Maryville Public Library Director Presents Information to Group

Last night, August 27, the Maryville Chapter of the Missouri Writer's Guild met for its regular meeting. The presenter was Stephanie Patterson, Director, of the Maryville Public Library.

Stephanie provided a wealth of information related to the library's role in the community, as well as its local goals and objectives for the 2019-2020 period, and provided information related to the NWMO regional goals for 2019-2023, in which the library plays a large part.

In addition, Stephanie answered many questions related to how the library makes its decisions regarding book purchases and retention, as well as how it addresses updating of the library's many other resources. She also discussed the issues that librarians face today as they are being called upon to do much more than their predecessors decades ago as technology has grown, and larger social issues and expectations for services change.

Included in her presentation was information related to local authors, briefly discussing the expansion of self-publishing and how that is affecting decision making. What are the trends in various genres? What materials are used to determine how purchases and resources are acquired? What is the process of deciding what books are retained? Do book reviews make a difference in the decision to purchase? Issues such as cover art, internal art, audience, and subject matter that all authors need to keep in mind. She provided some insights into e-books and some of the changes that are taking place that affect pricing and access.

As the meeting came to a close, Stephanie answered questions. Her expertise and education in these matters made the meeting a very productive one and gave attendees a lot to think about as they move forward with their individual projects, hopefully with some insight on how to partner with the local Maryville Public Library, and other libraries. Based on her presentation and information provided the Maryville Public Library appears to be on track with respect to their mission, which is to "help the citizens of Maryville (ages birth to death) succeed and enjoy life through reading, learning, creating, and connecting."

We thank Stephanie Patterson for taking the time to speak to our group and for providing so much useful information and insight.

Writing Group Calendar

To make information more accessible to the public regarding meetings and events related to writng, a Google Calendar has been set up for the Maryville Chapter of the Missouri Writers Guild, where meeting information will be posted, as well as member book signings, poetry readings, presentations, and special events, conferences, book launches, or special appearances that may be of interest to members. 

Link of Interest to Writers

This weekend's search for useful information on the web yielded these sites. Check them out carefully before diving in. 

A listing of conferences and such. 

Places to submit your books for reviews: 

Midwest Book ReviewCurled Up With A Good Book
Self-Publishing Review
American Book Review

And, don't forget to send press releases to your local newspapers, radio stations, and television stations when you are ready to release a new book. 

Are You a Wholesale Buyer and Retailer?

Here's a new little something to think about. 

Retailers buy at wholesale and sell at a profit. 

As an author, are you a wholesale buyer and retailer? If you are a self-published author purchasing author copies of your book that you then sign and sell at book signings and events you are. Do you have a sales tax number, resale certificate, wholesale tax-exempt certificate, or whatever the form may be called in your state? Every state calls them something different, if that state has a sales/use/vendor tax to be collected. If you do have one, have you provided it anew to Amazon so they don't charge you taxes on your author copies? If not, then you've been costing yourself money.

Let's look at KDP/Amazon. It can be an easy platform for publishing and getting copies for resale, but it is also a complicated structure when it comes to finding out where you fit in as a self-publishing author/vendor. If you look closely at your orders of author copies, since the change over from CreateSpace to KDP, you may find you have been charged taxes on those copies. You shouldn't be if you are going to be reselling them AND if you have the appropriate tax exemption certificate from your state. You probably filled out a form, maybe submitted a bond, when you first set up in your state to resell your books. Did you provide that information to CreateSpace earlier. The information may not have transitioned over when it changed to KDP.  

This question came up in the KDP discussion forums not long ago. You can read about it here if you're a KDP author. If you have not gotten a tax-exempt certificate for your state, do so. Once you have one, you need to check out the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP). There is wizard to walk you through the process. It is linked in the line of text, 

"To access the wizard click here." on their page.

We don't want to be taxing people twice. If you're paying the sales/use tax on your author copies at the time of purchase from the Amazon Marketplace, then should you be charging those taxes again when you resell them? That would be a good question for your State Department of Revenue to answer for you since every state has different rules. You should have already added their "contact us" email to your contacts list for easy access. I've had to ask questions from time to time and it's easier to find it in my contact list than it is to find it buried among multiple webpage links. It is worth your time to investigate this further.

You can read up on the discussion online. Here's one article I found that got me thinking. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/everything-need-getting-wholesale-license-12921.html

April Meeting

Next Writer's Meeting

November Meeting Cancelled

Due to the weather, we have cancelled our November writer's meeting. Please check back here for the next scheduled meeting.

Don't Update Your Author Page When You're Sick

When you're stuck inside due to illness, there really isn't much you're interested in doing. The laundry, dusting, vacuuming, and scrubbing of bathrooms is so far down on your list of desired tasks that it may never see daylight. Such is my plight today.

Since I get bored easily, I decided I would spend my quiet time between naps and doses of Advil and alternating cups of hot tea and cranberry juice to catch up some work on my author page on Amazon. Many don't know it, but they may have unpopulated fields waiting for content.

As diligent as we try to be in filling in all fields for consumers to browse, there are some that don't seem to work well and don't cross over from where they were added to the information pages. Don't rush out and try to do them right now, though.

I don't think it was the fever inhibiting my efforts to update that necessary content on my page, but rather it was a glitch in Amazon's author page system. I filled them in, clicked preview, clicked save changes, and . . . nothing. I closed the browser and restarted, and that helped on a couple, but then even it didn't work after a while. So, I sent them an email that said, "Hey! This isn't working for me. Fix it." I'm sure they'll get right on that, because I am their only author.

They've been very good about responding to my previous requests to fix stuff. And, I hope they do get it fixed, because it is essential in making your books turn up in those all important searches on their site, and we all want to have our books show up in those, often. So, you might go to your Amazon author page in a day or two, especially if you haven't visited it in a while, sign in, click on the "books" tab, and then go through your books to make sure you have filled in all the sections that you can. But, be forewarned, it might not have been fixed in the last ten minutes. It might take them a little time. You may just want to drink a hot cup of tea and eat some cookies while you're waiting.

A Blog Worth Knowing

In my recent blog travels I came across Sidebar Saturdays, which seems to provide writers a wealth of information, from the legal perspective, on how to protect yourself from the many issues that can arise with respect to crafting novels, nonfiction, and other types of books. I would encourage the group, and anyone traveling through on their own blog scouting adventure, to take some time to read the posts.

Meeting September 25, 2018 7:00 p.m.

Congratulations to Our Local Readers!

Congratulations to all those who participated in the Summer Reading Program at the Maryville Public Library, Maryville, MO this summer. Wow, more than 10,000 books read. That's impressive. A special congratulations to the winners of the program awards.🏅We're proud of you all.

And a special thanks to the entire staff at the library that works so hard to make this program a success every year. We don't always say it, but you make the library a great place to be.

Keep turning those pages, readers, and we authors will keep writing so that you will have new stuff to read when you're ready.

#amwriting #fiction #nonfiction #authors #writers #library #readingchallenge#poetry

Maryville Daily Forum

Library names summer reading winners

MARYVILLE, Mo. — The Maryville Public Library’s Summer Reading Challenge drew more than 330 participants this year.

MARYVILLEDAILYFORUM.COM

An Interesting Article on Book Awards for Self-Published Authors

This is an interesting article and the comments from Tara Johnson at Writer's Digest are thought-provoking.

"“Fifteen years ago we got books that weren’t much more than copies from Kinkos,” said Tara Johnson, who manages the self-pub awards program at Writer’s Digest. “Now I would say that 95% of the books that come in look basically the same as the books you might see coming from a major publisher.”

This is an interesting article and the comments from Tara Johnson at Writer's Digest are thought-provoking.

"“Fifteen years ago we got books that weren’t much more than copies from Kinkos,” said Tara Johnson, who manages the self-pub awards program at Writer’s Digest. “Now I would say that 95% of the books that come in look basically the same as the books you might see coming from a major publisher.”

According to Johnson, the number of submissions has grown in step with the level of quality. Nearly 2,900 submissions poured into the Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards in 2014. Writer’s Digest also received about 700 submissions this year for its Self-Published E-Books Awards, which was founded two years ago for self-published authors who choose not to go down the printed path." From the site - [Note: this article was originally published in February 2015 and was updated on April 10, 2017.]

My only question is, why is there still a distinction made between "traditionally published" and "self-published" when it comes to the contests? A good or bad piece of work, regardless of the publishing mechanism utilized by the author of the work, should be granted the same consideration when being evaluated.

Just my opinion. What are your thoughts on this, members? Many of you are both traditionally published and self-published. Does it concern you or bother you to know that your self-published works may be considered less credible or of lower quality, without closer scrutiny, merely because they weren't "traditionally published"?

DIY: Book Awards for Self-Published Authors

With hundreds of thousands of self-published books hitting the shelves every year, indie authors need to find a way to stand out. Book awards for self-published writers are one way to do that.

PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM

Author's Directory at the Missouri Center for the Book

If you have been published through a "traditional" path to publication, and received payment for your work through that publisher, then you may be eligible to be listed in the Author's Directory at the Missouri Center for the book at http://books.missouri.org/Author.

Quoted from their site: "NOTE: The Missouri Center for the Book encourages all writers to pursue their muse. However, the designation "Author" connotes a category of achievement validated by the acknowledgment ...

See More

Authors Directory | Missouri Center for the Book

This database contains information about authors who live in Missouri. You can find out about their publications, the genre and audience they write for, whether they accept speaking engagements, and…

BOOKS.MISSOURI.ORG

Missouri's First Poet Laureate Reads Queen Anne's Lace

Missouri's first poet laureate, Walter Bargen, reads his poem, "Queen Anne's Lace." 

You will find this an interesting video. If you love poetry and you're in the area of the Mid-Missouri Arts Alliance on August 13, 2017, you might want to check out their upcoming event, Through the Eyes of a Poet. You can also find them on their website, here.

Doug Meyer to Speak at Next Meeting

The Maryville Chapter of the Missouri Writer's Guild will next meet on the Third Floor of the United Methodist Church  in Maryville, on June 27, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.

The featured speaker for that evening will be Doug Meyer, the owner of Meyer Auto Center in Maryville. Mr. Meyer is the author of "Selling in Your Town," published by Archway Publishers, a division of Simon & Schuster, in August of 2016. He will be speaking about his book and about his experiences of publishing through Archway.  

Mr. Meyer owns and operates several small businesses located in rural communities across three states and has a breadth of knowledge related to the art of selling in those communities, as well as the importance of community involvement and networking. Mr. Meyer contends that it is possible for small businesses in rural communities to compete in the larger marketplace.

These are all issues that translate into the book industry, whether operating a brick-and-mortar shop or a virtual online sales venue. We hope that you will join us for this next meeting.

You can read more about his book on Amazon.com. Mr. Meyer's book is available for $3.99 Kindle and $8.99 in paperback through the site. 

Kelsey Noble is Blooming With Books!

We are pleased to announce Kelsey Noble is the final winner of the Blooming With Books basket donated by the Maryville Chapter of the Missouri Writer's Guild. Enjoy the basket of books and goodies Kelsey. We're sure you'll find hours of entertainment inside. Congratulations!

Blooming with Books Silent Bid Fundraiser

 

Marketing and Reviews

There was much discussion at last night's meeting of the Maryville Chapter of the Missouri Wrtier's Guild. The topics included reviews, obtaining them and how they affect sales positively or negatively. Targeted marketing and social media marketing options for writer's were also discussed, including local print, radio, and television.

As a follow-up, here is a link to the Poets & Writer's Review Outlets database for any authors interested in finding reviewers for their books. This is a great magazine, too, for anyone looking for addition information.

Be sure to read their submission criteria. There are many who will not accept self-published books for review. There are some who will, like The Washington Post and Bookreview.com and others.

Died Innocent - The New Novel by Don Nothstine

Author and Maryville chapter member, Don Nothstine, has published his first novel, Died Innocent. 

It is presently available through  Amazon and through his publisher, Amazing Things Press of St. Joseph.  


Congratulations, Don, on this terrific achievement.

Amazing Things Press is hosting a book launch to introduce the works of its authors on November 12, 2016 from 1-4. More information may be found in the invitation pictured below. 

Upcoming Writer's Meeting

The Maryville Chapter of the Missouri Writers Guild will meet at 7:00 p.m. September 27, 2016, at the Alumni House. Hostess Irene Alexander has invited Diane Goold, author of the books "Diane's Daily Devotions" and "Treasured Words of God," to speak at our meeting. Come to hear not only how Diane wrote the books, keeps up with a daily blog, and writes the "Newspaper in Education" column for the St. Joseph News Press, but also about her marketing plan. Diane has a history of high sales of her books. Irene will also discuss how you can write for "Young at Heart," a section of the St. Joseph News Press, where she has been published many times. Hope to see you there! See Diane's bio, following.