On left, Gary Spessard, a Tombstone Vigilante and a True West Historical Society Member in Tombstone.
On right, a view of the fabulous Chiricahuas.
Moonlight Mesa publisher attended the Old West Founders Days Event in Tombstone last weekend and sold lots of books, then spent an extra four days hiking and enjoying the Chiricahua Mountains. "It was fabulous," said Western book publisher Becky Coffield. "Really, I think the Chiricahuas are on a par with the Grand Canyon...not in size, but definitely in beauty. I can't wait to return.
"The monument itself is perfectly safe to visit, however, the surrounding Coronado National Forest does have migrant traffic. Even still, there were people camped along Pinery Creek - most appeared to be armed," Coffield said.
"As for the Tombstone event, we had Good+ sales. Not GREAT, but definitely Good +. As usual, we met a lot of nice people too," Coffield added. Not surprisingly, Death in the Desert, by R.L. Coffield, was far and away the best seller for the weekend, followed by James' Saving Tom Black.
True West Member and Tombstone Vigilante Re-enactor, Gary Spessard showed up at the booth and received a 25% discount on a title of his choice: The Littlest Wrangler.
"Our next event is a small one May 1 in Yarnell, AZ., and then we have a big one in Pine/Strawberry. Last year we had record sales there. I'm hoping for a repeat performance!" Coffield said.
IBPA
Moonlight Mesa recently joined the International Book Publishers Association. "I'm incredibly reluctant to join groups," Becky said. "I never attend meetings, but I think the IBPA could be helpful to us at this stage of our business development. We'll see soon enough."
Member benefits include opportunities to display/sell books at very large book fairs at a reduced price. There are also seminars, classes, and lots of other programs that publishers can benefit from.
AUTHOR UPDATES
Jere James is doing research for the next Jake Silver book. After spending time in the Chiricahuas, he realized he needed to spend A LOT MORE TIME there to really get a feel for the area. He returned to Wickenburg with a stack of books and is planning on spending time again in the Chiricahuas in late July and in October right after the Rex Allen Days where he plans to sign books for Moonlight Mesa who will be attending the event.
J.R. Sanders is (hopefully) working on Some Gave All, his nonfiction book about Western lawmen killed in the line of duty. Coffield hopes to have the book in print in time for next summer's five state tour. Sanders also has a heavy signing schedule in April, along with radio interviews, appearances, and readings.
Stoney Bowers has disappeared again. Stoney, where are you??
SHORT STORY CONTEST
Entries to this years Cowboy Up Short Story Contest are slow in coming in. So far, only ten entries have arrived. "It's still early," Coffield said. "I just hope everyone doesn't wait until the last minute. We read and score the stories in batches of ten, so it's not to anyone's advantage to wait until the last minute." The first ten will be read and scored by five independent judges sometime this month.
NEWSLETTER
Remember the monthly newsletter is FREE. It contains publishing news, author updates, recipes, movie reviews and lots of other stuff too. Contact us if you'd like to receive a free copy.
Blogger Dude
No comments:
Post a Comment