I think someone said, God created man and woman and then He created humor to keep the whole thing from collapsing. Author Dana Buckmir does her best to prove the point in her outrageously funny book, Plenty of Laughs: One Woman’s Journey Navigating the Online Dating Waters.

In this memoir, she describes herself as a sheltered New England girl who relocated to South Florida and its online dating scene. Facing dating disasters -- one after another -- inspired her to tell the world about it. She describes South Florida, for example: “[as] a place with perpetual vacationers, where values are skewed, lines are blurred, and ideas about relationships indefinitely change.”

Romantic bliss was fated to enter Dana’s life despite these challenges: A love emerged from her past; one she thought she lost forever. This blast from the past created more than one kind of excitement in her life; now, it created a need to recraft the ending of her book and make way for a sequel.

The Authority

Connecticut Authors & Publishers Association—Since 1994

Connecticut’s Source for Writing, Publishing & Marketing Information

Volume 25 Issue 11 www.aboutcapa.com November, 2018

Meet A Member: Dana Buckmir – Committed Author

By Joe Keeney

Topic for the November 17 meeting – Finding, Defining and Refining Characters in Fiction, Memoir

and Non-Fiction

Speaker is Matilda Yenowich Dumbrill (aka Jerre)

memoir or non-fiction, it will be the characters who support the words you put on those pages. How will the characters you create enhance your story?

Inside This Issue

CAPA Board of Directors p. 2

SW CAPA Report p. 2

NE CAPA Report p. 2

2019 Marketing Planning p. 3

Website Tips p. 3

SE CAPA Report p. 4

Write to Gain Readers p. 4

ABCs of the Editing Process p. 5

Celebrating Success p. 6

The Rest of the Iceberg p. 6

Effective Blogging p. 7

Upcoming Meetings p. 7

November CAPA Webinars p. 8

Co-op Connection p. 8 Continued on page 2

As a fashion reporter/editor on Women's Wear Daily and then a custom designer/dressmaker I had to analyze the personality behind the words in interviews or conversations. When I returned to writing I realized I had gathered a trove of characters waiting to jump out of printed pages. The challenge? How and where to use these characters. Whether you're writing fiction,

Contributors

Eileen Albrizio Dana Buckmir Roberta Buland Jerie Catillo Matilda Dumbrill Milton Erickson Felix Giordano Brian Jud Carol Keeney Joe Keeney Deborah Kilday John Kremer Debbie Levison Pam Lontos Simon Perlsweig Bill Rockwell John Benjamin Sciarra Lisa Samia Tom Santos Jeniffer Thompson Dan Uitti Forrest Wright Continued on page 4

CAPA Board of Directors

CAPA Officers’ & Board Members’ Contact Information

Founder Brian Jud brianjud@comcast.net Co-Founder (CAPA) Jerry Labriola Labriola00@aol.com President Dan Uitti dan@uitti.net Vice President Dennis Schleicher dennisschleicher@me.com Treasurer Brian Jud brianjud@comcast.net Secretary Robyn Bage rjbage@comcast.net Immediate Past President Steve Reilly sriles40@aol.com Newsletter Director Brian Jud brianjud@comcast.net Meet-A-Member Articles Joe Keeney jkeeney9267@spamarrest.com Meet-A-Member Articles Barbara Meredith dbmeredith@charter.net NECAPA Director Felix Giordano felix@jbnovels.com SECAPA Director Tom Santos santostom@comcast.net SWCAPA Director Joe Keeney jkeeney9267@spamarrest.com Program Director Brian Jud brianjud@comcast.net Membership Director Dick Benton robenton@optonline.net Website Director Dan Uitti dan@uitti.net Special Activities Director Deborah Kilday kildaykrafts@aol.com Publicity Director Dennis Schleicher dennisschleicher@me.com Networking Director Peggy Gaffney gaffney@kanineknits.com Past-President, Advisor Roberta J. Buland rjbuland@comcast.net

Article Submission

The Authority welcomes articles written by members. Here are our guidelines. Topics may cover any aspect of writing, publishing and marketing. Your personal slant on this is of interest to all of us and welcome. Articles should be no longer than 400 words. If the article is longer, the editors reserve the right to reduce the size or divide it into sections that would be run in successive issues. All articles will be edited. Submit single spaced with no built-in formatting. Submit all articles to Brian Jud at brianjud@comcast.net. Send submissions for the Meet-A-Member column to Joe Keeney at jkeeney9267@spamarrest.com or Barbara Meredith dbmeredith @charter.net

ARTICLES ARE DUE BY THE 28TH OF THE MONTH Editor—Brian Jud, Meet-a-Member Column—Barbara Meredith and Joe Keeney,

Copy Editor—Deborah Kilday, Staff Photographer—Deborah Kilday,

page 2 The Authority

Continued on page 3

SW CAPA Report By Joe Keeney

With Fifteen people in attendance, Member Richard Colon hosted the meeting on Monday October 15th. He reminded everyone about the Anthology submissions. The charismatic Speaker Elsa Kurt shared her growth as a writer and marketer and then gave a lively talk on promoting one’s self – using social media, book launches, fairs and book talks – to attain the same network growth she has. Carol Keeney announced her new book, Fairy Daze; twelve stories about wizards and fairies creating a fair and the adventures that happen there. Ingram suggested it be in the book stores and they are facilitating that.

The 7th meeting of CAPA-NE at the Willington Public Library was held on October 6, 2018. Prerecorded lectures from The Great Courses – Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques were presented in two 30-minutes segments titled In the Beginning-How to Start a Plot and Happily Ever After-How to End a Plot. They covered all aspects of plotting a novel, novella, and short stories from composing that first sentence to draw the reader in to that least sentence that ties the work of literature together. The lecture also hit on reviewing the

NE CAPA Monthly Report

By Felix Giordano Where and how do you find your characters? Defining the personality to fit the plot or subject. Refining the stereotype into an original

Nov. Speaker Continued from Page One

People notice bold listings 42% more than plain type when they read. A Cornell study also found that the artful use of adjectives increased sales by up to 27%. Use that information when describing your electrifying, thrilling book.

The Authority page 3

As you plan an upcoming vacation you probably give it a lot of forethought. First, given your budget you would choose the destination and dates. Then you would decide the price range for the hotels, restaurants and attractions you would prefer. Then you would make reservations at specific places and be on your way. That is the same sequence of events you incur when planning to sell your book in 2019, and now is the time to get started.

First, decide on your overall objective, then determine your marketing strategies, and finally take specific action. You can create your plan by asking yourself a series of questions. Here are examples. What is your destination? How many books do you want to sell and in what time period? Define your strategies. Next, what do you have to do in order to sell that many books? How will you publish (royalty, self- or independent publishing)? Will you sell books only through major chain bookstores and online, or also through non-bookstore buyers? To what target markets will they be directed? Will you charge a high or low price? Will

Three Parts of a Functional Marketing

Plan

By Brian Jud

you publish as a printed book, an ebook or both? How will you promote your books? Will your Internet strategy include a website, blogging and social marketing? Plan your actions. Answer the questions you addressed in your strategies and describe how you will implement each. Who will edit your book? Who will do he cover design and page layout? Who will do the ebook conversion? Who will you choose to print your books? Which distributors will you contact? What is the final list price for your book? Describe your publicity actions, such as sending press releases and conducting media performances. Will you use direct marketing through snail mail or email? Which trade shows will you attend or exhibit? Who will create your website?

plots of famous novels and novellas. There were 4 CAPA members in attendance. Our next meeting, on November 3 is titled, Write that Novel…Novella? It will consist of a 90-minute lecture presented by Felix F. Giordano who will discuss his experiences with self-publishing novels and novellas. He will compare their length of time to publication, out-of-pocket costs, and per-unit royalties. He will show how one novella introduces a second and which novellas by famous authors have made it to the big screen. On December 3 CAPA-NE will host an author book signing at the Willington Public Library. The book signing will run in conjunction with the library’s annual Holiday Craft Fair. If you are a CAPA member interested in participating, please contact Felix Giordano at felix@jbnovels.com. Respectfully, Felix Giordano

NE CAPA Continued from Page 2

if they want to know more.

3. Use color to set the tone of your site and convey a feeling. Once you know who your audience is, you will know which colors they will most likely respond to. Color drives action. Use red, orange, or yellow for your “buy now” button.

Jeniffer Thompson’s design company, Monkey C Media, specializes in author web site design and Internet Marketing strategies, book cover designs and author branding development. www.monkeycmedia.com

Draw In Your Audience. You have less than a second to engage your audience. There are three things you can do right now to clean up your site and draw in your audience. 1. Don’t oversell. Use three to five

bullet points and snappy headlines to sell the benefits of your book.

2. Utilize “Read More” buttons to draw visitors into your sales funnel. Let your readers decide

Website Tips

By Jeniffer Thompson

page 4 The Authority

SE CAPA Monthly Report

By Tom Santos The sequel, like her first book, is a fait acompli. The author is committed to her career: writing. Her 70 feature articles and counting prove that commitment. Her reviews span restaurants, hotels, spas, concerts, local events, and many others; she specializes in ”anything delicious.” (You can visit her site at danabuckmir.com) Dana confesses that the most difficult part of her writing career is waiting for sporadic ideas to keep her inspired: they could come in the middle of the night or while grocery shopping. She keeps notebooks and pens everywhere to take advantage of those moments. She has no writing schedule, she writes when the mood hits her. “I can write for hours and other times not write all day; it’s about mood.” For the ability to write, however, she is forever grateful to her writing group at the public library for giving her a safe place to voice her writing; and grateful for the writing classes she attended as English major. This talented author (also known as Dana Dane to her readers) feels blessed she has the talent and commitment to write. And, she gives the following advice to would-be writers: Writers’ write.

Meet A Member Continued from Page One

The guest ppeaker cancelled for health reasons, so I went with my standard “Open Forum”. There is no set agenda, only spontaneous speaking. I enjoy these because I find out if there are problems. One member said he’d like to see these types of meetings every other month. I do try to have two per year. The turnout was only about 15 people, however, I did collect three payments for dues, which I mailed in. We are having a book signing on November 19th at the VFW in Pawcatuck, CT, with 19 authors signed up. The second book signing will be on December 8th, at the Mystic Center of Arts, with 15 authors signed up. I was honored to be a Guest Speaker at the UCONN Avery Point in Groton. This is a Death & Dying class. Always a pleasure and an honor to do this. Well, I do believe summer and fall are gone. I looked out the window this morning and saw white frost on my truck. Cuddle up with a good book, smile, be kind, and see you next month, Tom

"The effectiveness of communication is not defined by the communication, but by the

response." Milton Erickson

The most desired piece of real estate on your sales literature is at the upper right because that is where eyes tend to be drawn first. If you place your most expensive product or service there (your workshop at $295), everything else looks like a relative bargain (your book at $29.95).

Writing articles on a non-exclusive basis can get your article into multiple specialty magazines. Here is the format for a great article that magazines want to publish:

Create a provocative title.

Start off with a great opening sentence, also known as the “the lead.

Open with a story

Use the second paragraph to

relate the dilemma to the reader

Give 3 to 8 tips, strategies, or steps the reader can take to solve the problem. Use bullet points or numbers.

Give a very brief, one paragraph

summary with a call to action at the end.

Keep the word count around 800

to 1,000 words.

Include a resource box, where you put your contact information.

In the resource box, mention

your book, company, product or service. Also mention any CDs or DVDs you have.

Warnings:

Don’t promote yourself or your book within the article

Don’t write it in the 1st person Don’t put in too much fluff

Writing Articles Is A Great Way To Gain

Readers

By Pam Lontos

The Authority page 5

ask, “whaaa?” Perhaps one of your characters, who is him/herself obsessed with time and checking watches and clocks, can drive the story forward?

Characters’ purposes Because you have an intimate knowledge of your characters, be sure they capture the essence of themselves and that there is continuity. How do they contribute to every scene they occupy? Do they elicit emotion? Do they create a turn in the plot? Are they cliché? Does their dialogue move the scene or story forward? Every character has to have a purpose. As you review your manuscript, remember readers. Ask yourself if readers are seeing the story through their own eyes. If not, make it happen. Have you framed conversations between characters in an engaging manner, and does the dialogue insure that it actually contributes to the story?

Consistency of transitions and pacing How about transitions and pacing? Identify any lack of consistency in the movement of the story. Be sure that all transitions, whether paragraph breaks, chapter breaks or scene changes are set up to either leave things hanging, especially in mystery-writing, or anticipate moves within the story. Pacing should be tied to transitions as well as to types of scenes to keep readers breathless, excited, or precariously tormented. Don’t allow readers to feel bored! Beware assumed knowledge! Beware assumed knowledge! That is, while you, the author, knows it all, or most of it, don’t

assume readers have the amount of knowledge or the in-depth knowledge about your subject that you do. Be mindful of what you assume the reader knows. Remember, you want the reader to experience your story from your own deeper perspective. Sentence structure Finally, check each sentence individually for abrupt starts, imperfect structures, and the insinuation of your own writing foibles—such as redundancy of words and ideas, use of clichés, and whatever pet peeves permeate the story that may not belong in it. Vary sentence beginnings—sometimes begin with a name or pronoun, or the passive. Vary the kinds of sentences: simple, complex, compound. And probably most important, keep sentences down to a comfortable amount of words. No one wants to read 50- or 40- word sentences! Vary the number of words in sentences also. The goal of revisions is to make the story as strong and as readable as you can—do your best! Once you are satisfied with your revisions (or can no longer look at them!), consider hiring a professional editor to streamline your novel further in order to impress an agent, publisher and especially your readers. Comments? Contact rjbuland@comcast.net , 860-308-2550 Roberta J. Buland is the owner-editor of RIGHT WORDS UNLIMITED, a full-service editorial and publishing services firm in West Hartford. She is a past president of CAPA and now serves on the Board of Trustees.

The ABCs of the Editing Process: From Scruffy to Spiffy — 6 Steps

By Roberta J. Buland

Over Thanks-giving when you may not wish to create more than a steamed turkey or a roasted ham, it might be the right time to take a break and revise your incomplete or completed novel. Take the manuscript from scruffy or draft-y to spiffy or professional. And since it is the season of the “NaNoWriMo,” revising is timely.

The novel is not finished! Your novel is not finished! The draft is simply that—a draft infers the writing process must continue! Creating the “perfect” or “near-perfect” novel is not necessarily the goal, but rather, clarification—both for you, the author, and your eventual readers. Thinking in stages of revision is psychologically more satisfying because it means breaking down the process that may have seemed overwhelming at first.

Revising the time line Stage one is reviewing and editing the time line or chronology of the story. Remember, readers will not divine the time line until you share it with them. Rather than letting them guess and perhaps feel overwhelmed, lead the way to your story. Ask yourself questions: Does the time line make sense? How are you introducing it? Enlighten readers as to the time of day, the day of the week, the month, the year, the season. Use well-known events to establish multiple time points, if this works for your novel. Suggesting Thanksgiving, for example, sets a specific time. Does your time line make sense? Does it support your story? Will readers

page 6 The Authority

CAPA Members Celebrating Success

Simon Perlsweig is coming out with his first book, Front Porches to Front Lines, One Small Town’s Mobilization of Men, Women, Manufacturing and Money during World War One. The book is a historical memoir, which tells the story of his maternal great-grandparents, who lived in Springfield, Vermont during the Great War and subsequent Influenza Epidemic of 1918. The main story is supplemented with local (Springfield), regional (New England), national (USA) and international stories in an attempt to show how these events had impacts on every level, from the personal to the global. The book is set to be published on November 11, 2018, with a book launch taking place on the same day at the Barnes and Noble on the UConn-Downtown Hartford Campus, starting at 2pm, during which time he will be selling and signing copies of his book. Bill Rockwell had 30 children attend his Plumb Memorial Library in Shelton, CT, "Story to Art" program, in which Bill read his first Children’s Picture Book, George, The Puppy Who Refused To Go For A Walk. After the reading, each child received a free copy of Bill’s book, as well as a large bookmark, that the children enjoyed coloring. Bill also raffled off 2 stuffed animal puppies to the children. Bill has been invited back to do a reading of his next Children’s Picture Book, Chewie, The Puppy Who Loved To Jump, being illustrated now by illustrator Maureen Frinder, and to be scheduled to be published next year. Lisa Samia applied to the “Emerging Scholars Series” for the May 4, 2019 dedication of the American Civil War Museum In Richmond VA. Her entry is with her poetry essay book, The Nameless and the Faceless of the Civil War, under NEW Civil War author. The application process included a 90 second video presentation and 7 essays. There are only 2 available spots for new author! Winners notified after the New Year in 2019.

Eileen Albrizio says, "Come to the Wintonbury Poetry Series on 11/15/2018 from 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM for "Two Women Poets of Diverse Talents" -- Eileen Albrizio and Leslie McGrath. Wethersfield poet Eileen Albrizio, former ABC and NPR radio journalist and co-owner of Heroes & Hitters: a comic book store in Rocky Hill, is author of four collections of

Continued on page 7

poetry and short fiction. This year she celebrates the publication of her debut novel THE WINDSOME TREE: A Ghost Story. Essex poet Leslie McGrath has been called "an oral historian of the alienated." A creative writing teacher at Central CT State Univ., Leslie has published 3 poetry collections and 2 chapbooks and has won the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry. Both will read from their poetry collections at the Prosser Public Library, 1 Tunxis Ave Bloomfield, CT. Presenter: Tom Nicotera Forrest Wright has been micromanaging his Amazon

book page and discovered a more relevant Amazon

category. (You're allowed three.) The category was

"Philosophy Methodology," and his 2018 retirement

book, Time For Wonderlust," does contain a lot of

philosophy. The beauty of the discovery, though, is that

this category is so obscure that his book now often

captures the top spot in the kindle Store for that category.

Which, in turn, produces a orange #1 Best Seller" banner

next to the book's title..Hopefully this banner leads to

more online sales.

CAPA-SE member, Jerie Catillo, author of the memoir, With Broken Wings, just published her first novel, The Rest of the Iceberg, on Amazon. “There were parts of the story I couldn’t reveal in my memoir because feelings might get hurt,” says Catillo. So, although this is fiction, there is a very thin line between reality and fabrication. In Catillo’s memoir, she revealed the intense pain of her upbringing from a physically, emotionally, and sexually abusive father. That was just the beginning. Throughout her long life, there was a string of traumas that would bring anyone to their knees in defeat. Jerie not only persevered, but she also fought back by letting all of those problems strengthen her for even more difficulties that lay between the memoir and the novel. Some ninety percent of an iceberg is underwater. Catillo’s memoir was the tip of the iceberg; hence the title, The Rest of the Iceberg. By obfuscating details and identities of the characters in her story, and without

The Rest of the Iceberg —A Novel by Jerie Catillo

By John Benjamin Sciarra

The Authority page 7

CAPA CENTRAL Location: Sycamore Hills Park Community Center Avon, CT; third Saturday of each month, 10:30 am—12:30 pm (http://www.aboutcapa.com/avon.htm)

November 17: Matilda Dumbril: Finding, Defining and Refining Characters In Fiction, Memoirs and Non-Fiction December 15: Holiday Party January 19, 2019: Speaker is Debbie Levison (Meeting is at the Avon Library)

CAPA SOUTHEAST Location: Groton Regency, 1145 Poquonnock Road (Route 1) , 6:30 pm (Tom Santos, santostom@comcast.net)

November 12: Speaker and Topic To Be Announced December: Christmas Party — Date and Place to Be Announced January 21, 2019: Speaker and Topic To Be Announced

CAPA SOUTHWEST Plumb Memorial Library, Shelton. 6:30 pm (Joe Keeney, jkeeney9267@spamarrest.com; find current meeting information at http://www.aboutcapa.com/capasw.htm)

November 19: Speaker and Topic To Be Announced (Normally the second Monday) December 10: Speaker and Topic To Be Announced January 14, 2019: Speaker and Topic To Be Announced CAPA NORTHEAST Willington Public Library, 7 Ruby Road, Willington, CT 10:30 am (Felix Giordano,, felix@jbnovels.com.)

November 3: Felix Giordano: “Cut your composing and editing times nearly in half” December 1: Holiday Craft Fair at the Willington Public Library January 5, 2019: Speaker and Topic To Be Announced

Schedule of Upcoming Meetings

fabricating abundantly, the true traumas quickly become apparent. Through two husbands and two divorces, the “Jerie” of this story enters a pattern of the abuses she received as a child at the hands of her father. Her children are turned against her by the wicked stepmother of the children from her first husband, endures failing health, and the loss of a child, a twin. A savior arrives in the form of a close friend, Rocco, who eventually becomes her husband.

Throughout the story, Catillo maintains a positive attitude peppered with occasional humor,

as she takes the reader on a journey into the deep recesses of her mind. To add to her tribulations, the church where she received comfort and solace, suddenly turns against her.

Through a twist of fate, the Pope

gets involved, and an unbelievable upheaval ensues. As if that wasn’t enough, dark forces in mysterious places plague Jerie and Rocco, as they attempt to lead a quiet and normal life. And this are just the tip of “The Rest of the Iceberg”, which is sure to be an encouragement to anyone going though life’s difficulties, particularly in these dark days of divisiveness and the #metoo movement. No doubt you’ll wonder, as you read Jerie’s story, where the lines of truth fiction lie.

CAPA Success Continued from page 6

To create an effective blog, one that will get you noticed and linked to, you have to think like a blogger. Here are a few basic actions that should help your blog get noticed:

Post every day.

Interview interesting people.

Use a layout the makes it easy to read your blog.

Stir the pot. Poke fun at something.

Recycle content.

Post a blog roll – a list of other blogs your find interesting.

Comment on the content of other blogs.

How to Blog Effectively By John Kremer

page 8 The Authority

Save money as you market your books by sharing the cost of events with other CAPA members. Want to participate in one of these sales opportunities with other CAPA members? Log on to the CAPA social network (http://authorsandpublishersct.ning.com/).

CAPA’s Co-op Connection

December 1 Bolton Winter Faire 1 Willington Holiday Craft Fair (contact Felix Giordano to participate at felix@jbnovels.com) 1 Coventry Craft Show 1 Goshen Calling All Angels Craft Show 1 Milford Christmas Fair 1 Trumbull Holiday Craft Festival 1 Windsor Holiday Craft & Vendor Fair 1 Woodbury Christmas Craft Fair & Boutique 2 Naugatuck Waterbury Arts & Crafts Show 2 Woodbridge JCC Holiday Craft and Gift Fair 7-8 Bethlehem Christmas Town Festival 8 Plainville Christmas Craft Fair 8 Shelton Holiday Craft Festival January, 2019 5 Hartford 2nd Connecticut BeerFest 5-6 Hartford Connecticut Bridal Expo 6 Stamford Bridal and Wedding Expo 19-20 Hartford Home Show 19 Wallingford KC 101 Bridal Showcase Expo

CAPA P. O. Box 715 Avon, CT 06001-0715

Free Book-Marketing Webinars

Marketing professionals will host webinars that can help you sell more books, more profitably. These webinars are free to CAPA members. This month’s webinars for CAPA members are: Nov 6: Forming and Using a Book Marketing Street Team, Ally Machate Nov 20: The Book and Your Purpose, Michelle Vandepas