Sharman Burson Ramsey's Blog, page 30

The Create Space Process

I recently made the decision to self-publish the novels I now call Mint Juleps Mysteries.  They have been through numerous edits and in the end I decided that others edited the life out of the novels. So, I went back as close as I could to the original and reread it. I decided I liked it. That's why the self-publishing concept appeals to me.

Soon the first three novels in the Mint Julep Mysteries (Creme de Cassis and Murder, Mint Juleps and Murder, and Mayans, Muscadine and Murder, as well as Wakefield Plantation: History and Cookbook of one Southern family) will be available. I know from experience the writing and the preparation for publishing seems soooo hard, but I know once this is completed, the hard part will be marketing. One step at the time.

I researched different self-publishing opportunities and decided upon Create Space. For about the past week, I have been preparing the books for publication. This has turned out to be more complicated than I imagined, mainly because each time I thought I had it prepared and submitted it, I found another error. But the wonderful thing is that you CAN see it and you CAN correct it--over and over again!

I made a mistake in the beginning that has made it harder than it should be. That lay in the very basic decision on what size the book should be. Create Space recommends 6 x 9 for the most distribution opportunities. I chose a different option. I downloaded a formatted template for the other size and spent a lot of time editing in that format and saving it as a pdf. I should have saved a Word format of every PDF so that I could correct whatever errors.

As I progressed through all the stages I decided that I wanted the Expanded Distribution opportunities that Create Space offers and I had to go back and go with the 6 x 9 size. That meant I had to figure out how to convert what I had already done to that size template. Not easy. You cannot just Select All, Copy and then Paste on the different template. I discovered that you can Copy and Paste small increments and then you paste it and can maintain the integrity of the formatted template. I learned to save each step as a Word document since you can't easily access a pdf format.

All of these steps are really not complicated, merely time consuming. These mechanical details may be helpful:
1. Check to make sure you have not double-spaced after a period or a comma. Use the Find and Replace to check that spacing. Just type a period with two spaces and go through the alphabet to replace with a period and one space. Include quotations.
2. Use the Spell and Grammar check. Do not automatically take the suggestion because the suggestions are not always correct. Sometimes the rewording they suggest is quite effective, however, making the sentence active rather than passive and therefore makes the writing more powerful.
3. Make sure you address headers and footers, including adding page numbers.
4. Double check the file borders, spacing, etc. Check with the formatted template to find the paragraph formatting, then if you lose it at any time, you can copy the section that got messed up and reformat it.
5. Use Find to make sure you use the same format for writing all Chapter headings and spacings. Use Page Break at the end of previous chapter to keep chapters separated.
6. Keep notes on spelling names and places. Use Find and Replace to make sure all words are spelled the same. I caught myself sometimes spelling verandah with an h and sometimes without it. I decided it should be without the h and used find and replace to correct that error. That is one very handy function!

All four books are now in the process of Review.

In the meantime, the Pricing issue presented itself. Create Space gives you a minimum price to work with. I'm talking hard copy here. I wanted it to be available, but I do expect that most who choose to read the books will read it through their Kindle. In my experience with my other novels, $20 and under with even number pricing made the books easier to sell. So, I decided on $20 for the Cookbook with all the color pictures and $15 for the other novels. I wish they could be less expensive, but with the price point suggested by Create Space that seems to work best. If possible, I will lower the price. I hope Kindle prices can be MUCH lower.

As soon as they are ready, I plan to order a physical proof and then upload to Kindle, unless I get too eager and just go straight to Kindle. I understand change is always possible and just a click away!

What is the Southern Voice?

My son and then fiancé Brittany on the steps of my grandparents home, Wakefield


What is the Southern voice?
Kathy Holtzfel (Cate Noble) and I spoke together recently when the topic of the Southern voice came up. Kathy read Creme de Cassis and Murder, the first novel in my Mint Juleps series. In reading the novel she commented that she quickly came to the conclusion that she did NOT have a southern voice implying that I did. So, I asked her, what makes a southern voice? 
It is hard to define, she answered, it's just something when you read it you recognize it.
She then did an internet search and added the information below that she found in the Goodreads discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/....
One of those participating in the discussion mentioned Dr. O. B. Emerson who taught English at the University of Alabama from 1946 to 1986. I took a course under him as did my husband, upon whom he had the greatest influence. Dr. Emerson was a great man and one of the best professors either of us had the privilege of studying under. 
When Kathy presented me with Dr. Emerson's criteria for what is involved in defining the Southern voice,I sat up and paid attention.  
Family, especially lineage and genealogy.Time, especially the influence of the past on the present.Place, as it relates to the connection of the people to the land. He specifically included the influence of the Fugitive Poets and the Agrarians here.Dialect or Dialog--a distinct idiom or patois unique to the setting.Social Status or the lack of it.The Lost Cause--the fact that the South became an occupied nation and lived through a period of reconstruction.Humor--beginning with what was considered Southwestern Humor. By that is not meant Texas, but at the time was considered Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.Race--embracing the dark history of slavery and the burden of guilt carried by white southerners. The changing relationships between black and white Americans."

I must admit to being comforted by the fact that these characteristics do comprise everything I write and I can proudly claim to being a writer with a southern voice. One of the reasons I have decided to self-publish my novels is that it seems to me that editors who edited the original novel tried to make it palatable to the mass market and in the process edited much of that voice out of the manuscript. We southerners are a unique breed. Our customs and mannerisms seem strange to those who come to the South from another part of the country. Dr. Emerson pointed out in his courses that we have a unique heritage with roots that run deep in our collective psyche. 
We are who we are. And proud of it.

Revolutionary Pedagogy: Or, so you thought reading, writing and calculating were why you sent your child to school?

Perhaps you think you send your child to school to learn to read, write and calculate. Think again.

The seeds of Common Core Curriculum have grown and flourished since they were sown in  Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Then Jimmy Carter  established the Department of Education and empowered an elite group bent on radical social change in America. Since then the edicts of those entities pretty much reflect the philosophies of Leftist revolutionaries who label themselves Progressives. Among their number is Paolo Freire, defrocked Jesuit priest, who led a movement called liberation pedagogy.  With their control of education academic excellence takes a back seat and patriotism is a dirty word. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Fr... and on UTube)
"There is no such thing as a neutral education process. Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate the integration of generations into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes the 'practice of freedom', the means by which men and women deal critically with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world."—Richard Shaull, drawing on Paulo Freire[7]
One need only read the Whole Language Catalog by Ken and Yetta Goodman and Human Capital edited by David Hornbeck to understand that what the Progressives want is a total restructuring of society -- and they are well on their way of achieving it.

Rich Gibson, Associate Professor of Education at San Diego State University writes in Paulo Freire and Revolutionary Pedagogy For Social Justice: 

"Could Freire's literacy for critical consciousness answer questions like: what must people know and, equally significant, how they must come to know it, in order to overcome exploitation and alienation? Can human creativity be unleashed in an increasingly undemocratic world? Can consciousness leap past exploitation--or repression? How do we spot lies? Can revolutionary pedagogy foment revolutionary social change, incorporating forms of consciousness that can also overturn the rise of new bosses, so we do not become what we set out to oppose? What might pedagogy have to do with overturning the subject-object split, the habitual subservience created both by capital and revolutionary organizations, that both Harvey and Freire, and the late George Lukacs, all said was central? The rich are not forever, and will the crown last to every generation? Proverbs 27:24
Freire insists, repeatedly, that no system of education is neutral. Bias is inherent in any selection and ordering of facts, the common project of social educators. One's understanding of how the democratic possibilities of citizenship might be achieved depends on a partisan assessment of current conditions, and where one wants to go: a political standpoint. Any appraisal of the prospects of democratic education through literacy, a literacy that reads both the word and the world, must be start from an articulated standpoint, on expressed terrain. Just what is the current situation? What should be done about it?" (http://richgibson.com/freirecriticale...)

Having already written about my concerns regarding the change in Mathematics education, I found this statement in Wikipedia regarding Freire particularly interesting:


"Freire's work has also influenced the so-called "radical math" movement in the United States, which emphasizes social justice issues and critical pedagogy as components of mathematical curricula." 
Why did Jay Leno's Jay Walking segment ring true to all of us? Why are our children 34th in the world in Math when we once led the world in Math and Science and got our astronauts to the moon? Why do 60% of first time entering freshmen to our community colleges have to take remedial Reading and Math? 
Once a group of women approached a beautiful stream. One cried out, "Look!" There, caught in the current were children struggling. One woman grabbed another's hand and said, "Quickly, let's form a human chain and pull them from the current!" One by one they pulled children from the turbulent waters. But still they came. At last one woman broke away and headed upstream. The other women cried out, "Where are you going?" "There are children to be saved!" The woman responded, "I'm going to find out who is throwing them in."

Other articles you might want to read: 
http://www.nysun.com/national/obamaco...

http://www.conspiracyplot.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Fr...

I did not know the hornets nest I was about to enter when I decided to become a teacher. I wish I could become a part of the circle the wagon mentality of fellow teachers. I want to join those who never question and blindly "support our schools." Naively, I really thought schools were to teach children to read, write and calculate. I thought cultural literacy meant honoring the traditions that have made our country great.

Apparently others have a different idea.

Advice on Southern Sisters Series or should it be Partying on the Plantation Series?

[image error] Advice on Southern Sisters Series or should it be Partying on the Plantation Series?

Your opinion requested!!! I need your help.

I have written a series of books based on two Southern sisters who to the untrained eye might possibly resemble my sister, Sylvia, and me. This series began as a short story inspired by my garden club. Our then president, I think it was Martha Nix, though it could have been Gayle McLeod Parsons or Abby Margolies, asked our group what they wanted to learn about in our programs. The usual answers came around until Mary Ann Earnest spoke up and said, "I want to know how to meet a man while gardening!" We all laughed. But her comment "took seed" so to speak and I wrote the short story, "The Man in a Muddle in the Middle of the Mums" with his Johnny Cash voice (that drew her closer), his Richard Gere buns (girls will be girls and do notice), and Mel Gibson eyes (almost as good as Paul Newman). Since I was in charge of the program on wildflowers, it fit right in! Other organizations asked for me to read it as well.

One day I was stopped at the intersection of the street on which I live and have traveled nearly every day of my life since I grew up just three blocks from where I now live in Dothan. I recalled the day the FedEx truck ran a stop light at that very spot and nearly hit Joe (my husband of then 35 years and me. Fortunately, he was distracted by another car and was not sitting on ready when the light turned green.  My mind began meandering and I thought to myself, what would I do if something happened to Joe? Immediately the thought popped into my mind, my sister Sylvia and I would live together. Of course, she's married to Tom and that could be a problem. So, the writer in me put the two incidents and short story together and suddenly in my imaginary world two sisters, much like us, get together in widowhood suddenly rudderless without the men who have dominated their lives and try to create a new life.

So, we have TWO SISTERS, Dabney Palmer Rankin and Dr. Sophia Palmer Ransom  (similar to Ann George's Southern Sisters) involved in MYSTERIES (like Murder She Wrote) only on a plantation (WAVERLY) in PALMER, COX COUNTY, ALABAMA, where using their grandfather's plantation as a gimmick they convince a bunch of tipsy Yankees in New Orleans looking for new shows to let them host a show on the DISHING IT NETWORK (amazingly similar to the food network) only THEY CANNOT COOK!!!!! Somehow awkward, fluffy Dabney Palmer Rankin acquires a bevy of beaus ...and an arch enemy, a serial killer.  She constantly finds her life in danger (kind of like the road runner and Wylie Coyote). In addition to all of this the two sisters discover the confusion of heing and sheing in the boomer years and the wonder of the bonds of friendship one acquires along the way. Oh, yes, in addition to everything else, Dabney Palmer Rankin discovers that the accident has triggered genetic memories where the past intrudes into the future. But, being considered crazy to begin with, this isn't something she is inclined to share.

Now, where do you come in? I have decided that with the book business the way it is, I am going to go through Createspace to publish these novels. Book 1 will be Creme de Cassis and Murder, Book 2 is Mint Juleps and Murder and Book 3 is Mayans, Muscadines and Murder. Eventually there will be a cookbook.

So my questions are:

1. What should I title the series?

Ann George has passed away and the series name SOUTHERN SISTERS is available. Or should I call it SOUTHERN BOOMER SISTERS? Or the PARTYING ON THE PLANTATION series? In marketing the books, which would catch the eye of the reader (consider yourself the target audience). The title in these situations would read Creme de Cassis and Murder: A Southern Sisters Mystery or Creme de Cassis and Murder: Book I of Partying on the Plantation or Creme de Cassis and Murder: A Southern Boomer Sisters novel.

2. Then comes pricing. What do you think is an enticing price for an e-book? In order to get the 70 percent royalty option, e books must satisfy the following set of requirements: The author or publisher-supplied list price must be between $2.99 and $9.99.

For a 184 page black and white book, you set your USD list price at $8.99. A customer purchases your book on Amazon.com and a book is printed to fulfill that order.
Sales Channel % = $3.60
Fixed Charge = $0.85
Per Page Charge = $2.20
Your Royalty = $2.34

3. In publishing through Create Space you can have an ISBN number that lists Create Space as the publisher, or you can set up your own publishing entity. I am thinking of forming a publishing entity, Southern Boomer Books, and purchasing a group of ISBN numbers. Does it matter to the purchaser of the novel if the novel is published by Createspace or a traditional publisher? (In other words would a different publisher name entice you into purchasing the novel?)

4. Would any of you, my writer friends, be interested in participating with  me in publishing under the Southern Boomer Book aegis. If so, message me and we can discuss this. (I think Deb Smith did this with Belle Books, but her leading ladies are much younger.)

Thanks for reading this far. And thanks ahead of time for any input you can share. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Math Wars: Once Again Into the Fray

Math Wars: Once Again Into the Fray

 Having a granddaughter in the fifth grade has brought the Math Wars home to roost. Our three children learned Math in an ABEKA curriculum using Saxon Math. All three scored off the charts on standardized tests in Math and have gone on to careers where that proficiency was important (Engineering, Marketing, and Business).
I earned my degree in education in 1972 at a time of revolution in education. A world shift in education came about at that time to manipulate children for social engineering purposes de-emphasizing individualism and competition toward team/group learning and peer tutoring. (Read the Whole Language Catalog by Ken and Yetta Goodman) Individual excellence was headed for the chopping block.  In the early 1990s, I ran for the Dothan City School Board twice with a Back to Basics agenda. I thought the fact that 60% of first time entering freshmen at the local community college was a pretty telling indictment against OBE/Whole Language/Progressive Education agenda of the prevailing education establishment. Others thought that was important as well and we had lively discussions on the Ramsey/Moore Report, a talk show I co-hosted on a conservative radio station. The campaign against me was pretty much directed from the system's central office. They won. 
Before the Dothan City School Board paid someone to rewrite the Board bylaws, the bylaws stated that learning would be "sequential." That is important to note because the shift in the late 60s was to Progressive educators' preferred method of having learning be inferential and thematic. With the centralization of education in the Department of Education the words "drill and repetition" became dirty words not to be repeated in polite education society unless you wanted to be labeled an educational "flat earther." The Elementary and Secondary Education Act created the environment for Progressive educators to practice their experiments on America's school children under the guise of leveling the playing field for all children. Then in 1979 President Jimmy Carter established the Department of Education and local control of education became a thing of the past. Though we did not officially have a national curriculum, professional educators with a progressive agenda more focused on social engineering than academic excellence distributed funds for participation in special programs. Local boards got addicted to the funding and found themselves bound, gagged and disenfranchised by those dollars.

Twenty years later the disturbing numbers of those needing remediation have not improved but those administrators of the early 90s did go on to bigger and better jobs, salaries and lucrative retirement. I must admit to being shocked that something so basic as teaching children to read and do math was now political!
I threw my hands in the air, retreated to my garden and genealogy and started writing books. 
Then my smart, sweet, precocious fifth grade granddaughter who lives in Panama City started dreading Math. Though she reads several grades above her grade level (we made sure she got a phonics based education early on) the new, new Math gave her problems. When my daughter (her mother) and I began asking for the reason for the shift from traditional Math to this new Math (InVision by Pearson) we were informed that the answer to a problem was not so important as the thinking process. Ergo, the need for a new direction in Math education. Several steps had been added to the process and that made no sense to my daughter, her husband, her grandfather or me. My daughter, an electrical engineer, could not help her. Thus far we have not been able to get anyone to answer how we got to the moon with traditional mathematics instruction and plummeted to 34th in Math when we gave over Math instruction to this new batch of professors in colleges of education and their colleagues in curriculum and technology sales. 
When I first called the Dothan City Schools in the early 90s for information on curriculum (the ABEKA Christian School our children had been attending did not at that time go past the 8th grade), the Director of Instruction asked me, "Who are you? Just a parent?" This time my answer would be "I am not 'just a parent,' I am also the grandmother of five VIPs including four still 3 and under who will be in Dothan City Schools and Bay District Schools eventually. That makes me a very important person... to them at least. Plus, I have two degrees in education and experience dealing with administrators using our children as guinea pigs for fads. So, once more I am jumping into the fray.
I spoke to the principal of the school she attends who told me no one else had spoken to him about having problems with the new Math program. Yet, my daughter had already emailed him with her concerns, an email to which he did respond. A congenial, affable man, he promised to look into it. In the meantime, our daughter has hired a tutor, but the method still seems laborious. Our granddaughter is still having problems and I have not heard again from the principal. 
We have been told that if she scores well on the FCAT and gets admitted to the Advanced Placement program, she will get out of Pearson EnVision Math and will then take Singapore Math. But, from what I read, placement tests tell parents/teachers on what level a student performs and not having been exposed to this program may present other problems. One parent wrote, "Singapore Math is  sequential and doesn’t re-teach concepts or skills, using the program may set these students up for failure, whether they’re moving into a district using it or out of district using it." 
Read this blog post and perhaps you can understand our confusion with EnVision: http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/cast... child is beginning the program in the first grade. Imagine how confused our granddaughter is!
How much do you suppose all of these bells and whistles cost the school system? Watch this video and see the technology needed. Check out the "computer learning" assists at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H8Ex...
In the New York Times article, October 8, 2011, "GRADING THE DIGITAL SCHOOL"Inflating the Software Report Card," Trip Gabriel and Matt Richtel write: "School officials, confronted with a morass of complicated and sometimes conflicting research, often buy products based on personal impressions, marketing hype or faith in technology for its own sake."
“They want the shiny new one,” said Peter Cohen, chief executive of Pearson School, a leading publisher of classroom texts and software (including InVision). “They always want the latest, when other things have been proven the longest and demonstrated to get results.”Twenty years ago when I pointed out according to studies conducted by Dr. Robert Slavin, the Computer Assisted Instruction program Writing To Read was totally ineffective, I was told they couldn't stop now because they had too much invested.  And now, Dothan City Schools has bought into Carnegie Learning. The New York Times addressed this program directly: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/tec... THIS IS A MUST READ FOR DOTHAN CITY SCHOOL PARENTS.Billions of education dollars spent and the result ... “there are no longitudinal, randomized trials linking eLearning to positive learning outcomes.” (Intel in a Web Document) “Decisions are made on marketing, on politics, on personal preference,” said Robert A. Slavin, director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University. “An intelligent, caring principal who’d never buy a car without looking at Consumer Reports, when they plunk down serious money to buy a curriculum, they don’t even look at the evidence.”

Sixty-Four

This is what 64 looks like.

When I was young, I thought 64 was very old. I find that the body ages, but the spirit does not. Inside, I am the same person. Fortunately, I am still married to the man I married at 19 and to him (or so he says) I look the same. Even though, so he also says, I have "appreciated" more than any investment he ever made (meaning the weight I complain about all the time). He's a good husband. Retired, now and enjoying it.

We have three wonderful children and five grandchildren so I get lots of sugar from those precious babies. Lily is our oldest at 11. Megan will be 4 soon, George 3, Sam almost 2 and Molly just turned 1, the day before what would have been my mother's 93 birthday.
Megan, George, Lily, Molly, Sam
These are reminders of the beautiful circle of life that we are all a part of. I have decided to "own" each stage of life. I look back and realize how blessed I have been and how at each stage I neglected to really appreciate those blessings.

My sister, brother and I were blessed with loving parents. Jean Gillis, Army nurse, met Dr. Elkanah George Burson at Augusta General Hospital after they had both served in WWII, Daddy in the Phillippines and mother on a hospital train going back and forth from Cherbourg to the Battle of the Bulge. Daddy, a Wilcox County, Alabama native, set up a medical practice (GP) in Dothan, Alabama.

Sharman (11) and Sylvia (5) at home on Easter
Jean and George Burson, Sylvia and Sharman


Some friends were almost family -- Patt and Kaaren. Patt McLaughlin, Kaaren Taylor, Sylvia and Elkanah

















After years of being a fat little girl and suffering the cruel taunts of nasty boys and rejection of mean girls (one must be careful or one's image might be tarnished if one stood or sat beside a FLG),  I lost weight in the 9th grade. During the FLG (fat little girl) years, I read every book in my mother's library, grounding myself, I suppose, for being a writer. The pain and memory of those years never leave you. Although those lonely years were a torment to live through, I can now appreciate the experience because it made me a more compassionate person. Blessed as I have been, those years gave me empathy. I must admit to having been spoiled (yellow convertible GTO at 16, for example).

When I entered 10th grade and high school, I tried out for everything. I got parts in plays (became a Thespian), including the lead female role in the senior play (Hoosier Schoolmaster), learned Latin, French and Spanish, got cheerleader (to the shock and, I suspect, dismay of those more experienced cheerleaders), graduated as a Senior Scholar, 13th in my class (out of 350 something, I think). That was a real surprise. And I dated several fine, handsome young men and developed lasting friendships with some truly wonderful guys and girls.


I then went off to the University of Alabama where I pledged Delta Delta Delta sorority and made friends who have remained friends for the rest of my life.  Tri Delt House at the University of Alabama. I am center on balcony.
Joe and Sharman just pinned. He was a Pi Kappa Phi.
I married my college sweetheart, Joel Ramsey, who grew up about three blocks away.
He practiced law with his father and he and I raised three children in the home where my husband grew up.


Brooke, Drew, Sharman and Cecily making Christmas cookies.





Our home.












I got an MSE in History, taught school, did a brief stint as a radio talk show host, became an obsessive genealogist, served on community boards, joined a garden club and genealogical societies, wrote books and created a general interest website (generally anything I'm interested in) Southern-Style.com, a Downhome Perspective on All Things Southern.

Family genealogy (the discovery that my fourth great grandmother was Native American) inspired a family saga beginning with Swimming with Serpents (2012) and followed by In Pursuit (2013) that were published by Mercer University Press. Because of these books and my wonderful publicist, Kathie Bennett, I have spoken at Book Festivals across the South and met authors I sincerely admire.



So, what's next? I have written three sort of "coming of age" (meaning THIS age) novels, with two formerly estranged sisters who come together with the deaths of their husbands and finagle their way onto the Dishing It Network (DIN) using the family plantation as their gimmick. The award winning "Partying on the Plantation" brings lots of excitement including love interests and a serial killer. These are sort of a Southern Sisters type series that still need a publisher but I am excited about them. They are titled "Creme de Cassis and Murder," "Mint Juleps and Murder," and "Mayans, Muscadines and Murder." 

At 64 I realize that life is both a mission and an adventure. Each experience adds up to make the beautiful tapestry of a single life. Each life touches another for a purpose. I have been blessed with many friends who add color and depth to this majestic gift of life with which God has so richly blessed me. Partly because of a lonely start, I guess, I treasure each one.

So this is 64. I earned the wrinkles that came with sunshine, laughter and the pain. I enjoyed each meal that brought these extra pounds and cherish each family member and friend who shared them with me. I loved every baby kiss, laugh and hug. I look forward to the adventures tomorrow may hold. Like my mother before me, I will open my arms to embrace each friend and loved one and share a laugh as often as I can. And above all, I promise to praise my Lord who has forgiven me for my grievous sins and shortcomings, who carries me through the hard times, and who opens my eyes to the blessings I so often take for granted.

Sixty-four.  What a glorious, spectacular, magnificent ride!

IDEAS FOR ORGANIZING A BOOK FESTIVAL

Decatur Book Festival Tops in the Nation but there's always room for moreIDEAS FOR ORGANIZING A BOOK FESTIVAL

Motto: Writers write. Showing our authors the best of what our area offers encourages them to write of what we know – i.e. the Panama City area has the most beautiful beaches in the world, the finest accommodations, the best restaurants, and premier cultural events to entertain and educate every palate. Participants in Books Alive: Authors Screenwriters
Agents
EditorsBook Bloggers
Book ClubsWritersReaders
Chairperson:Shall oversee the event checking with the chair of each committee to ensure that all is proceeding according to schedule. Issues invitation to event to authors/agents/editors/book bloggers. Arranges for and co-ordinates with treasurer for W6 forms to be included in author correspondence and presentation of honorariums. Officers (Chairperson, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) meet regularly to review progress of committees. Negotiates for venue.
Book Selection Committee: Festival Chairperson heads up this committee. Committee reads and considers books submitted by authors through the website application. Committee includes librarians in the different genre and others from the community and Foundation board. May request video of presenter to insure author interest to those who attend Festival. Selects agreed upon number of authors in varied categories and genre. Presents email Word document report to chairperson three months prior to the event.
Agents/Editors Invites book publishers in surrounding states (i.e. Florida, Alabama and Georgia) to attend the festival. Should agents agree to come, co-ordinate meetings of attendees who wish to make a 3 minute presentation of their COMPLETED novel to a participating Agent and/or Editor.

Vice-Chair: Will serve as contact person for all participants. Will email participants with form to fill out regarding all needs: projector, wifi, transportation, accommodations, and will therefore be the liaison communicating these needs to the chairpersons of the different committees. Include a W-9 form so author may be reimbursed to be mailed to the Treasurer. Vice chair will then keep a record of each communication with committee chairs and authors in order to double and triple check before the event. MAKES SURE EACH PARTICIPANT HAS A PACKET WITH INFORMATION, SCHEDULE AND TICKETS TO EVENTS. All has been clarified as to events free to presenters and which a spouse must pay to attend.
Treasurer of the event handles the Reservations marking the seats in the selected presentations on a chart much like the one used by the Civic Center to reserve seats for events for those who choose to register online for a $5 fee. Might consider using the Square (or some form of credit card capability) on the IPhone to charge and email receipt. Registration ends 1 week before event and all remaining seats will be free as available. Treasurer reimburses authors with honorarium and travel expenses. Works with Book Signing and Moderators Chairperson on ordering and reimbursement of books for Festival.
Secretary will decide on which size room the presenter will need keeping early sign-up response in mind. The facilities at local universities are usually most accessible to those who attend these events. One would think an event of this type would be partially sponsored by the university so that the cost of using the facility would be waived (to encourage reading and writing, a university goal. Chairperson will have negotiated this.). Should an event prove popular enough another time will be set up so more who want to hear a certain presenter may have that opportunity. Will take notes of meetings. Formulates schedule of event for publication.
Committees:
Website: People plan ahead to attend these events. Getting the website up and active is critical to success. Plus EVERY GOVERNMENT AND VISITORS WEBSITE SHOULD LINK TO THIS WEBSITE.
1. Page for author to request invitation to participate in Books Alive. Include blank for name of novel, publicist’s name, address and email, publishers name, address and email, whether or not author would like to be an AUTHOR IN THE SCHOOLS2. Selected Author pages should be set up providing ALL INFORMATION for presenters (housing, transportation, events, will tickets be provided to lunch, events, etc and will significant other be required to purchase ticket (provide link so that such purchase may be made), schedule of all events for authors 3. SCHEDULE OF ALL EVENTS should be posted on website 6 weeks prior to event.
4. Include biographies of all authors5. Online signup for events and sessions with $5 registration fee to reserve seat for event. Remaining seats will be free to first come. Also offer opportunity to purchase ticket online for Keynote address and special events. 6. Web page and Fee for Reservation to participate in Agent/Editor meeting7. Hyperlink to area hotels with special event pricing for those who wish to attend the Book Festival. Make sure hotel is on Trolley (public transportation) path.8. Contact information should be easily accessible9. Trolley information should be made available because some attendees and presenters may choose that mode of transportation. 10. Effective festival websiteshttp://www.decaturbookfestival.com/2013/index.phphttp://www.scbookfestival.org/http://ameliaislandbookfestival.com/http://www.humanitiestennessee.org/programs/southern-festival-books-celebration-written-wordhttp://www.florida-chautauqua-center.org/
Publicity Committee:All who have previously attended events should get a schedule and order form in the mail and by email six weeks prior to event. Newspapers within 100 mile area should be provided PR materials and a telephone follow up. Schedule television and radio interviews. Incorporate Twitter, Books Alive Blog with guest hosts, and Facebook Page for 2015 Books Alive. Have ALL Books Alive participants invite their Facebook friends to the event 6 weeks ahead AND send a reminder 2 weeks ahead. Presents email Word document report including copy of PR materials to chairperson four months prior to the event. Billboard for Books Alive? Articles in Atlanta, Birmingham, and Tallahassee papers. List with Community Affairs on Cable networks. Insert info sheet into property tax or utilities bill. Alert Senior Citizens Center on Beach and Snow Birds. Sign up information included in Community Service Brochure through Gulf Coast? Presents email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event.
Fundraising:City, County, Beach, Visitors Bureau, Corporations and Individuals. Might find sponsors for individual events. Present email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event.
Keynote Speaker Event: Acquire the Keynote speaker. Assign a host or hostess to squire our special guest around showing them the best of the area. If possible assign our keynote a private condo or beach house. Arrange the venue for the event (select the food, table arrangements, CHECK SOUND SYSTEM TO MAKE SURE SPEAKER CAN BE HEARD IN THE REAR OF HE AUDITORIUM) Present email Word document report to chairperson four months prior to the event.
            Other Possible events to co-ordinate with Festival. Restaurants in area may volunteer their facility as a venue. Emphasize benefit to restaurant for publicity and author exposure:
High Tea and a Toast: Romance Writers Share Readings of Romance  High tea provided by the Willows with hot tea. Open bar for wine. Listen to Romance Writers speak on writing romances (4:00 Saturday afternoon?) Hats encouraged.
Murder Whodunnit: Supper event arranged by Mike Stone in which participants will solve a crime and Mystery writers will discuss writing fiction (Thursday or Saturday evening)
Book Signing and Moderators: Chairperson co-ordinates with official bookseller at event to make sure author’s books are ordered and available. Check and double check with publishers that each author’s books have been sent and are on hand TWO WEEKS ahead of the event. Arrange area with tables for book signings. Moderator will see to the needs (bottles of water, audio visual needs of the author in the assigned presentation room and will introduce the author. He/she will accompany author to book signing. Presents email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event.
Hospitality Committee: Arrange formal event for which tickets will be sold for a limited number of guests to visit with authors to be held in a very nice home of one of the event’s supporters/Arrange informal Saturday night event for the authors to be held in the home of another of the event’s supporters. Presents email Word document report to chairperson two months prior to the event. Hospitality Room for authors
Authors Hospitality Baskets – Gift Certificates, Freepass for the Trolley service. Restaurants who wish to offer gift cards to each author or contribute as many as they can to include in a basket from which the authors may draw, Activity venues (Gulf World, Miracle Strip, Golf Courses) Presents email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event.
Housing: Arrange with the nicest accommodations (i.e. on the Beach) to offer our authors accommodations. Presents email Word document report to chairperson two months prior to the event. Co-ordinate with Vice Chair.
Transportation: Trolley? Bus at central location? Individual volunteers? Pick the Author/Agent/Editor/Blogger up at the airport if need be. Arrange for transportation to and from events should need arise. Presents email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event. Co-ordinate with Vice Chair.
Exhibit Space—Limited spaces for exhibitors (publishers, authors, booksellers, etc.)  Set up gourmet coffee bar as an added fundraiser. i.e. to be set up inside at a table lining the walls of the Foyer at FSU.
Local authors- You hope that people will come from all around to the event. Travelers want to know about the area they are visiting. Find some way to showcase local writers at this event. You have spent lots of time, money, and effort to advertise this event and bring people in to enjoy it. The same time, money and effort will not be spent on a separate event. Do not discriminate against local authors by segregating them to a separate event. Weave the best (determined by the book selection committee) into the program and provide a special area to highlight local authors in the exhibit space. You want them to succeed!
In addition, local authors may make your best volunteers. They love books and want to meet published authors! Draw also from area Friends of the Library and the Junior Leagues.

Bookstores: Remaining Relevant in an Increasingly Electronic World

Bookstores: Remaining Relevant in an Increasingly Electronic World
Two years ago Mercer University Press published my first historical novel, Swimming with Serpents, and I began a journey into a whole new world. Holding the hard cover copy of my first novel was like holding one of my children for the first time. A dream come true. I, having deemed the time and people important enough to write about, thought others would be eager to read it as well. That was when the real world entered along with the realization that no one would ever learn of that time and those people if I did not become involved in the marketing and public relations of that novel.
Enter my friend and publicist, Kathie Bennett of Magic Time Literary Agency, who immediately put together a tour of festivals and book stores that opened the door to friendships and experiences I had never before dreamed. I traveled to book stores where not even a poster advertised my presence and no one showed up. I visited book stores that hosted luncheons for me to speak to a large, engaged group. I made presentations at Festivals where rooms were comped at very nice Bed and Breakfasts, hotels, and motels.
Before getting my books published I was involved with the Friends of the Library in raising money for a new library in my hometown of Dothan, Alabama. Our First Wednesday Author Event met at a local restaurant and we requested a $5 donation to the library to be added to the cost of the meal ordered by those attending. At my request, the owner of several motels in town comped a room for the author and we managed a $50 honorarium for the speaker who also sold books after the program. I also took the author to the local TV station to speak whenever possible, expanding the visibility of the author who honored our small town by giving us the gift of their time.
I recently presented at Books Alive in Panama City, a festival with which I hope to become more involved so that I can apply some of what I have learned both as a host of authors and an author myself to building an even more successful book event. Some of the points on organizing a festival might also apply to bookstore author events.
Two points I want to make are so obvious it seems almost ridiculous to have to mention them. WRITERS WRITE and BOOKSTORES AND WRITERS HAVE A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP.
WRITERS WRITE novels, blogs, travelogues, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, websites, etc. Publishing houses have cut back on their advertising dollars and writers must now foot the bill for their own marketing. Bookstores need books that readers will read to keep their stores in business. Authors need bookstores to promote their books, build interest in an author’s work, and keep readers reading so they can keep writing.

How can this symbiotic relationship be enhanced to the benefit of both the author and the book store?

Bookstores could sell members of the Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Tourist Bureau on the benefit of hosting writers. A writer comes not just to the bookstore, but to community. It is to the benefit of the entire community to offer authors complimentary housing, trolley, bus, and museum tickets, tours of the city, gift certificates to favorite local restaurants be used during the trip or to bring the writer back to the city. Writers love local color! What better publicity could a hotel, restaurant or town get than to be mentioned in a novel, on a blog, in a local, regional, or national magazine?

Plan an author’s visit to a bookstore enough in advance so that the event can be listed on government websites and appear on digital signs at schools, tourist centers, and government agencies that advertise cultural events as well as through store newsletters and email. Author events benefit students, readers and aspiring writers. You never know when that personal contact might actually be the spark that ignites a career for the next John Grisham. In addition, industry is attracted to communities friendly to the arts.

Think beyond book clubs to organizations like civic organizations, ladies clubs, historical societies and genealogical societies to connect authors with readers. (I have found genealogical and historical societies to be most receptive for Swimming with Serpents and In Pursuit.)

Ignoring this potential, cities and towns lose out on the opportunities for the publicity and good will hosting writers can bring.
 Bookstores have the potential to build Community, something sadly lacking in the world today.

Bookstores can be a gathering spot. Book clubs sponsored by bookstores bring people into the store and provide opportunities for friendships and intellectual challenge. They need not be limited to best sellers. Topics such as the Civil War, Local History, Victorian or Georgian Romance, Jane Austen, Harry Potter, and Beatrix Potter would attract different groups. Target ages as well as interests. Wine and cheese, tea and scones, or Kool-Aid and cupcakes could be provided.

Develop a relationship with book bloggers and book clubs in your area. They will help publicize your events. Invite them to every author event. A personal relationship between author and blogger can help the bookseller sell books.The Movable Feast at Pawley’s Island, a collaboration between Litchfield Books and Art Works providing literary luncheons for the large number of retirees and permanent residents, is a perfect example of successful partnering to bring people together and enhance book sales. By visiting different restaurants, they also manage to keep some of them afloat during the off season as well demonstrating the benefit to a whole community.

If the patron cannot come to the store, perhaps the store must visit the patron in the brave new world of books. Hosting book clubs at senior citizens homes and author events at retirement villages might have potential.

Introduce e readers to the older generation. E readers are light enough to be held by those afflicted by arthritis, enable the reader to increase the size of print to be more easily read, and provide sufficient light so as not to demand more light in a room that may be shared. If the bookstore has developed a relationship with the reader a sense of loyalty to the bookstore will have the reader buying e-books online through KOBO with the bookstore getting a percentage of the sale.
Networking is critical to success for a bookstore, an author, and a bookstore’s customer (both adult and student) who aspires to write. By partnering with the schools and universities, bookstores can assist in making authors accessible and encourage young writers.
Bookstores perform a public service by bringing the writer and the reader together.

Clapham Sect

The third book in the Creek Indian family saga begun with Swimming with Serpents has taken me on a new research adventure. I am tackling the issue of slavery and the anti-slavery movement in the late 18th and early 19th century. The Clapham Sect, founded by evangelical Anglican pastor in the Clapham section of London, Henry Venn, figures prominently in this movement. According to historian Stephen Tomkins the Clapham sect was "a network of friends and families in England, with William Wilberforce as its center of gravity, who were powerfully bound together by their shared moral and spiritual values, by their religious mission and social activism, by their love for each other, and by marriage".
Members of the Clapham Sect included:
Thomas Fowell Buxton (1786–1845), MP and brewerWilliam Dealtry (1775–1847), Rector of Clapham, mathematicianEdward James Eliot (1758–97), parliamentarianThomas Gisbourne (1758–1846), clergyman and authorCharles Grant (1746–1823), administrator, chairman of the directors of the British East India Company, father of the first Lord GlenelgKatherine Hankey (1834–1911), evangelistZachary Macaulay (1768–1838), estate manager, colonial governor, father of Thomas Babington MacaulayHannah More (1745–1835), writer and philanthropistGranville Sharp (1735–1813), scholar and administratorCharles Simeon (1759–1836), Anglican minister, promoter of missionsJames Stephen (1758–1832), Master of Chancery, great-grandfather of Virginia Woolf.Lord Teignmouth (1751–1834), Governor-General of IndiaHenry Thornton (1760–1815), economist, banker, philanthropist, MP for Southwark, great-grandfather of writer E.M. ForsterHenry Venn (1725–97), founder of the group, father of John Venn and great-grandfather of John Venn (originator of the Venn diagram)John Venn (1759–1813), Rector of Holy Trinity Church, ClaphamWilliam Wilberforce (1759–1833), MP successively for Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire and Bramber, leading abolitionist. He was also a Wesleyan and it was to Wilberforce that John Wesley wrote his last letter.This group of men and women had influence far beyond England's shores.

Books Alive

It was great fun participating in Books Alive in Panama City, Florida. Pat Conroy kept his audience entertained with stories of the writing world and teasing the man who introduced him, Panama City's former mayor, Gerry Clemons, one of the event's greatest supporters. Kim Boykin, Cassandra King, Patty Callahan Henry, Cynthia Lord, River Jordan, Cynthia and Clif Graubart have now become old friends through the many festivals we have attended together.

My presentation kicked off the event at 9:00. I was delighted that my room filled to overflowing Unfortunately, some had to be turned away! I always enjoy talking about my book and the events in the story and I had a receptive audience. The events in the novel are with day trip distance of Panama City.