All meetings are on Saturdays.
Doors open — 10:00 AM
Networking — 10:00 to 10:30 AM
Meeting and presentation — 10:30 to Noon
More networking — Noon to 12:30 PM
January 26 — Secrets for Successfully Working with Your Printing Company
Guest Experts: Marty Gilliland and Chris Carpenter
February 23 — Achieving Traditional Book PR
Resident Expert: Tricia Van Dockum
March 29 — Creating Best-Selling Book Proposals and Marketing Plans
Resident Expert: Karla Olson
April 26 —Red Hot Internet Publicity and Virtual Author Tours
Guest Expert: Penny Sansevieri
May 24 — Open Group Discussion and Q&A
Note date changed to May 24 to accommodate board and member attendance
at Book Expo America in Los Angeles
June 28 — How to Get Your Book into Libraries
Guest Expert: Susan Simpson
July 26 — Protection and Legal Aspects of Your Intellectual Property
Guest Expert: To Be Announced
August 30 — Open Group Discussion and Q&A
September 27 — Audio and Video Podcasting for Authors and Independent Publishers
Guest Expert: Mike Rounds
October 25 —How to Make the Best of Your Shipping Budget
Guest Expert: To Be Announced
November & December — Holiday social in early December; no formal meeting these months
January 26, 2008
Secrets for Successfully Working with Your Printing Company
Guest Experts: Marty Gilliland and Chris Carpenter
Join printing professionals Marty Gilliland and Chris Carpenter for a
discussion of how to make the best decisions for your publishing
business, work well with your printer, and get the final product that
you want.
About Our Guest Experts
Marty Gilliland is the West Coast Sales Manager for United Graphics,
Inc. Since 1971, United Graphics has been providing traditional book
manufacturing services and is ranked as one of the top 30 printers in
the book printing industry. The company recently added short-run
capacity, allowing it to print books in runs of 100 to 1,000.
Marty has a unique connection to Publishers and Writers of San Diego. In 1994, new to Southern California and just setting up his territory, he decided to put together a one-day book production seminar.
Another local publishing professional, Bob Goodman, quickly got on board. Together they formed a slate of speakers from among local area publishers and had a tremendous turn-out. By the end of the day the group was so excited they wanted to form an official group and meet on a regular basis. Bob Goodman took the reigns from there and, hence, we now proudly have the Publishers and Writers of San Diego.
Throughout his work and education, Chris Carpenter has immersed himself 
in the world of books. After a few years in sales at a retail bookstore, Chris discovered the arts of marketing, printing, designing, and distributing books as he worked for two different publishing companies, Fons Vitae Publishing and Sarabande Books. In 2006, he was recruited by their printer, Four Colour Imports, Ltd., and he became the Western Territory Manager. Chris has worked with books from the manuscript stage through the manufacturing process all the way to the bookshelf in a retail store. He received his B.A. in English from Bellarmine University. He lives with his wife Alexandra, their son Christopher, and two cats, Bambino and Andrea, in Phoenix, Arizona.
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February 23, 2008
Achieving Traditional Book PR
Resident Expert: Literary Publicist: Tricia van Dockum
Join business owner and literary publicist Tricia van Dockum for an informative discussion on how to successfully promote and gain exposure for your published book. Learn what steps to take and what you need to know to creatively set your book apart from all the others.
About Our Guest Expert
Tricia van Dockum began her publicity career working in the marketing department for Princess Cruises in Los Angeles. From there, Tricia worked in numerous publicity mediums, including 
crisis, product, and entertainment public relations, lastly working as a photo publicist for CBS Network before relocating to San Diego. It was there that she found she could combine her publicity experience with her love of books, working as a literary publicist in the San Diego office of Harcourt Trade Publishing for 5 ½ years. In September 2006, Tricia started her own literary publicity agency, Ollie Media, which proved to be a very successful move for her. Her clients include authors from Harcourt, FSG, HarperCollins, and MacAdam/Cage as well as smaller independent publishers. Tricia lives in Point Loma, California, with her husband, Mike, and their four-year-old daughter, Olivia, the inspiration and namesake of her business.
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March 29, 2008
Creating Best-Selling Book Proposals and Marketing Plans
Resident Expert: Karla Olson
Whether you are seeking a publishing partner or planning to publish independently, the first step in developing a project should be to write a book proposal, and the most important part of your book proposal is your marketing plan. Karla Olson of BookStudio will share with you strategies for how to determine who your market is, what they want to hear from you, and how you are going to let them know your book is out there. In addition, she will present the tried-and-true elements of a top-notch marketing plan and how to use it to drive the development of your book project.
About Our Resident Expert
Karla Olson is a current PWSD board member. She has been in the publishing industry for over 20 years and is the co-founder of BookStudio, a publishing consultancy. Before founding BookStudio, she was the Creative Director of Tehabi Books, the founder of Via Press, and worked in the editorial departments of two major publishers in New York City. Learn more about BookStudio and its services at www.bookstudiobooks.com.
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April 26, 2008
Red Hot Internet Publicity and Virtual Author Tours
Guest Expert: Penny Sansevieri
If you think you have your Internet marketing covered with just a web
site, you might be missing out on a bucket of Internet gold. This
seminar is packed with exactly what you need to take advantage of the
publicity opportunities the Internet offers. Best of all, Penny will
discuss her exclusive Virtual Author Tour program — how you can "tour"
yourself on the Internet — which has put several of her clients on the
New York Times bestseller list! Additional topics will include:
• How to expand your platform and sell more books
• How to create a publicity campaign that will last for months, not
days
• Using book videos to sell more books
• Using Wikipedia to market yourself
• Using social networking sites, such as Facebook
BONUS: Penny will even share some hints on how to market yourself on
Craigslist!
About Our Guest Expert
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc.,
is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing
and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the
publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge
book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books, including
Book to Bestseller, which has been called the "road map to publishing
success." AME was the first marketing and publicity firm to use
Internet promotion to its full impact through The Virtual Author Tour,
which strategically works with social networks, blogs, ezines, and
relevant sites to push an authors message into the virtual community
and connect with sites related to the book's topic, positioning the
author in his or her market. To learn more about Penny's books or her
promotional services, you can visit her web site at
http://www.amarketingexpert.com.
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May 24, 2008
Note date changed to May 24 to accommodate board and member attendance
at Book Expo America in Los Angeles
Open Group Discussion and Q&A
This is the time to ask any and all burning or simmering questions you have about any part of publishing, for anyone in the room to answer. There are usually some folks in attendance who have a ton of publishing experience. It is typically one of the most popular meetings of the year.
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June 28, 2008
How to Get Your Book into Libraries
Guest Expert: Susan Simpson
Susan, an acquisition librarian with the Carlsbad City Library, will
discuss how libraries select and order materials, and how to bring your
book to the attention of the library market.
About Our Guest Expert
Susan Simpson started her library career in the sixth grade, when she
was chosen to be one of the library helpers at her elementary school.
She worked at libraries through high school, and then detoured into
other areas during and after college. Many years later she returned to
library work, and got her Masters degree in Librarianship and
Information Science from the University of Denver, Colorado. She has
worked at the Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado Springs and at
the Carlsbad City Library.
Susan has worked in many areas of the library, including reference
services and managing the magazine collection, but she found her true
calling when she became a Collection Development Librarian 22 years
ago. She manages the selection and weeding of materials and the
allocation of the money for the various parts of the library collection
of materials, overseeing twenty staff members who select and weed in
the various subject areas for the adult and children’s books and
audio-visual materials. She also oversees the ordering of the materials
for the library.
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July 26, 2008
Protection and Legal Aspects of Your Intellectual Property
Guest Expert: To Be Announced
Details to come.
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August 30, 2008
Open Group Discussion and Q&A
Details to come.
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September 27, 2008
Audio and Video Podcasting for Authors and Independent Publishers
Guest Expert: Mike Rounds
Welcome to the world of diverse publishing methods including
Podcasting, the latest trend in making information publicly available
to the masses.
If you’ve ever considered Podcasting as a promotion or distribution
method for your creative genius, then you need to attend this seminar
where you’ll learn the answers to the following:
• What is Podcasting?
• Why do you want to Podcast?
• How do you profit from a Podcast?
• What’s the procedure for Podcasting?
• What hardware, software, and internet “stuff” do you need?
• What type of content do you want to supply? Why?
• What recording formats and playback devices do you want to address?
• Where do you get the help you’ll need (Resources)?
About Our Guest Expert
Mike Rounds is a professional speaker and a published author with over
100 “How-To” type books, audios, and videos in distribution. He is the
author of the “for the Clueless®” series of products and has been
assisting speakers, trainers, authors, inventors, and other creative
people to develop and market their creativity for the past 25 years.
Mike is a graduate engineer, former director of a Fortune 500 Company,
and vice-president of one of the country’s largest toy manufacturers.
He is past-president of the national Speakers Association in Los
Angeles and delivers over 200 seminars and workshops each year.
He and his partner Nancy Miller own Rounds, Miller and Associates in
Los Angeles and can be found online at www.RoundsMiller.com. Mike can
be reached at Mike@RoundsMiller.com.
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October 25, 2008
How to Make the Best of Your Shipping Budget
Guest Expert: To Be Announced
Details to come.
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December, 2008
Our Annual Year-End Celebration and Social
Details to come.
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