Traditional. Hybrid, Self-Published. Which is the best way for you?
Our September 27th GLAWS Meeting
Your moderator for the event is Elaine Ash, editor, publisher, and marketer of bestselling, award-winning writers and authors. She has promised a “cheat sheet” handout with publishing terms so nobody gets left behind. Join us!
When a dream deal for Elaine’s first novel fell through with Ballantine Books in New York, she self-published and printed 10,000 paperbacks, negotiated a distribution deal with the largest book chain in Canada, and landed on national bestseller lists a few months later. That was in 1993…
Today, Elaine puts her drive and innovation to work for writers who have their own dreams and goals. Some utilize her coaching expertise to win awards and contests, land publishing deals, or find literary agents. Others use her self-publishing service to retain control of their own Kindle publishing accounts, avoiding the limitations and expense of hybrid publishers.
Elaine’s GLAWS clients include WOTF finalist Neil V. Young (Children of the Stars), WOTF published finalist Chrome Oxide (28 Minutes into the Future), and romance author Sevan Minaskanian (Winter Time) who smashed all existing sales records for book signings at Barnes & Noble in Burbank, CA. Out-of-state clients include military SFF author Steven G. Johnson (Operation Vampire) and Todd M. Henderson, first-time author of Mental State, the biggest money-making book in 2018 for Down and Out Books.
Find Elaine online at bestsellermetrics.com
Steven Hutson is a native of Los Angeles, a child of the 1960s, and a storyteller almost from birth. But like most writers, he kept a day job in between gigs. After having a couple of books published, he set up shop as a freelance editor, handling hundreds of projects in almost every genre. After a while he got drafted to direct a writers’ conference for several years, making many valuable contacts along the way. When an editing client asked him to broker several book deals, he resisted. But as it turned out, he enjoyed the dealmaking and contract negotiations.
Steve hung out a shingle as a literary agent in early 2011. Today his company employs three agents and serves 50 clients. He has placed their works with Harlequin, Dutton, HarperCollins, Tyndale, Hachette, Writer’s Digest Books, and others.
In 2020, Sharmyn McGraw launched Double Trouble Publishing and debuted her first novel, Dying to Date. In the past five years, it’s been downloaded tens of thousands of times through global publishing platforms, reaching readers in 79 countries, and often ranking at the top of Amazon Mystery/Crime categories. She is the creator of Keep Your Story Straight, a series of genre-specific workbooks designed to help novelists stay organized. A natural marketer, her enthusiasm and approachable style attracts thousands of followers on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms. As technology evolves, so does she, staying ahead in the always-changing world of indie publishing. Her second novel, Dying to Marry, is currently in its final draft.
Neil V. Young is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author, and a Finalist in the prestigious Writers of the Future competition. His debut novel, Children of the Stars will be taught as class course material at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. The novel won First Place in the Fall 2024 BookFest Awards and Finalist in the 2024 Cygnus Awards.
Neil served as a contributing editor for several Long Beach and Los Angeles-based writers’ groups, and as Vice President of Programming for the Southern California Writers Association.
So join us Saturday, September 27th from 2 to 5, at:
www.lapl.org
Venice-Abbot Kinney Memorial Branch Library
