Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Angst Gallery honored for 360 Biz of the Month


Angst Gallery earned the designation 360 Biz of the Month ~ April 2010 by the website 360 Convos.

Full disclosure, it was one of our other clients who awarded the designation, but we think friends should celebrate friends and we're congratulating Angst Gallery and it's über achiever owner, Leah Jackson, all through April and beyon.

Angst Gallery was chosen for environmentalism, creativity, and on-street bike parking, major intiatives championed by Leah Jackson the creative genius behind the gallery. The award was made by the website  owner Carol Doane.

We do have one question: "Carol, what does the leopard face on your blog mean?"

Until we pin down what leopards have to do with conversations, we're sure you'll enjoy Carol Doane's blog and her acidic outlook on business and managaing a sales staff.

Congratulations, Angst Gallery!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Writers Mixer packed

Ron Gompertz, author of No Roads Lead to Rome spoke at the April Vancouver Writers Mixer. He's an entertaining guy who pokes a bit of dry humor into his presentation to make a point on the pitfalls of self-publishing. “It's hard to talk about money when we're artists, but money is not a bad way to analyze things,” he said, and walked us through slides of math and graphics to demonstrate how many books a self-published author needs to sell to break even with print-on-demand options.

Gompertz coordinated the March 5th First Friday Author Event in Camas, Washington. We got a kick out of looking up the news article and noting that the paper gave a shout-out to Carolyn J. Rose and Mike Nettleton, two of Active Qu3st's favorite authors.

Read the entire article here.
Read more about Ron Gompertz from Karen Gilb's article on Examiner.com

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Writers mix it up every First Saturday

This post originally appeared February 10, 2010 on Pearl of Carol. It is edited slightly for here.

The Vancouver Writers’ Mixer was intended as a one time event hosted by Clark College Community Education teacher, Carolyn J. Rose. She sought to encourage students from her novel writing boot camps to connect with each other and form critique groups. The first mixer was a hit and Rose believed her job was done.

Apparently, she was mistaken.

Badgered by students who couldn’t break the tie to their favorite prof, she kowtowed to the pressure and planned more gatherings. She recruited Mel Sanders, owner of Cover to Cover Books, who agreed to keep her bookshop open 5-6:30 PM every first Saturday to support the blatant scheme to encourage local authors.

It should be disclosed that at each event a contingent of ringers fill the seats who merely desire to revere authors for the 30-40 minutes they speak, lob questions at them for 10-15 minutes, stampede to purchase their books, and publicly beg for autographs.

Presenters are expected to play along.

Both Rose and Sanders are task masters who have kept the guest slate booked with well spoken presenters. They are also experienced in the art of delegation and have passed the baton to a committee who seeks to continue the high caliber of education and entertainment the mixers have provided. These rabid volunteers insure events are entertaining, fast paced—beginning with a fantastic and very entertaining emcee (our very own Carol Doane)—and of course, the event offers snacks.

People in the Pacific Northwest will go anywhere if someone waves a cookie under their nose.

The monthly events consistently draw 20-30 locals who desire to improve their craft, gain insight into the publishing industry, and garner tips on securing publishing contracts. The tickets to the event are FREE and available NOW. Grab one here: http://vancouverwritersmixer.eventbrite.com/

And if you are published or work in the publishing industry and would like to speak at a future event, contact the Vancouver Writers Mixer's by emailing Will Glessner for more info. Please put 'Writers Mixer' in the subject line.