On February 24th, the Maryville chapter of MWG
held an informative session conducted by Julie L. Casey of Amazing Things Press. As president of the St. Joseph Chapter of the Missouri Writers Guild, Julie
brought all her expertise to bear concerning traditional publishing.
Julie actively began writing about five years ago, starting
a journey from which she’d never recover. Learning the ropes—from query letters
to agents, requests for manuscripts, walking the path of Rejection and
beginning again—led her to submit to small presses instead. Her manuscript was
quickly accepted and the roller coaster ride began. How I Began a Teenage Survivalist was her ticket to published
author. But she soon decided
self-publishing was the way to go.
She released her next book in the series, Time Lost, under her own small press
name, Amazing Things Press. Due to a change in her original publisher’s
business practices, her rights of the first book in the series are reverting to
her.
But a strange thing happened. Friends were interested in
selling their books also. They told other friends and soon Julie had a new
career, as publisher and creator of a small press.
At the meeting, Julie explained the differences between
traditional publishing, self-pub, and vanity press and the merits and
pitfalls of each. Her analysis of Amazon gave the members an idea of publishing
venues and the seller's return on investment. Discussion turned to the importance of
marketing and—no matter how distasteful—its necessity.
St. Joseph News-Press
Julie's author page
