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TODAY'S
ISSUE
Duluth duo helps budding
writers publish their own books
By
Vally Sharp and Jan Lowe
Simon's View Publications
Special to GwinnettForum.com
DULUTH, Ga., May 28, 2004 -- Just how do you go about publishing
that book that's within you? After all, the world of book publishing
is complex and unknown. Where do you begin? That's the basis of
a new firm my partner and I are starting - to help people publish
(or self-publish, to use the current buzzword). It's called Georgia
Writers Press.
 The
statistics tell you the story about traditional publishing - upwards
of 98 percent of all manuscripts and query letters sent to houses
like Simon and Schuster and Random House are rejected. Go get an
agent, they say. So you set out to do that. And find that upwards
of 98 percent of all manuscripts and query letters sent to agents
worth their salt are rejected as well. An acquaintance of ours who's
been in the business for only a year told us he turns down 30-40
queries a day.
But you still have a book in you. So you sign up for writers' conferences
and you buy books on self-publishing and you set out to do it yourself.
Maybe you know someone with graphic design software or your next-door
neighbor is a printer. Maybe you've dealt with fonts and gutters
and headers and footers in a thousand Word® documents. Maybe
you set up your book with a print-on-demand (POD) establishment,
only to discover that the trade booksellers (stores whose primary
product is books) won't stock them because they can't return them.
 Maybe
you buy 5,000 books, "knowing" you have a best-seller,
and are confronted with a harsh reality when you find that the average
number of books sold at a book-signing is four. (And that includes
John Grisham and J.K. Rowling.)
How do we know? On-the-job training. We started from scratch a
couple of years ago, and have learned what we know the hard way.
Fortunately, we could afford it in time and expense, but it was
a lonely mission. Now it doesn't have to be that way for you.
At Georgia Writers Press, a first-time self-publisher will learn
what we know in much less time at a much lower cost. We'll teach
you about yourself as a writer, we'll do a light edit for spelling
and grammar, we'll put our heads together to determine how to best
market your book, and we'll handle all the logistics of design,
printing, and technical stuff like ISBNs and LOC Numbers and EAN
bar codes and…you get the picture? And the most important part
is that we don't take submissions by mail or e-mail. We want to
sit down with you so that you see us and know you can trust us.
We want to hear your story face to face.
We will publish almost all genres, from fiction to non-fiction
- our goal is to publish that other 98 percent. But there is one
small catch - bring your driver's license with you. Only Georgia
writers need apply.
Georgia Writers Press: the "NOT-ALL-BY-YOUR Self Publisher."
For Georgians with a book in them--770.925.4678
(And to those of you from surrounding states, don't despair - we're
starting here, but we don't plan to stop here.)
ELLIOTT
BRACK
"On
Eagle's Wings" opens tonight in Northern Ireland
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher
GwinnettForum.com
BELFAST, Northern Ireland, May 28 - - Tonight, "On Eagle'sWings"
opens at the Odyssey Arena here, and if "word of mouth"
works on ticket sales as it did for the dress rehearsal on Thursday
night, the show will be a blockbuster.
 Some
200 choir members were asked to "invite their friends"
for the dress rehearsal, which started about15 minutes ago as I
write this. Best estimate now is that about 2,500 people showed
up! For sure, the opening applause as the first people appeared
on stage was a thunderous roar, far above the mild clapping that
the expected 400 would have sounded.
For me, perhaps I'm superstitious, but I'll not watch the dress
rehearsal, but await tomorrow's opening performance.
You may remember that "On Eagle's Wings" was supposed
to have its first performance at the Gwinnett Arena. Problems developed
on the financial side, to the consternation of some 200 Atlanta
choir members, who were told of the cancellation of the Gwinnett
performance a week before it was to open. They had already gone
through their first dress rehearsals, only to hear that they would
not be performing in Gwinnett.
Some 20 members assembled in the Atlanta effort figured that they
had put so much time and effort when in Atlanta that they would
pay their own way to Belfast. They were the opening group onstage
tonight. Their efforts are directed by Michelle Wright of Atlanta.
The Belfast production has a much larger choir - - about 350. The
entire cast has more than 400 costumes to take on and off. Altogether,
the costumes along cost over 120,000 pounds, which isn't exactly
change, I am finding. Money is costly for Americans, since a dollar
will only get you about 55 pence these days. It's not the best time
to be here when it comes to the exchange rate!
* * * *
What struck Irish officials when visiting in Gwinnett earlier was
the similarity of the Gwinnett Arena to the Belfast arena where
"On Eagle's Wings" is now being played.
The Odyssey Hall was opened as part of the Belfast Millennium project,
which is a complex of several entertainment projects, including
an IMAX theatre, Hard Rock Café, and several high tone restaurant
and entertainment centers. It's quiet popular with locals.
The Complex is across the river from the City Center,
and in the docklands area, just far enough so that it's best to
hire a cab instead of walk here from downtown.
* * * * *
We flew from Atlanta through Dublin, and rented a car. Belfast
is about 100 miles northwest. Yes, the roads are narrow, and everyone
drives on the wrong side….including me. So far I haven't had
to fill up the tank yet, but I am finding prices are around 80 cents….for
a liter. And you think gas prices are high in Georgia!
* * * *
You hear that weather is often lousy in Ireland. Not for us. It's
been nothing but sunshine and 50-60 lows and highs since here. But
rain is expected tomorrow, the weathermen say, but you know that
this means it might not rain tomorrow.
* * * * *
SO STAY TUNED……AND read of what the people of Belfast,
and its press, think of the new drama being premiered here - - unfortunately
instead of Gwinnett, tonight.
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FEEDBACK
5/28: Feels institution
of marriage is under attack
Editor, the Forum:
Gay marriage has never been a constitutional right in America --
or any other civilized nation. Those who are against gay marriage
aren't trying to deprive homosexuals of any of the legal protections
they currently enjoy; instead, they are trying to prevent runaway
courts from creating out of thin air new "rights" that
would prove detrimental to society.
The truth is, the Constitution is going to be altered one way or
the other. Either that change will come from unelected, unaccountable
judges intent on creating a right of homosexual couples to marry
when the Constitution grants no such right; or it will come from
the American people through this amendment to preserve marriage
as it has served society for millennia.
It is not homosexuals, but marriage, that is under attack. Left
unchecked, rogue judges intent on finding new rights in the Constitution
will succeed, someday soon, in extending marriage benefits to gays.
Supporters of a marriage-protection amendment aren't out to discriminate
against anyone; they simply want to preserve the institution of
marriage as it has served society for centuries.
-- Randall G Lewis, Chamblee
(Editor's Note: Your letter raises questions
in my mind when people talk about "unelected" judges.
After all, the Judiciary is appointed legally,
and the judiciary is a third independent arm of government. So
what's with all the talk about unelected judges when rulings go
against your own way of thinking? And granted, officially Georgia
elects judges, but most judges come to the bench through first
an appointment. Blowing smoke at a problem is tantamount to a
weakened argument. ---eeb)
BOOK
RECOMMENDATION
From Deborah Printz,
homemaker of Stone Mountain:
"Death and Nightingales by Eugene McCabe is my most favorite
book that I
have read recently."
- What books have you enjoyed? Send us your best recent book
along with a short paragraph as to why you liked it, plus what
you plan to read next. --eeb
ENCYCLOPEDIA
TIDBIT
5/25: Populist Party
in Georgia bears roots back to 1892
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ThomasE. Watson
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In 1892 Georgia politics was shaken by the arrival of the Populist
Party. Led by the brilliant orator Thomas
E. Watson, this new party mainly appealed to white farmers,
many of whom had been impoverished by debt and low cotton prices
in the 1880s and 1890s. Populism, which directly challenged the
dominance of the Democratic Party, threatened to split the white
vote in Georgia. Consequently, the Populists boldly tried to win
black Republicans to their cause. Such appeals outraged Democrats
and visited upon the state some of the most dramatic and bloody
elections in its history.
Populism blazed across the Georgia scene only briefly. By the end
of 1896, it was nearly exhausted. For better or worse, however,
the movement's short existence profoundly affected state politics.
And Thomas Watson remained a commanding force in Georgia politics
for more than twenty years.
To access the Georgia Encyclopedia, go to http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Well, something like
this has to get started somewhere
"Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics."
-- Newspaper Columnist Fletcher Knebel.
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