Aftermath: Printers Row

The World’s GREATEST Authors!

Sam Morton (BETRAYED) and Anne Carter (CAPE SEDUCTION)

Well, this post has been a very tough call for me. Do I write it and possibly burn a bridge? Do I not write it, and feel like I got dumped on prom night? (Sorry just watched final DVD in S.4 of Gossip Girl.) How does a professional handle a situation like this?

What situation you ask? Well, it’s like this… (Please keep in mind that I do get positive at the end of this post. )

Several years ago, nine to be exact, I made my first trip to Printers Row Book Festival in Chicago. It was small (our showing) and it was very scary. I had never been to such a huge festival. Long story short, we have gone every year since, even the year I had heart surgery, and yes, I was there too. Each year, our showing has increased and  our sales have increased. It is (was) our best book festival of the year.

Kieryn Nicolas (RAIN) and mom, Mara!

So this year, I send in my registration and $2100, yes it is quite pricey to stand on the street in direct competition with many other booksellers and authors. But it has always been worth it. So this year, I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited to be notified of our tent location at the festival. I had been in contact with the organizers for months, reminding them that for the last two years we did not get the FULL tent (8 tables) we requested, and yet we kept coming back.

So at some point in late May (very late, like the last week), I was informed after I asked again) that we had been given a half tent on the side street off the beaten path. To say I was disappointed would be understating dramtically. With 9 years seniority, we should have at least earned a half tent on the main drag, perhaps the same half tent we had last year, but no.

Nick Valentino (THOMAS RILEY)

So, I suck it up and inform my 16 authors from all over the country (CA, IN, SC, NY, OR, MN, TN, PA, MD and of course our four local authors) that we will not each have the half table I promised, they will in fact get a third of a table and be very limited in their room to set up displays. They all took it admirably (for this I thank each and every one of them).

Norm Cowie (FANG FACE)

So I get to the festival and discover that a certain organization that has been attending for only 3 years has been graced with not one tent space, but 2, yes, TWO tent spaces. I then discover that Accura, yes a car dealership, has been given a tent space and room to showcase 2, yes TWO cars. Slightly off to the side of them is a tent for Value City Furniture. A little ways toward the middle of the main drag (Dearborn Street) I discover a Comfort Zone, which is a glorified bed tent. Yes, 2, TWO beds and a row of recliners. I could barely stand it.

My AUTHORS were squished into a half tent while someone advertised BEDS, FURNITURE, and CARS at a BOOK FESTIVAL. So why am I so mad? Simple, with nine years seniority we should have at the very least received better placement, even if they did not give us the full tent, which last years organizers assured me we would get because we in fact did have seniority. But what happened is at some point, I am guessing local politics came into play and we were cast aside for things that had nothing to do with books. How odd, considering it IS a book festival.

Marlis Day (THE SECRETS OF BAILEY'S CHASE)

I am saddened to say that it isn’t me who suffers for this, it is my authors who had to deal with a lousy location, cramped quarters, and sales that were literally 50% what they were last year. This goes beyond anger, it just feels wrong, and I feel as though I have let my authors down and that on top of everything, my word is not good.

For this I would like to publicly apologize to my authors for not having the power or the means to make this right for them.

However, may I just say that I have the BEST authors ever. It rains every year for Printers Row, and yet they stood out in the chilly rain with smiles on their faces selling books to everyone they could. Those squished up and wet authors sold nearly 700 books. I could not be more proud of them. I am truly blessed to have such committed and enthusiastic authors who simply refuse to be pushed aside.

They do whatever they must to sell their books and brings smiles to as many readers’ faces as they can. For this I offer them my sincere gratitude.

I will be spending some time rethinking whether or not I want to continue to support an event that so blatantly disrespects my authors. I hate being mad at Printers Row as they have helped Echelon Press get to where we are by allowing us to sell books at their event, but I simply can’t ignore this one. My authors truly deserve better than to be cast aside for furniture sales.

I would also like to thank Penny and her gang at Trattoria Caterina on Dearborn in downtown Chicago. For the last several years we have gone there for dinner on Saturday evening after the festival and htey are the most tremendous group I know. If you are ever downtown and find yourself looking for exceptional Italian food, please stop in and eat. tell Penny Karen @ Echelon Press sent you and we love her! That is where the picture up top was taken of all of us.

Any thoughts on which festival we should make our new Spotlight event?

 

Readers will get their Thrills at the 2010 Printers Row Lit Fest

For Immediate Release

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June 5, 2010–Laurel, Maryland–Oregon Mystery/Thriller author L.J. Sellers will attend the 2010 Printers Row Lit Fest with copies of her Detective Jackson Mystery series. She will be signing copies of THE SEX CLUB, SECRETS TO DIE FOR, and as a treat to fans, Sellers will have 100 advance copies of her third in the series, THRILLED TO DEATH (official release is 9/2010), for sale. L.J. Sellers will join 15 fellow Echelon Press authors on the streets of Chicago for the 2010 Printers Row Lit Fest, one of the nation’s premier book festivals. Ms. Sellers is no stranger to crowds, as she attracts one everywhere she goes. Readers can meet Sellers and her fellow Echelon authors at Booth “FF” at the festival in Chicago, IL. You can find more information on Printers Row online or contact the Chicago Tribune.

Other Echelon authors readers will enjoy chatting and getting autographs from include Anne Carter (CAPE SEDUCTION), Joel Fox (LINCOLN’S HAND), Margot Justes (A HOTEL IN PARIS), Marc Vun Kannon (A WARRIOR MADE), Beth Solheim (AT WITT’S END), and Chicago favorites Luisa Buehler (THE INN KEEPER) and Nero Wolfe author Robert Goldsborough (A PRESIDENT IN PERIL).

L.J. Sellers is an award-winning journalist, editor, and the author of the Detective Jackson mystery/suspense series. Her first two books, The Sex Club and Secrets to Die For, have garnered high praise, and the third book, Thrilled to Death, will be released in August, 2010. The forth Jackson story, Passions of the Dead, will be released in 2011, along with another thriller, The Baby Thief. Ms. Sellers is a fitness and health enthusiast who can often be seen peddling around town. She especially enjoys traveling around the country and meeting readers and fans.

“L.J. Sellers should be considered a bit of a pioneer in the book industry. Many authors rely on shock value for their hooks, but she takes tremendously controversial topics and weaves them into dramatic and emotional stories, without glamorizing or condoning the issues. She is an excellent storyteller,” says President and CEO of Echelon Press.

For more info on Echelon Press, Quake, or any of its authors contact Karen Syed at echelonpress@gmail.com or 301-490-2507. On site Interviews can be arranged for the Printers Row Lit Fest.

Tuesday Talent

Check out Life as a Publisher!

Echelon Press is pleased to welcome J.S Farthing to our team of authors. Echelon will be publishing her novel Deacon’s Deception. You can get to know a litte bit more about this up and coming author by visiting her web site at http://www.jsfarthing.com.

We also welcome Rob Tobin, author of the upcoming God Wars. We will also publish novels by Jon Gibbs, author of Fur-face in our Quake Division. In our Explorations division you will meet Marian Allen, author of Eel’s Reverence, and Ralph Hieb, author of Feeders (a vampire novel), and Jeanette Angell, Assignment Nepal.

Over the last couple of months we have also contracted works from Stephen Brayton, author of Beta, Una Tiers, author of Judge vs. Nuts, Gale Borger, author of Totally Buzzed, Pat Dueson, author of Superior Longings, Elaine Abramson, author of Thursday’s Child, Verna Clay, author of :11 ‘Countdown to 2012′, and The Theory of Everything, Jeremy Trible, author of Dream Runner, and J.F. Hilborne, author of Madness & Murder  and No Alibi. In our Quake division you’ll also see the publication of Empty Houses by John Paultis, The Wrong Guy by Claudia Whitsitt,  and Snowstorm by Connie Hullander.

If you are waiting for something from your Echelon favorites, you’ll be glad to know that we have new releases scheduled from several of our current authors. You’ll get Cape Seduction by Anne Carter (this is the follow-up to Carter’s Lighthouse novel Point Surrender). We’ll have Outwitted by newcomer Beth Solheim, Passions of the Dead, the fourth installment of the Detective Jackson mysteries by L.J. Sellers, Reunion, book two in the Jack Marston mysteries by the beloved Carl Brookins, as well as St. Martin’s Moon by our favorite fantasy author Marc Vun Kannon. And for those of you who need a touch of romance we’ve got The Key by Lois Carroll.

Today’s Featured Title:

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Amy Winslow isn’t looking for a mystery; she doesn’t even like secrets. In fact, secrets have nearly destroyed her life. So, when a terrible accident forces her to take control of her brother’s mysterious California lighthouse, Amy finds herself immersed in its shocking past and uncertain future. Enchanted by the mystery, she refuses to rest until she finds out who died in the aging white beacon, and why. Case McKenna hasn’t quite reconciled his own painful history when he sails his crippled boat into Newburg Harbor, intending to stay only long enough to make repairs. His plans change when he becomes entangled with a local couple intent on restoring a long-shuttered lighthouse. Despite an overwhelming urge to flee, Case follows intrigue and passion, as he, too, finds himself drawn in by Point Surrender…

 

Hey What Happened?

It looks different, doesn’t it? I’m not sure how many of you follow me (Karen Syed, president of Echelon Press) on Twitter, but if you do, then you know that in February our site got hacked. I don’t mean someone poked around in our e-mail or anything like that. I mean it got hacked by very intelligent, yet utterly stupid people, who not only moved things around in our web files, but deleted files, added their own files, and a host of other nasty things.

We made every effort to fix the problems and get the wen store up and running properly, but to no end, we just could not make it a safe environment for you to shop in. So, we did this. We have set up this site to keep you informed of all the cool things going on at Echelon Press and all of our other divisions.

If all goes as planned, we will be posting news about new authors, upcoming books, specials, contests, and whatever else we can think of to amuse you and ourselves. Some of these posts may be fun, others may be informational. Who the heck knows.

What we do know is that we still want you to buy our books. We know that Amazon.com is the most popular place online to buy books, so we have set up an a-store for your convenience. You can click on the link on the right that says BUY OUR BOOKS. It’s okay,really. Go ahead, click it…I’ll wait…did you buy something? What did you buy? We’d love to know what you bought and why. As a publisher, it is your comments and suggestions that allow us to grow, so don’t be shy. Go ahead, tell us.

Okay, so that is my post for the day. Oh one more bit of News: James Appledorn is no longer working with the Explorations division. All submissions have been forwarded to the appropriate person and will be responded to as quickly as we can.

We’d like to thank Scott (James) for all his hard work with Explorations, but at this time he is going to focus on furthering his education…he is working on his Business degree and we wish him all the best in that.

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Today’s Featured Title: 

When Social worker Raina Hughes visits the home of a young boy she’s been assigned to monitor, things quickly turn ugly. Later, when she’s found brutally murdered, Detective Wade Jackson is confident it’s an open-and-shut case against the boy’s ex-con father.

But nothing is as it seems and complications develop when new evidence points to a serial rapist who’s becoming more violent with each attack. Raina’s lover Jamie knows what the rape victims have in common, but won’t tell for fear of revealing her own secrets.

When Jamie disappears, Jackson knows time is running out and he’s determined to discover the truth before the body count goes any higher.