Joe Mills of Estes Park!

May 23, 2014: Sue Leonard will be presenting her newly pub-lished book Gift of a Lifetime: Finding Fulfilling Things in the Unexpected at an art reception at Kneading Hands Therapy on May 23rd from 5-7pm.

Earlier in the month the author also had a book signing at the Yampa Valley University Women's monthly meeting and also at the United Method-ist Church in Steamboat. The book is available through all major online sellers and also through Come and See Christian Books and Gifts and Kneading Hands Therapy in Steamboat.

June 14, 2014: Author, Speaker, and Writers Coach Teresa Funke is offering her popular That Book Inside You workshop again on June 14 at Mulligans Pub in Fort Collins from 9:00-4:00. This is her most popular work-shop and covers writing, editing, submitting, pub-lishing, and marketing your book. Its all the infor-mation youd find in a weekend-long writers con-ference for half the time and half the price. Lunch, workbook, and follow-up call included. The price is $265 per person. If you know of anyone interested in attending, have them contact Teresa at [email protected] or visit http://www.teresafunke.com/coaching/writers/that-book-inside-you for more information.

Upcoming Events


10 Reasons to Join CIPA (as a Regular Member)

1. Monthly meetingsOur monthly meetings offer expert industry professionals geared to jump start your writing, publishing, or book sales.

2. Free adviceEach monthly meeting starts with a series of roundtable hosts to help answer your most pressing publishing questions.

3. Early bird sign-up discounts for CIPA meetings and events.

4. The annual CIPA EVVY AwardsA book competition program that honors the best of our members' books by providing an independently judged competition in vari-ous genres and technical categories.

5. Access to Associate Service Providers where you can find the best of the best in editing, book cover design, layout, marketing, printing, and more.

6. Trade show opportunitiesCIPA members can promote their books at such industry trade shows as Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association (MPIBA), Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL), and others.

7. Vote at membership meetingsMembers voices count with CIPA!

8. Eligibility to participate in the Douglas County Libraries eBook Submission Program.

9. Network with your PeersMeet and greet like-minded writers, authors, and industry professionals.

10. FREE marketing for your book by submitting your news to the CIPA Signature, which is distributed to members and non-members alike!

Successful publishers and authors belong in CIPA!

1. Attend monthly meetingsComing to CIPA's monthly meetings puts you in direct contact with members and guests. You'll meet prospective customers and learn more about book publishing from high-caliber speakers.

2. Do a presentation at a monthly meetingSpeaking of high-caliber speakers - be one! Are you an authority in your field? If you are interested in giving an information-based presentation, contact the Program Chair with your idea. The goal is not to advertise your specific business, but to educate the members in your specialized field.

3. Volunteer on committees and/or CIPA's BoardYou know it's true: the more you put in, the more you'll get out of your membership. Email us here to see where you can volunteer your time and talents. Try it, you'll like it!

4. Submit an article to CIPA SignatureWrite an infor-mation-filled article in your area of expertise and submit it to the newsletter editor here for inclusion in the CIPA newsletter. Keep it informational. Better yet, place an eye-popping advertisement in the Signature!

5. Host a meeting roundtableCIPA roundtables are de-signed to help anyone with any genre, with any question, simple or complex, for new writers and publishers as well as experienced authors and publishers. Are you an expert in your field? Contact our Program Chair for consideration to host a roundtable.

6. Prominently display your marketing materialsA desig-nated Associate Service Provider table is set up at each meeting where you can display your flyers, one sheets, business cards, or other marketing materials. That's nine chances to get your company in front of our members. The more members that see your information, the more business you attract. Think Law of Numbers!

7. Showcase your servicesA designated Associate Service Provider Directory is hosted on the CIPA Catalog website, not only for our members to see, but for anyone doing a web search. Our analytics show that 50 percent of our web visitors come from search engine results. Get listed, get seen, get business!

7 Ways to Make CIPA Pay for You (as an Associate Member)


CIPA Board 2013-2014

CIPAs Signature Newsletter Team

Veronica Yager CIPA Dir. of Internal Affairs

Signature Editor

Charol Messenger The Writing Doctor

Signature Proofreader

Patricia Ross President

Dr. C. Daniel Miller Immediate Past President

Ann Nye West Treasurer

Don Schmidt Secretary, Memberships,

& Marketing Chair

Joyce Miller Arm Chair

AnnaMarie Jackson Sponsorship Chair

Leslie Miller Program Director

Mike Daniels CIPA ELF President

Michelle Rodenburg Young Authors League

Documents

Signature May 2014