Spin Those Records

Today there was a genealogy meeting at the St. Louis County Library. It has been awhile since I have attended one since I have been busy with my book, but today the talk was on St. Louis County Records. Aha, I thought, I can justify going to the meeting because I may learn something new to be added to my book. A twofer... I always go into any meeting assuming I can walk away with at least one new idea, and I almost always do. I learned several things today, and the speaker was very good. I know Ann from the genealogical society, and I waited to speak with her after the meeting ended as she has published several books. I knew she had used No Waste, so I wanted to get her impressions of them as a printer. She would not recommend them, she told me. In fact she used someone else for her latest book. I got her email address so we can talk more about the printers and publishers she has used. Also she agreed to review Section Two of my book, and check all of my references to the St. Louis Genealogical Society for accuracy. With all of her experience and connections, it will be great to have her informed about my book. Hopefully, she will like it and will sing its praises. That will be a tune I can really get into.

The Big Read

Today is The Big Read, a nationwide celebration encouraging people to read. It also offers opportunities to learn about book writing and publishing and to listen to published authors. In St. Louis, one of the segments is called PITCH-A-PALOOZA, in which a would-be author has one minute to pitch his or her book idea to a literary agent. The winner gets a free consultation with the agent. I signed up to pitch my book "Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed(room)? Researching the History of Your St. Louis County Home." While I'm not convinced that a New York literary agent will be at all interested in a book of such local interest, I figured this would be a good learning experience for me. And you never know who might be in the audience. Maybe the elusive President of local Virginia Publishing Company, to whom I have submitted a query letter regarding my book.