Last Monday was the first Monday of the month, which means I was at my Left Coast Writers group. LCW meets at one of Northern California’s most fabulous book stores, Book Passage.
The guest speaker for the evening was Kevin Smokler, the CEO of BookTour.com and the author of Writing in Unreaderly Times. We couldn’t have asked for a more enthusiastic representative of the new publishing paradigm. Kevin’s excitement was infectious. He was informative and funny. Although he did not suppose to know the future with regards to publishing, he was persuasive in his assertion that writers need not fret over the digital age. Historically, readers and writers alike have feared for the written word. Kevin got big laughs from the room when he reminded us that not that long ago the demise of literature was suppose to come as a result of the automobile. It was believe that people would give up reading in favor of driving. Point noted: readers will always find time to read, and writers will always find ways of filling that need.
The evening was doubly exciting for me because I hooked up with a gentleman who has organized an all-day event for self-published authors. Bill Walker’s company is named Simplie Indie and he is all about independent publishing for both books and music; he himself is a musician. Walker also exuded an effervescent attitude about the power of self-directed publishing. His event will be at the end of April and is to be held outside of Sacramento at the Roseville library. I’ll be one of eight authors in attendance, so now I’ll have something to post on Kevin Smokler’s BookTour.com. It’s all good.
Tomorrow evening will have me throwing my name in the hat at Readers’ Books. On the second Saturday of every month, Readers’ hosts an event called “Random Acts.” Random Acts is essentially amateur night at the book store. Any one who cares to participate is able to throw their name in a hat then it gets pulled randomly for five minutes of microphone time. I’ll read some more from Pearls My Mother Wore. This will be my second time participating at Random Act, and I hope this time I do better than my first. Now that I know the scene, I should be more relaxed. Last month when I was there, what really struck me was how very supportive the room was.
Until next time, have a great week, and I’ll post again next Friday.
P.S. I’m still reading part 3 of Anna Karenina, so until I finish it, I’ll hold my thoughts. : )