Adrian’s Comments (group member since Jul 18, 2015)

Adrian’s comments from the A Cooperative Press for Indie Authors group.

Looks great JD, it's up on the shelf!

J. wrote: "I'm not complaining (it's just a friendly reminder!) but I still don't see it either on the bookshelf here, or on the Co-oPress page.

(It's a very important book - it has, after all, already sold ..."

Ok, it's up.

Thanks Justin, will add.

TyCobbsTeeth wrote: "I have a couple of titles from HotPepper Publishing that I would love to see added to the Thrillers.



http://hotpepperpublishing.weebly.com/"

Your books have been added! Don't forget to check out our site: http://www.co-opress.org/

Welcome to the group, do not hesitate to ask questions - our members are an excellent group of well-intentioned individuals.

I like the idea of separate webpages - could we make them simple and direct them to the main IACP page?

Really nice logos!

Thank you, will add to Momus as soon as I get home ~ 1 hour

www.adrianmendoza.net under Helios Imprint.

J.A. wrote: "What might we call this press anyway?"

Welcome to the group J.A.! Let me know if you have work you want listed by visiting Our Bookshelf folder.

Justin wrote: "In the event there are imprints for the genres to which I've listed and we are deciding on going around a Greek Theme I have suggested the following...

Hades- Horror

Momos or Euterpe- Poetry

Nem..."

Love your recommendations Justin, if/when we have authors with works under those genres, I will create folders under the names you offered - unless there are objections.

J., your novellas have been added to our science fiction bookshelf!

Love it, where do I sign up? Nice work - I really like it. You have my vote.

Can you center Press, A.?

Wow, that's nice. Can Press be spread to the same length as Apollo?

How about a Greek-like font that is free? Do we have an artistic talent willing to draw something up?

It may depend on the definition we assign to literary (yes, there are differing views) and then weigh that against contemporary fiction - itself somewhat at odds with the ancient Greek theme. Some connections: Hermes language writing, Hades underworld dead (the classics of fiction - all my friends are dead) Dyonysus wine wine wine.

Should Atalanta be replaced by Artemis? - hunt animals moon

Per A.: I think one of the commitments necessary for participation in the cooperative must be the willingness to proof read, and where possible help edit, the work of members. Trying to proof or edit ones own work is generally a fools errand. And "hiring" help is no guarantee that you'll get your monies worth (if you can even afford it). We might be able to use something like Google docs to provide a place where participating authors post chapters as they complete them so that other authors in the coop can proof or offer edits.

As for marketing, by building a nested set of websites, from the parent publishing house to genre imprints to author webpages, all inter-linked, internet presence and search engine activity would be greatly if not exponentially increased. Carefully choosing search terms could result in one or another affiliate within the coop showing up in an incredible number of searches. We could also send each other copies of our books to be used as samples at book fairs, etc. I've set up booths a couple of times with copies of my book for sale. I get the occasional customer. But if I had a table full of books to attract interest, and maybe a computer set up where prospective buyers to go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble to purchase a book they found interesting - it would be almost as effective as the "book signing" promotions the establishment imprints use.

As for advertising, participants could pool resources to buy advertising at the imprint level, making sure that such ads contained an image or reference to each contributing author. Instead of waiting to pay for clicks on a search engine, we could purchase full page ads in industry publication or on industry websites. A $5000 ad campaign wouldn't be so intimidating if 50 authors contributed.

Of course, at the heart of it all must be the real commitment to improving our work. We would need to be as brutally honest with each other as a main stream entity is when it puts your name on that rejection notice. I have discovered that the thing next most important to writing, writing, writing is rewriting, rewriting, rewriting.

In the cooperative environment we would be exchanging services, not dollars, which I think would prove to be the edge many of us need to pursue our literary dreams.

Sounds good!

I would like to have sci fi folder separate from fantasy. If the sci fi is less serious, it would not necessarily be child/YA, and would need to be listed in the sci fi folder unless of course it has "adult" material. I would also like the sci fi folder to include soft, hard, and space operas. Thought? Another question - Should all folders remain as they are until a member request a specific folder be made?