F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction Author

Leisure

Colorado Authors Open House – Success!

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Open book icon
Open book icon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I had fun.

Had my own paparazzi/entourage, in the form of my lovely wife, snapping pictures everywhere I turned.

I met some old friends…and made some new ones (well, I hope so, anyway…).

Put some handshakes to faces I’ve only seen on-screen–or taunted with blog comments.

Heck, I interested a buyer for the library in my novel.

And I sold two books!

I’m declaring yesterday’s Longmont Public Library’s Colorado Authors Open House a success! It looks like events are still ongoing through this weekend, but all the hard work that people like Carol Cail, Steve Kenworthy, Judith Anderson, and (I’m sure) a legion of other library workers who put into this effort was nothing short of herculean. These are well-meaning people who love books and everything about them, and you could tell this. It was in their enthusiasm, their friendliness, their willingness to help. In fact, in talking with others at the library I was told that these people like to think out of the box and try new things. Mix it up a little. And I like that. I like nontraditional. I like different. I like reaching beyond low-hanging fruit. And I love it when others do the same. Try to expand Life’s experience in positive, constructive, helpful ways.

I felt good energy in this place.

Sure, it’s hard to sell books in a place that gives them away for free, but it did happen, and it brought new awareness to the public of local authors. If they’re like me, I’m sure they were all mentally taking notes, who to check out online, who to check out later at the bookstore. Google this or that name.  It got a bunch of keyboard-bound individuals interacting with each other and their readers. I love attending these things. Love talking and interacting. And it’s always cool when people come looking for you. Ask you about your ideas and thoughts…things important to you that you want to share with others within the bound covers of a book (or the electrons of an e-book)…entering into these dialogues with complete strangers. I’m always fascinated by the lives of others. You just never know who you’re really talking to. All the trials and tribulations others have gone through. And that some of them have taken the time to come over and interact with you is pretty cool. Especially in a library, where people are supposed to remain at arm’s length and not talk. It was a cool little microcosm for an afternoon.

So, I hope that the Longmont Library had a successful National Library Week (they sold a couple hundred of their new anthology, Steve Kenworthy told me), hope they’re all proud of their accomplishments, and hope they can continue it in the future!

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Colorado Authors’ Open House!

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Come one, come all to the Longmont Public Library’s Colorado Authors’ Open House, Friday, April 13, 2 to 5 p.m. This is part of their “You Belong” Longmont Library Festival.  Some 80 authors are expected to show, all excited to be there, meet you, and share their perfectly bound thoughts and ideas! It’ll be a beautiful day for a drive, so ditch work, pick up your favorite caffeinated beverage, and hightail it on up to beautiful Longmont, Colorado (or hop a flight, if you live out-of-state)!

I will be there with my novel Sleepwalkers, hoping to see old and new faces alike. And you can get Sleepwalkers for far less than on Amazon (I think it’ll be selling for $16.50), and I’ll even autograph it for ya. And engage in some pleasant and witty (at least to me…) banter, if you’re so inclined.

So, come on by–we’ll all be waiting!

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The “You Belong” Anthology Read

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I took photo in Longmont, CO, with Canon camera.
Longmont Public Library, Longmont, CO, with Canon camera. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

National Library Week is this week, and, as I mentioned previously, in celebration of this, the Longmont Public library decided to create the “You Belong” anthology. This past Monday (April 9, 2012), the book was unveiled and went on sale, and the library held a public reading, which, my wife and I attended. Both of us were extremely impressed by the talent in that room! From the eight-year-old boy who read about the death of his grandmother’s dog, to all the adult readers (I won’t go into ages!), it was an entertaining and enlightening evening! We had to leave before the very end, but one piece of “performance art,” was an amusing sled dog song, called to “Run On To Nome,” by Sandy Erickson–and she’d gathered up the three children in the front row and had: 1) one wear traditional Eskimo garb, 2) one stand on the sled to “mush,” and 3) one “move the stuffed dog” in a running motion. It was quite entertaining! As Mr. Kenworthy, the book’s Point Man and MC noted, the collection of stories were quite varied!

And the library staff was so polite, courteous, and helpful–and even had a refreshments lounge set up, with mouth-watering cookies (unfortunately for them, I’d just downed a massive “Longmont” burger, at the Pumphouse, down the road–highly recommended)!

I haven’t read before the public in a few years, and I have to admit, it was fun being part of this group of talented writers and their audience! My wife and I sat up front, so we didn’t realize just how packed (SRO) the room had gotten over the course of the evening, but how cool that so many attended!

We each read about five minutes of our work, so my wife brought the video recorder and away she “taped”:

Thanks, again, Mr. Kenworthy, the panel involved in the story selection, and the staff of the Longmont library, for this opportunity! Here’s hoping the anthology does well!

Note:  I will be attending a local author booksigning this Friday (there will be a ton of us!), April 13th, from 2 – 5 p.m., for my novel, Sleepwalkers. Hope to see you there!

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The “You Belong” Anthology

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As I’d mentioned in a previous post, my short story, “Tail Gunner” has been accepted into the Longmont Public Library’s “The You Belong Collection: Writings and Illustrations from Longmont Area Residents” anthology, ISBN 9780615612157. The book will be available April 9th, 2012, for $15. Check out their What’s New link for updated in formation, come April.

Initially the anthology is only available through the Longmont Public Library, but in the near future, says Mr. Kenworthy, Systems Administrator and Head of Technical Services at the library, and Point Man for the project, they plan on having it available through Amazon.com. Interested in a copy? Contact:

Steve Kenworthy
Systems Administrator/Head of Technical Services
Longmont Public Library
409 4th Street
Longmont, CO 80501
303-651-8614
Steve.Kenworthy@ci.longmont.co.us

On April 9th (Monday), the Longmont library is also hosting an open house, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., and on April 13th (Friday), a booksigning of local authors, from 1 to 5 p.m. I will be attending both events, and offered to read “Tail Gunner” at the April 9th Open House. All anthology proceeds go to the library.

Congratulations to all who were included in The YOU BELONG Collection! I look forward to meeting you–and the staff of the Longmont library!

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Promotion vs. Promotion

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Spy vs. Spy
Image via Wikipedia

Such an ugly word to some, choiristic (that a word?) angels and bright lights to others. But a genuine concern to anyone who has anything to sell.

How much is too much?

Just yesterday a friend and I exchanged an e-mail on why some booksignings may or may not be getting the quantity of people to them they used to in the past. The topic arose about social media. That now, on Twitter,  Facebook, and you-name-it, everyone knows about everyone’s nosepicking, butt-wiping, teeth brushing habits, so there’s little left to the imaginaton…little mystery left to authors. Many claim social media the cure-all to selling anything, others, like The Red Pen Of Doom, decry diametrically. I am somewhere in the middle, but basically subscribe to the notion that it’s all “word of mouth.” Pick your platform, pick your poison, but I feel it doesn’t necessarily matter what your poison is, if it’s at all interesting to anyone, it will sell. I also believe in the Zen of life, and that applies to everything (so there’s always a Zen reason for why anything may or may not succeed as the owner may wish it to, and that trumps most of this discussion…). Sure, it has to get out there, but that’s where one’s poisonous platforms come into play. Once it’s out there, there simply has to be interest, and I feel basic “backyard clothesline telegraphy” can get the job done just was well as any TV advertisement, YouTube, or tweet. Because it all comes into play when people are interested in anything.

So, while I agree with much of Mr. Red Pen, and greatly like what he has to say, I disagree in that anything can sell anything. There just has to be some kind of a fire lit under it. And I can’t tell you what that fire is. It could your burning wit, your good looks, your eloquence. Your tireless promotional energy. Yes, it could still be Oprah.

Hell, it could even be your powerfully delivered story, characters, and message.

Now, I’m a huge fan of mystery. I realize long ago, I don’t really and necessarily want to know a movie star’s political alignment, nor an author’s brand of toothpaste. We all have our quirks and weirdness, and I don’t think we need to broadcast every little thing about ourselves. I love the imagination, and I love to What-if. I think we all need a little mystery left to our lives, left to our imaginations…these will help fire our imaginations. Imagination is important. It fuels pretty much everything about our lives. We imagine to do better, to go farther, to grow and improve. If every little thing about about every little thing is laid out bared and eviscerated, it can well kill (at the very least blunt) the imagination. An ability not used atrophies. It also takes away the fun, and there’s something to be said for experiencing more fun in our lives…perhaps now more than ever. Deadening our imagination takes away our ability to think for ourselves. Leave a little meat on the bone, for crying out loud, and let your imagination run wild, not your tweets.

So, in summary (I’m imagining myself before a packed lecture hall…), all I’m saying is, is that anything could sell your wares. Literally anything. And that we need to allow mystery back into our lives. Not always going for the explicit the minutiae inundated lifestyle that seems to have overtaken us. I hope to prove this in the near future, but it’s what I truly believe.

In the interests of promotion, I’ll be in Longmont, Colorado, April 13th, for an en masse booksigning at the Longmont Public Library. I’ll be signing my novel, Sleepwalkers. Hope to see you there!

Also, in interests of promotion, I’ve created a new blog site, called Reality Check. We’ve all had weird things that have happened to us throughout our lives, so I thought I’d try a new site to handle this stuff, which greatly interests me, ever since I was a wee lad, and which factors in my fictional work.  I’m preferring to make this a positive site, not about the dark and the nasty.  There’s enough of that out there. This site is about the GOOD in life. Please check it out!

Just had this epiphany after having posted this earlier today (and maybe it’s not new to you, but it just hit me while I was washing lettuce in the kitchen sink): what if the real secret to utilizing social media in selling anything is not so much sellers and authors using it…but customers? That it’s in the customers’ best interests to FB and tweet the hell out of their praise for an item, since so many get upset at people sell their wares on Twitter, by e-mail, and perhaps even FB?

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for taking the time to read my posts!