If you have published books, this is a GREAT opportunity to get your books out there. If you haven’t signed up to be a part of this, PLEASE consider it. We have the ability to price our own books, so even if you have a publisher that gives you little to no discount, you can increase the price a bit so you’re not losing money on each book. Don’t expect to make a lot of money by doing this. This is more about EXPOSURE. We can justify the higher price by having you SIGN each copy of your book. We are ordering gold stickers that say, “Autographed Copy” to put on our books at the Urban Emporium & Mobile Bookseller.
Here is the contract details for each:
Urban Emporium: Members in good standing will be able to sell their books through the MWG at Urban Emporium, a retail shop on Dauphin Street in their Mobile Makers section. Urban Emporium will take 25% of the sale price, and 2.5% for credit card transactions. If the organization sells less than $100/month, the fee MWG pays per month is $7.50. If we sell over $100, the fee is $15. They are open 6 days a week, plus during special events. They encourage we come during art walks with a table set up outside (No Peddlers license required). (4-5 Copies of each of your books recommended for in store)
Mobile Bookseller: Members in good standing will be able to sell their books through the MWG at Mobile Bookseller, a used bookstore on Govt & Azeala still labeled as the old “Book Rack” in the corner. Mobile Bookseller will take 40% of the sale price. There will be no monthly fees. Please bring some book flyers/postcards for the short shelves on the rack we donated them for the short shelves. (3 copies of each of your books recommended for in store)
If you are a member in good standing, and have paid the Urban Emporium fee from last year, please get with me about getting your books into the Mobile Bookseller. The owner, Melanie, is wanting them ASAP so fill the shelves and post information about local author books on facebook BEFORE Christmas.
If you aren’t part of our MWG Extended Distribution program. ($15 yearly fee). PLEASE consider it. It is a great opportunity for exposure, and showing our books to people that may not have heard of us.
Mobile Bookseller: https://www.facebook.com/MobileBookseller/?fref=ts
Urban Emporium: https://www.facebook.com/UrbanEmporium/?fref=ts
Sincerely,
Craig A. Price Jr.
MWG President
This Thursday’s meeting is titled “Kid Lit 101” Join us as MWG vice president and SCBWI Local Liaison Carrie Dalby Cox takes us through the basics in the world of children’s literature. Carrie will cover what differentiates books in all age levels including baby, picture, easy readers, chapter, middle grade, and young adult with examples from all categories. Her debut novel, a young adult historical titled FORTITUDE (Anaiah Press, Surge imprint) releases on December 8.
Please remember to bring cash or check to renew your membership and for our new donation raffle. Remember, tickets will be $1 each and you may buy more than one. This month the book we will be raffling is “Let’s Get Digital: How To Self-Publishing and Why you Should” by David Gaughran. This is the best novel for authors considering Self-Publishing or have already began their Self-Publishing adventure. It is an excellent read with facts about Traditional vs Self-Publishing. Even if you are die-hard Traditional, you should really read this book, it will open your eyes to what the differences really are. I will speak a bit about it at the start of the meeting, and if you are interested in it please buy a few raffle tickets to see if you can win it. Remember, the donations for these tickets are going to our Mobile Writers Guild cards, the cost of the books, and to help us bring a New York Times Bestselling author to Mobile.
Remember, this year we are recording all of our meetings, and I hope to find a way to make my voice and our speakers heard easier through the room. If you are a member and missed a meeting or want to go back and listen to one of our meetings, you can get the private address from us where you can do that. We also have most of the audios from last season as well if you want to go back and listen to any of them.
Our Critique groups have started. We are having them on the third Thursday of the month. If you haven’t signed up, please do so. We have created a private Facebook group as well as email for all of us to stay connected.
Special Member Opportunity
Our arrangement with the Urban Emporium in downtown Mobile is up and running! Here are the details: Members in good standing will be able to sell their books through the MWG at Urban Emporium, a retail shop on Dauphin Street in their Mobile Makers section. Urban Emporium will take 25% of the sale price, and 2.5% for credit card transactions. If the organization sells less than $100/month, the fee MWG pays per month is $7.50. If we sell over $100, the fee is $15. They are open 6 days a week, plus during special events.
This is a stupendous opportunity to showcase members’ books. To participate, you must be a current member, and pay an additional fee of $15/year to help us pay the rental space at the store. If you are interested, please bring up to five copies of your book(s) to the meeting and your checkbook. We will also need an electronic copy of your author bio and photo–please send to [email protected].
We have two contracts with the Mobile Bookseller and hopefully the owner will come up with a decision soon so we can have our books represented there as well.
Member News:
Our Vice-President, Carrie Dalby Cox, has her book available for Pre-Order. It is titled, Fortitude, and its official release is December 8th, 2015.
Our President, Craig A. Price Jr., has recently released his novel, The Crimson Claymore, on November 14, 2015.
We will have a box of writing magazines by the back table that were donated to us, feel free to grab any that interest you.
We hope to see everybody there, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone once again.
Remember to bring snacks for the group if you can, we will have snacks in the back.
Bring copies of your books as well to put on our display table – who knows, you may sell a copy.
Join us at:
West Regional Library
5555 Grelot Rd,
Mobile, AL 36609
(251) 340-8555
6-8 PM in the meeting room on December 3rd.
See you there!
Sincerely,
Craig A. Price Jr.
President
Mobile Writers Guild
2015-2016
I want to welcome you to the third meeting of our season. Our meeting will be this coming Thursday, November 5th from 6-8 PM at the West Regional Library on Grelot road. I look forward to seeing everybody and continue to get to know everyone. We have many exciting things planned for this upcoming year.
This Thursday’s meeting is titled “ Traditional VS Self-Publishing“: Join us as we welcome Carolyn Haines, the multiple-award-winning, best-selling author of more than seventy books across numerous genres. With years of experience, combined with keen insight, Ms. Haines will walk us through the pros and cons in the different publication choices we have as writers in the twenty-first century.
Please remember to bring cash or check to renew your membership and for our new donation raffle. Remember, tickets will be $1 each and you may buy more than one. This month the book we will be raffling is “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. This is an excellent novel for writers, poets, artist, and anybody that has ever had a passion and needs that extra push to follow your dreams. I highly recommend this book, and insist that even if you don’t win it in the raffle, go out and buy it, read it, and study it. I have notes and highlights all throughout my own copy. I will speak a bit about it at the start of the meeting, and if you are interested in it please buy a few raffle tickets to see if you can win it. Remember, the donations for these tickets are going to our Mobile Writers Guild cards, the cost of the books, and to help us bring a New York Times Bestselling author to Mobile.
We also have a very exciting opportunity with the library for a “Home for the Holidays” event. Home for the Holidays, an event we are working on hosting this holiday season, will give writers an opportunity to set up a table and sell their books. Members are invited to decorate and share in the fun as people will enjoy festive foods and readings from local authors. If you wish to join us, we will need to know by our meeting. If you are a member with us, the cost is free, otherwise bring $10 with you if you want your own table. There is more information on our website at www.mobilewritersguild.com
Pecan Festival in Mobile, AL will be featuring a writers festival. This will be set up in the Community Center during the festival. Authors will each have a table on which to display and sell their books. The dates are November 6 – November 8. The person to get in contact with about your book and contact information will be Angela Blomquist Stombaugh.
Remember, this year we are recording all of our meetings. If you are a member and missed a meeting or want to go back and listen to one of our meetings, you can get the private web address from us where you can do that. We also have most of the audios from last season as well if you want to go back and listen to any of them. We can make any member a CD of any audio they request.
Special Member Opportunity
Our arrangement with the Urban Emporium in downtown Mobile is up and running! Here are the details: Members in good standing will be able to sell their books through the MWG at Urban Emporium, a retail shop on Dauphin Street in their Mobile Makers section. Urban Emporium will take 25% of the sale price, and 2.5% for credit card transactions. If the organization sells less than $100/month, the fee MWG pays per month is $7.50. If we sell over $100, the fee is $15. They are open 6 days a week, plus during special events.
This is a stupendous opportunity to showcase members’ books. To participate, you must be a current member, and pay an additional fee of $15/year. If you are interested, please bring up to five copies of your book(s) to the meeting and your checkbook. We will also need an electronic copy of your author bio and photo–please send to [email protected].
Member News:
Joyce Scarbrough has released SHADES OF BLUE on Amazon as an E-Book and paperback. She has also released the new paperback edition of DIFFERENT ROADS.
Lee Ann Ward has rereleased her book THERE IN THE MOON MIST on amazon on October 31st.
Angela Quarles’ MUST LOVE BREECHES made #1 in Time Travel Romance, #1 in Historical Romance, and #23 Overall on Amazon. It is also #4 in the Nook store.
Bob Zeanah has a new book coming out November 7th titled NO ANCHOR.
Carrie Dalby Cox has a cover reveal for her novel FORTITUDE in November.
Craig A. Price Jr. will be releasing his first novel THE CRIMSON CLAYMORE in November in both print and E-Book. It is the first in a new Epic Fantasy series.
We will have a box of writing magazines by the back table that were donated to us, feel free to grab any that interest you.
We hope to see everybody there, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone once again.
Remember to bring snacks for the group if you can, we will have snacks in the back.
Bring copies of your books as well to put on our display table – who knows, you may sell a copy.
Join us at:
West Regional Library
5555 Grelot Rd,
Mobile, AL 36609
(251) 340-8555
6-8 PM in the meeting room on November 5th!
See you there!
Sincerely,
Craig A. Price Jr.
President
Mobile Writers Guild
2015-2016
I have a special announcement to make to everybody about an event this November. Some of you that have come to our meetings have heard about the “Home for the Holidays: Writers and Readers Market.”
The Mobile Writers Guild and the Mobile Public Library are sponsoring a “Home for the Holidays” celebration of local and regional authors. Writers wishing to do a reading or desiring a space to sell their books should let us know now so we can add you to the program. Self-published authors and those with independent or e-presses are welcome to sell their books, CDs, and other promotional items. Traditionally published authors who would like one of the local booksellers to provide their books should let us know as soon as possible so we can confirm it with the stores. For those wishing to have a bookstore provide the books to sell, we need to know by November 2nd.We’ll schedule readings throughout the day for five-minute intervals, and in between we’ll have holiday music, refreshments, and door prizes.
There will be no charge for Mobile Writers Guild paid members to reserve a table, and non-members may rent a table for $10, which can be paid by cash or check at a MWG monthly meeting on/before November 5. You can also mail a check to P.O. Box 851851, Mobile, AL 36685-1851, but it must be received by Nov. 2. Please be sure to notate that it’s for a HFTH table and also specify the author name you want listed on promotional materials.
We had a lot of success with this event in the past, and we’re excited about working with the library system to bring it back. Hope to hear from all of you about participating!
For more information and updates, you can find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mobilewritersguild or on Twitter @MobileWriters and on our Web site at www.mobilewritersguild.com.
If you are available to help setup the day before, or do not have a book but want to volunteer to help setup, or help with the event, please let us know! We will be able to setup anywhere from 12 to closing on Friday the 20th. Vice-President Carrie will have more details if you want to help setup. Participating authors can set up their tables at 9am Sat. morning.
If you want to help with the door prizes, you may contact us about suggestions of things to bring. Another thing you may want to consider if you have a published book, is giving one copy as a door prize. This would be an excellent way of promotion (And you may even gain a new fan!).
Here are the details:
WHAT: Home for the Holidays Writers and Readers Market
WHERE: Mobile Public Library West Regional Branch
5555 Grelot Rd, Mobile, AL 36609
(251) 340-8555
WHEN: Saturday, November 21, from 10 am to 2 pm (Set-up at 9am)
For more information, questions, and to reserve a table, please contact our Vice-President Carrie Dalby Cox : carriedalby @ carriedalby . com
Sincerely,
Craig A. Price Jr.
President,
Mobile Writers Guild
I want to welcome you to our second meetings of our season. Our meeting will be this coming Thursday, October 1st from 6-8 PM at the West Regional Library on Grelot road. I look forward to seeing everybody and continue to get to know everyone. I am new this year as President, and I have many exciting things planned for this upcoming year.
This Thursday’s meeting is titled “ NaNoWriMo and Podcasts: the Basics“: MWG President Craig A. Price, Jr. will take us through what we need to do this month, to be ready for National Novel Writing Month in November. Topics include research, outlining, and finding help and inspiration through writing related Podcasts. He will also talk a lot about using different Podcasts for help with writing, publishing, and marketing.
Please remember to bring cash or check to renew your membership and for our new donation raffle. Remember, tickets will be $1 each and you may buy more than one. This month the book we will be raffling is “No Plot? No Problem!: A low-stress, high-velocity guide to Writing A Novel in 30 days” by Chris Baty. This novel is by the founder of NaNoWrimo (National Novel Writing Month) and he talks about ways to force your plot out and keep your internal editor at bay. I will speak a bit about it at the start of the meeting, and if you are interested in it please buy a few raffle tickets to see if you can win it. Remember, the donations for these tickets are going to our Mobile Writers Guild cards, the cost of the books, and to help us bring a New York Times Bestselling author to Mobile. We will also be raffling audio DVDs with Writing Podcasts and a CD with audio files for our meetings last season. Make sure to purchase several raffle tickets for an opportunity to not only win a copy of “No Plot? No Problem!” but a chance to win audios about writing! We will be using the left over donation tickets to give away the following audio DVDs: Mobile Writers Guild: 2014-2015 Season, Grammar Girl Podcast, Get Published Podcast, I Should Be Writing Podcast, Sell More Books Show Podcast, Rocking Self-Publishing Podcast, Self-Publishing Podcast, Dead Robot Society Podcast, Writing Excuses Podcast, The Creative Penn Podcast, Write For Your Life Podcast, and Self-Publishing Success Summit.
We also have a very exciting opportunity with the library for a “Home for the Holidays” event. Home for the Holidays, an event we are working on hosting this holiday season, will give writers an opportunity to set up a table and sell their books. Members are invited to decorate and share in the fun as people will enjoy festive foods and readings from local authors. More details to come soon.
Pecan Festival in Mobile, AL will be featuring a writers festival. This will be set up in the Community Center during the festival. Authors will each have a table on which to display and sell their books. The dates are November 6 – November 8. The person to get in contact with about your book and contact information will be Angela Blomquist Stombaugh.
The Mobile Writers Guild has been featured in Mobile Bay Magazine under “What to see & do: in our great city”. We are under Literature for “Do it”. If you can, pick up a magazine and check it out. I have a copy of the magazine I will pass around at our meeting to see the article.
Here is a copy of the online article:
http://www.mobilebaymag.com/Mobile-Bay/September-2015/What-to-See-Do-in-our-Great-City/
In our future we could also see our members books on the shelf of our local “Mobile Bookseller” on HWY 90 & Azeala. The building is still labeled as “Book Rack” and the new owners there have only had the store for a month. However, the changes inside are wonderful. The floors have been redone, and they have overhauled the entire interior and reorganized all the books. They plan on making new shelves to hold larger books and are interested in having a “local author” section. I have been talking with them about it, and in the future we hope to get our books in there and have the opportunity to have author signings there as well. They are new owners, and are still busy organizing, but I will keep everybody informed when that will come to pass. Right now, they have a wonderful book trade in policy. You get $1 credit for each book you trade in. That one dollar goes toward a book that you purchase there. It is an even trade process. Therefore, if you trade in 5 books, but only buy 2. You get $1 off each book. The remaining three go on a credit system at the store. If you have a lot of used books that collect dust on your shelf it is worth looking in to. If you’d rather not bring them to the store for trade in, we will collect them for you and donate them to the store. I will not receive credits for them, but will be donating them to the owners as a gift from the Mobile Writers Guild. With these gifts I hope to start a wonderful partnership with the bookstore that will help us in the future for hosting our books and signings. Please bring any books you are willing to donate.
Remember, this year we are recording all of our meetings, and I hope to find a way to make my voice and our speakers heard easier through the room. If you are a member and missed a meeting or want to go back and listen to one of our meetings, you can get the private address from us where you can do that. We also have most of the audios from last season as well if you want to go back and listen to any of them.
Our Critique groups will be starting soon. We have 11 people on the list, and I am trying to find the best day/time for all/most of us to be able to meet. We SHOULD have our first one this next month. I will do my best with this.
Special Member Opportunity
Our arrangement with the Urban Emporium in downtown Mobile is up and running! Here are the details: Members in good standing will be able to sell their books through the MWG at Urban Emporium, a retail shop on Dauphin Street in their Mobile Makers section. Urban Emporium will take 25% of the sale price, and 2.5% for credit card transactions. If the organization sells less than $100/month, the fee MWG pays per month is $7.50. If we sell over $100, the fee is $15. They are open 6 days a week, plus during special events.
This is a stupendous opportunity to showcase members’ books.To participate, you must be a current member, and pay an additional fee of $15/year. If you are interested, please bring up to five copies of your book(s) to the meeting and your checkbook. We will also need an electronic copy of your author bio and photo–please send to [email protected].
Member News:
Joyce Scarbrough has released a short story titled Code Blue: A Short Story. It will be free on Amazon Kindle through the end of the month. Her novel Shades of Blue is available for pre-order and will official go on sale October 5th. The paperback edition will follow a week later.
Craig A. Price Jr has released a short story titledDiamonds Under a Hickory Tree. It is available on Amazon Kindle. He has also published his first short story The Mage and the Freckled Frog early in the summer. It is available on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and many other retailers.
Aleta Davis released her book The Protector this summer on Amazon.
Caren Rich released a collection of short stories Tales ofChristmas in the South on Amazon.
Angela Quarles had her third novel Must Love Chainmailcame out this summer on Amazon and received a starred review in LibraryJournal.
CJ Petterson released Choosing Carter last month through Crimson Romance. It is available on Amazon.
(That is a LOT of great member news, congratulations on the publications everybody!)
We will have a box of writing magazines by the back table that were donated to us, feel free to grab any that interest you.
We hope to see everybody there, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone once again.
Remember to bring snacks for the group if you can, we will have snacks in the back.
Bring copies of your books as well to put on our display table – who knows, you may sell a copy.
Join us at:
West Regional Library
5555 Grelot Rd,
Mobile, AL 36609
(251) 340-8555
6-8 PM in the meeting room on October 1st.
See you there!
Sincerely,
Craig A. Price Jr.
President
Mobile Writers Guild
2015-2016
This is 2015-2016 Mobile Writers Guild President, Craig A. Price Jr.
I hope everyone is having a great summer. I just wanted to let all of you know that our final summer Drink ~N~ Scrawl will take place next Saturday August 29th from 2-4 PM at the Bluegill restaurant on the causeway. Our first regular meeting with be Thursday, September 3rd from 6-8PM.
We are excited this year to have a New York Times Bestselling author come speak at one of our meetings. We have many other plans, including more “Mobile Writers Guild” business cards, starting up a small critique group, talk on marketing and self-publishing, and discussing books on writing, as well as hosting a raffle each month to win a book on writing/publishing or a collection of audio podcasts. I also plan on transcribing our meetings from last year into PDFs so members can go back through and read what we talked about. We already have audios of each meeting available for members, and we plan to continue with that this next year. Don’t forget that if you’re a member with a published paper book, we have a contract with Urban Emporium in downtown Mobile to sell member’s books on a table in the back. This is a great opportunity; please feel free to ask us how this works. I am also excited about talking to a small bookstore about a similar opportunity, and I will keep you updated with how that goes.
How the raffle works: Each meeting this coming year we will be holding at least one raffle a month. Each raffle ticket will cost $1, and you will be able to purchase more than one ticket. The winner of the raffle will receive a book about Writing/Publishing/Marketing or a DATA DVD full of audio podcasts about Writing/Publishing/Marketing, depending what you buy a raffle ticket for. Each single raffle ticket will be $1. The money is going toward our organization to help with the new things we have going on like the new business cards we have, postcards, and for helping with the cost of bringing the New York Times bestselling author down. The library wants a bestselling author here and has organized with us to also have them speak at one of our meetings. We want to help with the cost, and these raffle donations will be a great way to do that. The profits off the books we raffle (minus the cost of buying them), will go straight to our funds and help us help the library. Each writing book that is being raffled, I will have read myself and I will personally review with a synopsis in the beginning of every meeting. We will raffle 1 book each meeting, and I will raffle the DATA DVDs of the writing podcasts in November. Everyone please bring cash/checks to each of our meetings so you can participate in these raffles.
News Updates:
Our member, Marilyn Johnson, writing under pen name CJ Petterson, has a new release out called “Choosing Carter”, a contemporary romantic suspense novel. Find out more information about it on her website: http://www.lyricalpens.com/2015/08/choosing-carter-launches.html
Our member, Angela Quarles will be having a book signing this Saturday August 22nd from 4-6 PM at Firehouse Wine Bar & Shop. https://www.facebook.com/events/854469677968826/
Reminder:
If you have updates, please email us at mobilewritersguild @ gmail .com and please put “NEWS UPDATE” in the subject line so I can easily find them. Thanks!
I look forward to seeing everybody at Bluegill next Saturday!
Bluegill Restaurant
3775 Battleship Pkwy, Spanish Fort, AL 36527
(251) 625-1998
Saturday August 29th 2-4 PM
Sincerely,
Craig A. Price Jr.
President
Mobile Writers Guild