Check out this great article on the Self-Published Book Festival in Sunday’s newspaper!
There’s still time to register for workshops, and we hope to see you this weekend!
Book Fair Authors – Children’s and Young Adult
Last but not least, we have some wonderfully talented authors in the Children’s and Young Adult categories who will be represented in this year’s Book Fair.
- Barbara Franco Adams, Through Faith and Grace (author website here)
- Amy Aderman, The Way to Winter (author website here)
- Elizabeth Brayer, The Story of George Eastman
- Margot Fass, Froggy Family’s First Frolic
- Rhonda Fischer, Randy Kazandy, Where are Your Glasses?
- Anthony Mesi, Sage (author website here)
- Nannette Nocon, Yum and Yuk: Book of Characters (author website here)
- Rose O’Keefe, Special Delivery (author website here)
- Hannah Olin, Ezio Ferrari: Blood of an Assassin; Ezio Ferrari: Family of Crows (author website here)
- April Randolph, Tasha and KK (author website here)
- Suzanne Valentine, Lost at Seebreeze; There Are No Buffalo In Buffalo; What Stinks: An Adventure in Highland Park (author website here)
We are less than a week away from all of the excitement of this year’s Self-Published Book Festival! There is still time to register for our free workshops, and we hope to see you this weekend!
Book Fair Authors – Fiction
Today we’re going to be shining a spotlight on the Fiction authors who have been selected to take part in this year’s Book Fair. These authors cover a huge range, from poetry to romance, Urban Fiction to mystery. We can’t wait!
- Deborah Benjamin, The Death of Perry Many Paws
- John Caligiuri, The Red Fist of Rome
- Marci Diehl, What You Don’t Know Now
- Steven Farrington, Rodrigo’s Land
- Amy Gamet, Love on the Lake series (author website here)
- Kathy Johncox, What A Kiss Can Do (author website here)
- Aaron Lazar, Devil’s Lake
- Banke McCullough, Always Want More (author website here)
- Phyllis Peters, Unthethered: A Caregiver’s Tale (author website here)
- Mary Reese, Shadows of the Past
- Pru Schmidt, Flirtations of a Cougar; Love Stories; Shades of Love
- Melissa Skyer, Train Gone, Sorry
- Corey Tanksley, B-Boy To Man
- Tracy Williams, Urban Development: Adapt or Die
- Keith Wilson, Intersections (author website here)
- Robert Zinnecker, Acquisition
And don’t forget, there’s still time to register for our fantastic free workshops! Point your browser to www.libraryweb.org, and search for Self-Published Book Festival on the Event Calendar. You can also contact Mary Fraser to register by phone at 585-428-8148.
Book Fair Authors Announced!
Our Book Fair will be back and bigger than ever this year. We have selected the 37 authors who will be exhibiting, and it’s a great spectrum including fiction, non-fiction, Young Adult, poetry, picture books, photography – you name it!
Here is a list of the non-fiction authors who will be taking part in this year’s Book Fair. Check back soon for information on the fiction and genre authors, as well!
- Amy Alden, Blue Devils in Vietnam
- Jane Sutter Brandt, Sutter’s Sodas Satisfy (author website here)
- Stephen Fielding, Exploring Maine’s Coast: Belfast to Wells (author website here)
- Rick Garvia, The Road Gets Longer If I Stop (author website here)
- Robert Hesselberth, Two Shakes of a Lamb’s Tail
- Michael Krause, Sell or Sink
- Teresa Lehr, The Great Tonsil Massacre
- Cass McCrory, Subtraction Project: 50 Prompts to a Life that Adds Up!
- Hinda Rottenberg Miller, A Bubbe Meise: A Grandmother’s True Story
- Judith Shenouda, A Bisl of This, A Bisl of That
- Tracy Williams, The Come Up
And don’t forget that registration is now open for our workshops! Point your browser to www.libraryweb.org, and search for Self-Published Book Festival on the Event Calendar. You can also contact Mary Fraser to register by phone at 585-428-8148.
Workshops – Session III
We will wrap up the Festival this year with Session III, Sunday November 8, 2:00pm – 3:30pm. This final session is a panel discussion featuring four local self-published authors.
- Banke McCullough is a fiction author. Her novel, Always Want More, will be featured in this year’s Book Fair. Ms. McCullough is an English teacher, and cites Langston Hughes, Sidney Sheldon, Christopher Pike, and Maya Angelou as her earliest literary influences.
- Rick Garvia also has a book in this year’s Book Fair, his memoir The Road Gets Longer If I Stop. The book is based on a series of essays from the author’s blog.
- Jenny La Salla‘s books, When Daddy Comes Home, Vietnam & Beyond, and Comes A Soldier’s Whisper, all tackle the theme of military service. Ms. La Salla writes for a variety of audiences, including children.
- David Schewe takes on local history with North Main Street Canandaigua: The History and Architecture.
Each of our panelists brings a unique perspective to the art and business of self-publishing. They are so excited to share their hard-won experience with you, and answer your questions about writing and self-publishing!
Just a quick reminder, registration for all three workshop sessions opens October 1 – tomorrow! – at www.libraryweb.org. Simply search for Self-Published Book Festival on the Event Calendar. You can also contact Mary Fraser to register by phone at 585-428-8148.
We hope to see you at all three sessions!
Updated 10/10 to reflect that Sunday’s date is 11/8, not 11/7 as originally written.
Workshops – Session II
Our amazing free workshops continue with Session II, Saturday November 7th, 3:00pm – 4:30pm. As noted previously, we will be requesting registration for these workshops.
- “Building Your Author Platform,” presented by Peggy DeKay
This workshop offers aspiring authors and chance to roll up their sleeves with Peggy DeKay, this year’s Keynote speaker. What is an author platform? Why is it important? How do I even start?? Peggy will answer all of these questions and more. Platform building is something that you must do if you want to enjoy a long-lasting, successful career as an author and content-creator. It is vital that you know what you need to do today to have a strong platform tomorrow!
- “Secrets from a Bestselling Self-Published Author,” presented by Amy Gamet
Amy Gamet is a local best-selling author of fiction, with half a dozen self-published titles. Amy’s first book was published in 2013, and she has quite a few tips and tricks that she will share with us during this presentation.
Check back here soon for information about Session III workshops. Registration for all sessions will open on October 3.
Edited to correct an error in the original post regarding the start and end times of Session II.
Workshop Sessions Announced
There are lots of great opportunities for learning with this year’s workshops at the Self-Published Book Festival. All of the workshops are free, though we do ask for registration for everything but the keynote. There will be three workshop sessions this year: two on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Let’s take a look at the offerings in Session 1 – Saturday, November 7, 1:00 – 2:30
- “A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing,” presented by Judy Shenouda
Judy is a self-published author of two books, Career Success in 12 Easy Steps: A Journal; and A Bisl of This, A Bisl of That: Eating Our Way. Judy is also no stranger to the speaker’s podium. As the owner of Shenouda Associates, a Pittsford-based business offering technical writing, consulting, staffing, and speaking services, she has workshops, seminars, and webinars on topics like self-publishing, technical writing, and running a business. Judy is an engaging speaker who is sure to have lots of helpful advice for anyone who is thinking about writing a book and curious about the self-publishing process.
- “Promote Your Book Online,” presented by Jennifer Blanchard
Now that your book is done…what next? How do you get people to read it? “Online” can seem like a big and scary place, but Jennifer Blanchard is here to help, with a roadmap for what to do once your book is completed. Jennifer is another successful self-published author and blogger, with four ebooks and a novel to her credit. She is also a self-publishing consultant and story coach.
Check back soon for info on the workshops offered in Session 2 and Session 3! We hope you’re as excited as we are about these fantastic programs.
Registration for all sessions will open on October 1st. We will have a link up here, or you can go to http://www.libraryweb.org and search for Self-Published Book Festival on the Events Calendar.
Trade Show! Register Now!
Do you or your business offer a service that would be helpful to self-publishers? Are you an editor, proofreader, layout designer, accountant…or do you do something else entirely that self-publishers don’t even know they need yet? Then you need to be a part of this year’s Trade Show! This is one of the new features that we are adding to the Festival in 2015. We want to help vendors and authors connect with each other to keep the self-publishing community in Rochester strong.
This is a great opportunity to meet dozens of potential new customers, and to market your services directly to Rochester’s self-publishing authors. (Did we mention this is also a great way to see what the competition is up to…?) All of our Trade Show participants will also be listed in the Festival brochure, and highlighted here on our blog.
Interested in joining us for Friday, Saturday, or better yet – both? Email us at spbfest@libraryweb.org and we will be happy to send you the registration form and answer any questions you may have.
We can’t wait to hear from you!
One Week Left!
The deadline for submitting your self-published book is June 1st, so get that book in the mail! You can also drop off your book at the Central Library, or email a digital copy.
We have already had dozens of submissions, but we know there are some procrastinators out there! With the expansion of the Book Fair to include children’s and teen books, and all genres, there is no reason not to enter your book. If you need a refresher on the requirements, check out this post.
Our selection committee will be notifying authors of the decision by September 1st, but we can’t select your book if you don’t submit one!
Self-Published Book Festival 