March 11 Meeting
Posted by Tonya Gamble
We learned how to publish our memoirs today, thanks to Ray's classification talk...
Martin opened the meeting and Don Black led us in the pledge. We had two visitors today: Sara Wright, who is an organizational consultant in Eagle River, and Mark Nardini, an architect and guest of Meg's.
Happy Buck Highlights: We had several members who were happy that it was March and they were done shoveling snow - nevermind that it snowed 6 inches the other day!
Upcoming Fireside: This Saturday, March 13, at the Bushnell's in Wasilla, will be our next fireside. All are invited, including families. It will be a potluck so bring a favorite dish to share. The Bushnell's will be making white chili and soup. We will be outside and inside, so dress appropriately. Eric will be sending out directions to his house soon.
Project Amigo Update: I handed out some biography/sponsorship information regarding children who need sponsors for Project Amigo. When we committed to doing a work week in Mexico, the Project Amigo founders also asked us to commit to finding some more sponsors from our club. The cost to sponsor a child for the whole year is $95 for elementary students and $600 for high school students. This covers the child's school uniform & supplies (more for the high school students) along with one hot meal a day. If you are participating in the trip, you can meet your student when we are in Mexico, if you are not, this is a great way to get involved. I have more students who need to be sponsored so just let me know if you are interested.
Chili for Chile:We are not going to do a chili feed now, but the club has appropriated $500 for Chile and is collecting donations to reach $1000 for a Shelterbox in Katja's name. So far, we have raised $300 of the $500 goal.
Classification Talk: Ray and his wife Janet have owned Northbooks, a book publishing company in Eagle River for 14 years. Ray is the publisher, Janet is the editor, and one of Ray's daughters helps edit as well. Ray started by having us imagine how neat is would be if each of us had a document from a great grandfather detailing his life. He encouraged all of us to write our memoirs as a gift to future generations. The best way to start writing is not to go in chronological order, but rather to just go through pictures and write stories that come to mind when looking at the pictures. It is also important to pick the time of day when you are in a reflective mood.
There are 3 phases to publishing a book:
(1) Editing - Two reads are required and this can be quite expensive because it is very time intensive. The first read averages about 5 minutes/page and the second read averages about 3 minutes/page. When Janet edits, she writes in red pen in the margins and the author can decide whether or not to make her suggested changes.
(2) Prepress - This is the process where the book format is determined. Margins, spacing, fonts are some of the things considered. Also, this is where the order of the stories might be changed, you want to make sure that you capture the readers attention right away, so you want an interesting story in the beginning.
(3) Print - Digital printing is the way to go now. This is a fairly new technology and the costs/book are quite resonable no matter how many books you print.
Authors who publish through Northbooks, or another subsidy publisher, pay for all the costs of their book upfront and then keep all of the sales of their books. A typical contract from a big publishing house will earn you 5% of sales, so you need a lot of sales. Just to have your book in a store usually costs 40% and then if you pay for a distributor, that could run anywhere between 15-30%. Many of Ray's clients have had good luck just selling to people who they know.
Split the Pot: Ruth won AGAIN, this time $11!
See you at the fireside - Tonya
Happy Buck Highlights: We had several members who were happy that it was March and they were done shoveling snow - nevermind that it snowed 6 inches the other day!
Upcoming Fireside: This Saturday, March 13, at the Bushnell's in Wasilla, will be our next fireside. All are invited, including families. It will be a potluck so bring a favorite dish to share. The Bushnell's will be making white chili and soup. We will be outside and inside, so dress appropriately. Eric will be sending out directions to his house soon.
Project Amigo Update: I handed out some biography/sponsorship information regarding children who need sponsors for Project Amigo. When we committed to doing a work week in Mexico, the Project Amigo founders also asked us to commit to finding some more sponsors from our club. The cost to sponsor a child for the whole year is $95 for elementary students and $600 for high school students. This covers the child's school uniform & supplies (more for the high school students) along with one hot meal a day. If you are participating in the trip, you can meet your student when we are in Mexico, if you are not, this is a great way to get involved. I have more students who need to be sponsored so just let me know if you are interested.
Chili for Chile:We are not going to do a chili feed now, but the club has appropriated $500 for Chile and is collecting donations to reach $1000 for a Shelterbox in Katja's name. So far, we have raised $300 of the $500 goal.
Classification Talk: Ray and his wife Janet have owned Northbooks, a book publishing company in Eagle River for 14 years. Ray is the publisher, Janet is the editor, and one of Ray's daughters helps edit as well. Ray started by having us imagine how neat is would be if each of us had a document from a great grandfather detailing his life. He encouraged all of us to write our memoirs as a gift to future generations. The best way to start writing is not to go in chronological order, but rather to just go through pictures and write stories that come to mind when looking at the pictures. It is also important to pick the time of day when you are in a reflective mood.
There are 3 phases to publishing a book:
(1) Editing - Two reads are required and this can be quite expensive because it is very time intensive. The first read averages about 5 minutes/page and the second read averages about 3 minutes/page. When Janet edits, she writes in red pen in the margins and the author can decide whether or not to make her suggested changes.
(2) Prepress - This is the process where the book format is determined. Margins, spacing, fonts are some of the things considered. Also, this is where the order of the stories might be changed, you want to make sure that you capture the readers attention right away, so you want an interesting story in the beginning.
(3) Print - Digital printing is the way to go now. This is a fairly new technology and the costs/book are quite resonable no matter how many books you print.
Authors who publish through Northbooks, or another subsidy publisher, pay for all the costs of their book upfront and then keep all of the sales of their books. A typical contract from a big publishing house will earn you 5% of sales, so you need a lot of sales. Just to have your book in a store usually costs 40% and then if you pay for a distributor, that could run anywhere between 15-30%. Many of Ray's clients have had good luck just selling to people who they know.
Split the Pot: Ruth won AGAIN, this time $11!
See you at the fireside - Tonya