AZ AUTHORS ASSOCIATION --- FEBRUARY MEETING

EILEEN BIRIN --- Writer, Editor, Publisher and former 8th grade English teacher was February's guest speaker. Anyone interested in becoming a published author would greatly benefit from taking one of Eileen's classes or attending one of her workshops. I've enjoyed all of the workshops and meetings that I've attended since first making contact with the local librarian last Fall. One event inevitably leads to others which lead to others where I've learned that I knew NOTHING when I finally got published in April of last year! The "networking" (me?) is working! The one comment by Eileen that brought a chuckle to the attendees was "I leave books everywhere so that someone might pick it up and read it. You never know. I even leave books in the Ladies Room!" After the meeting I made my way to the front of the meeting room. I wasn't about to make the same mistake that I made at my first workshop: waiting for the guest speaker to made his/her way to the back of the room/auditorium. So many people got in front of "shy" Jack that by the time he answered all their questions he had to make a quick dash out the door because he needed to be somewhere else, like pronto. I beat the crowd and got to ask my question: "Do you have a Ladies Room at your house, and if so, could you please leave this (my book) in there?" Got a laugh out of a few people waiting to speak with her. Eileen enthusiastically took the book. I could tell that she was immediately drawn to the jacket cover. Everyone is. (Thanks, Angela Capria!) The bold colors that surround and separate the old Black & White photos catch everyone's eye. "I'd love to read it, " she replied. YES! Mission accomplished. I could go on and on and on about the topic --- self-publishing --- but I'll spare you. One note, however, 78% of all books (approximately 150,000 in the US per year) are either from small publishing houses or self-published. Eileen's is the owner of Neelie Publishing based here in Glendale. http://www.winmarkcom.com/whatnots.htm