October 11 Newsletter — SALA meeting notes & other news

SALA writers’ group … the Notes!

On Tuesday evening, October 6th, Denny, Lester, Murray, and myself, Francois, met at Spider House to talk about SALA’s Writers’ group. It’s become evident that many people on the “list” of this group are either not interested, or do not have the time to dedicate to SALA.

There is however, a small number of us who do want to continue with SALA. We see SALA as an organization to market our own written works, as well as the written word in general. I am going to continue publishing the notes here on NBP website, so that anybody can see what we are up to, as part of my newsletters. We will stop sending these updates to everybody on the email list, so as not to become yet another annoying “spam” straight to the trash email.

In other words: let us know whether or not you want to be part of SALA. If we do not hear from you, you will be taken off the mailing list. If you do want to be part of SALA, you will be expected to take part in the organization and its activities.

Francois and his small publishing company, New Belleville L.L.C., is wanting to organize an independent writers / small press festival that will take place later this fall, and if successful, will take place every fall and spring, twice a year. Francois invited SALA to be a partner in this festival. We have a couple of different ideas for venues, one in particular: Drungo Ice House on 29th & Rio Grande. They have a large outdoor patio which could easily be turned into various booths / tables for writers to showcase their work. The location is central and easily accessible from most anywhere in Austin, as well as having plenty of foot traffic from the neighborhood and the university just a few blocks away. And also, Mike, GM and restaurant partner, will let us use the facilities free of charge. Go check it out, it’s a cool neighborhood bar-restaurant-cafe. The festival will be open to all writers and small independent publishing companies. There will be a small fee not yet determined and possibly a percentage of sales. This money will go to pay for the festival publicity, hiring DJ’s, musicians, renting equipment, et cetera, and to organize further festivals in the future. This will take place on a Sunday from 12pm till 5pm during which writers will be able to talk directly with the public about their work. There will be a stage where writers will be invited to read from their work, be interviewed, answer questions from the audience, and take part in various debates. We are in the process of looking for a DJ to MC the event & play some music.

Denny reminded everyone that the last book reading organized by SALA went well, that there is really no extra costs involved, and it’s a chance for us to sell and talk about our books.

Staple Independent Media Expo is scheduled for March 6th, 2010. Booths are affordable. I went there last year as a consumer, and was impressed with the number of folks who attended the event. Matter fact, that’s where I ran into Gabrielle Faust, bought her latest book, and where she told me about SALA! I’m going back in 2010 with my sister, Christine who self-publishes graphic novels. We will share a booth where we will showcase all of our works.

We also talked about trying to tie-in to a large already existing festival like SXSW where we could put a proposal package together to start a book festival. This would necessitate a lot of work on our part, to put together a professional package describing our intentions. This would be a great place for writing / book contests, awards, and such that have been talked about in the past.

Another possible event, would be a party at someone’s house where we would have live music. Murray suggested that we rent Scholtz Beer Garten at $400 and organize a party there.

Independent brewery was also suggested - $500 buys you enough beer / glasses for quite a few folks & and the venue for the whole afternoon.

We would like to donate a portion of the money we make from these events to charities. We will concentrate on publicity through local newspapers and radio programs. One the of the charities that I’d like to concentrate on is Inside Book Project.

I’m sure that everybody sees where SALA is heading. We want SALA to be an organization of writers and small publishers that specializes in creating or joining in to  various EVENTS to market our own work as well as the work of other local writers and small publishers.

If you are interested in being part of the core group, let us know. If you are not interested in the organizational part of SALA, but would still like to take part in our events, or at least be made aware of them, that’s great too! We want to keep the core group small, so that every member can be held accountable for what they propose to do. We would like to keep the general group as large as possible, so that we can pursue our goal of marketing and showcasing local writers and publishers as much as possible to as large of a group as possible.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Check out the new NEUROTICA review HERE @ CCLaP, Chicago Center for Literature and Photography. And of course, NEUROTICA, is a short story cycle written by Elva Maxine Beach, published by New Belleville Press.

At Writing on the Air — which I’ve missed the last two weeks — co-host Lee K. Davis has been working on pod-casting the shows. This is in the works. If you’re interested, click here: WOTA 10.07.09. This coming Wednesday, Dillon McKinsey will be hosting the show. I will be back, knock on wood, as well, assisting Dillon, Lee, Dora, and the guest! Tune in on 91.7 from 6 to 7 pm on Wednesday Central Time. You can also catch it on the online live stream directly on the station’s website, KOOP.org.

Have a great day! Thanks!

Francois Pointeau

PS: Don’t forget about New Belleville Press books: Beer Songs for the Lonely, by F.K. Needles, and Neurotica by Elva Maxine Beach. You can purchase them at one or more of these wonderful retailers: Alibris.com & Authorsbookshop.com & Book People & Oat Willies & Sonny’s Vintage, those last three in Austin, TX & Left Bank Books, in St. Louis, MO.