Authors helping authors

A development I have been lucky enough to participate in has been the experience of authors helping authors.  Recently friend and author Rebecca Spindler organized the Great American Summer Read at the Common Ground Café on the first Saturday in June.

The idea was to high light local authors for a day and kick off summer reading by giving readers a great deal of choice from authors living near their back yards.  There were two formats.  The first was to have a panel of four authors each given the opportunity to describe their work.  Rebecca led the discussion with poignant questions which allowed each author to share their writing journey.  The second was to have authors give 20 minute presentations on a very specific topic.   My topic for the day was ‘Selecting Your Path to Publication’.  Rebecca also monitored each presentation so the time allowed was followed.  The panels were conducted downstairs on a small stage.  The presentations were held upstairs in a very informal setting where authors could sit down and talk with audience members one on one.

The crowd was modest and it quickly became clear that having the event on two floors was an advantage turned out to be a problem.  The folks attending the talks never came down stairs to listen to a panel.  The folks listening to the panels never went upstairs to listen to a talk.

Those listening to a panel were very passive.  I was tempted to use a mirror to check their breathing.  The audience upstairs were “needy” all were in some early stage of publishing their work and they only wanted to learn the publishing ropes without spending any money.  Not a single person asked a craft question, having their work professionally edited or etc.  I felt this was the group of people when asked: do you want to write a book someday? – never do.

I sold one book that day.  We couldn’t get the square to work or at least accept the book buyer’s credit card.  He didn’t have cash.  He said he would send a check.  He did.
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The image above is one of me pontificating on the panel.  Do me a favor if you attend an author event – buy books.