ADIRONDACKS LOCAL AUTHOR APPRECIATION AT OLD FORGE - From internationally acclaimed authors to National Geographic Kids' Books

Every year, the Old Forge Library hosts an author appreciation event that attracts authors from all around the area - some local Old Forge residents, others traveling from 120 miles afar in and around the Central New York region. Izzie (Isabella) Worthen, the former director, celebrated her retirement this year after 42 years of service, so it was Linda Weal, the new director, that put this year's event together, and she did an amazing job, with nearly 20 authors in attendance. 

What is so great about so many authors coming together under one tent is the diversity and variety of books for small kids all the way up to our treasured elite familiar with the area's history. Books range from historical fiction and non-fiction, memoirs, children's books, tales of haunted places, the spiritual and the mystical, national geographic kids' books, adult thrillers and young adult dystopian novels, and even a collection of superior photography to reveal the highlights (and contrasts:)) of local venues and … bathrooms?

For those of you who weren't able to make is this year, this blog features pictures of our local talent with their books and links to learn more about the books/authors.

Old Forge Author Appreciation Book Fair 2018

Charles E Herr: Author of The Fulton Chain: Early Settlements, Roads, Steamboats, Railroads, & Hotels

His author bio alone and how he came to put this extraordinary and intricate book together is enough to entice you into wanting to buy it.

www.facebook.com/herrstory

Nancy Pulling Best is the author of Bob, the Bumblebee, Pepper the Dragonfly, and many more. 

Lily the Grasshopper is her most recent release.

You can find her at www.nancydidit.com

Mart Allen is the author of Adirondack Character, and his most recent release, Give Your Children Words to Live By.

If you're in the Old Forge area, you can find his books featured locally. 

Left: Pieter David Gaskin is the Author of Adirondack Luau. a luau is a traditional Hawaiian festivity. He's also a musician, but that beautiful 4-stringed instrument wasn't purchased in a store. He made it himself! Check him out at www.pieterdavidgaskin.com

Right: David Siegenthaler is the author of More of Everything Else, A Trip Through Leatherstocking Country, NY State's Mohawk Valley, and More. You can find some of his books here

Dennis Webster is a paranormal investigator( www.cnyghost.com), an author, a Harley Davidson owner, and more. He is the author of Haunted Utica, Haunted Old Forge, Haunted Mohawk Valley, but he also dabbles in fiction anthologies with the Adirondack Mysteries Volumes 1-3, and more. You can find his works here.

Dennis will also be hosting a TV production, GHOST & TOAST, as executive producer.

You can learn more about it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ctwXXrPUMw or stop by their Facebook page at 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Ghost-Toast-191521824785031/about/

Left: Carol Ann Root is the author of New Beginnings, a contemporary religious & inspirational family saga. You may find her work here.

Right: Eileen Parsons is the author of the First Rose of Summer, a beautiful piece of religious & inspirational fiction. You can learn more about her and her work at https://parsonpapers.com

Jeanne Selander Miller is the internationally acclaimed author of her memoir trilogy, A Breath Away, A Million Miles From Home, and The Healing Path Home, as well as the author of Privileged: A Novel. Go to www.jeanneselandermiller.com to learn more.

Irene Morrison is the author of One More Time Saint Pete, a humorous story, and Pony Up! A Mystical Life - Just this little blurb made me want to purchase it. "An Adirondack Mountain woman speaks her truth. Based on a near death experience in her sixth year, it was obvious that Irene Morrison’s life would be a lot of things; boring wasn’t one of them. Out-of-body travels, meditation, energy healing, clairvoyance, and a powerful interest in dreams analysis convinced her that, in the words of her spirit guide, every life is ‘magnificent’ and a cause for celebration." 

Inspired by her grandchildren, Connie Watkins is the author and the illustrator of books like, A Duck Named Eddie, The Icebox Snowball, Joey Days, Happy Was His Name, and That Was, The Kitten, That Was. She even brilliantly features her cute grandchildren on some of the covers.

Holly Gaskins memoir, as well as her books, In the Deep North Woods, and My Life With Cats can be found at www.hollygaskin.com

Kimberly Suwek definitely captured my attention with her unique display, and her work is just as unique, capturing humorous and eye-catching photography of Utica establishments meant to showcase the highlights of what city-living really has to offer with her 'Utica Show 'Em What We Got'. Most interesting is she's sure to send a lot of people on a scavenger hunt in search of the locations of these photographs, because she leaves the viewer to discover it themselves from black and white photos that will not only lead you to these places, but bring you back in time. Check her out at www.kimberlyjan.com.

Letty Kirch Haynes is the author of A Rock In My Pocket, Memories of Inlet, and Memories of Inlet Common School. You may find her work here.https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&text=Letty+Kirch+Haynes&search-alias=books&field-author=Letty+Kirch+Haynes&sort=relevancerank

Aline Alexander Newman rocked the author fair with her National Geographic Kids Books, such as How To Speak Cat, How to Speak Dog, Rascally Rabbits, Lucky Leopards, and More. The kids just couldn't get enough of her! You can find her on amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Aline-Alexander-Newman/e/B006KXMMKC

If you didn't get to make it this year, you can always come next year (2019). 

Thank you Linda Weal, authors, and, of course, our beloved readers, for making it such a special event.

FREEBIRD EXPRESS PUBLISHING PAYING-IT-FORWARD PROGRAM AND FREE READ & REVIEW FEATURE FOR ARTISTS & REVIEWERS

                                 Did You Know?

THE FACTS AND MYTHS SURROUNDING REVIEWS AND THE WAYS IN WHICH EACH ONE COUNTS

We understand that not everyone has the funds to spend on things like books, or perhaps you’re reluctant to spend money on a new title or new author that you’re not familiar with. Heck, in my entire life of writing and reading, I’ve always had to rely on libraries for my reading and researching needs.

But did you know that reviews are the most difficult thing to come by for an author (for most products in general), yet it’s those very reviews that most people look at when they’re considering purchasing a product, or even picking a restaurant? Or that those who are most likely to leave a review are those who are dissatisfied with a product?

What this does is skew results, so if a 1000 people love a book, but they don’t leave a review, and 1 person doesn’t like the book, and leaves a review saying so, then anyone else considering the product will see that one bad review, but not the 1000 good ones.

So here’s something you probably didn’t know. Most companies of any product, as well as publishers, already have a list of reviewers before the product even comes out on the shelves. Have you ever heard those radio commercials or seen other advertisements where they offer to give out a product for free ‘to their first 100 callers’? or ‘for the next 30 days only’? They do this so that by the time the product actually reaches the shelves, they already have an entire list of reviews and reviewers to discern the quality of a product so that the public can have a relatively honest opinion on it before they determine to purchase it.

They do this because most people don’t leave reviews or have the time to complete surveys. I know I don’t. Not even when I’m told that I can get 5 dollars off my next purchase if I go online and complete a survey about my experience. Only once when Walmart was offering like a 10,000 dollar giveaway did I go through with the whole shabang. I didn’t win the first time, so I didn’t do it again.

With the sky-rocketing amount of book titles coming out in a single year, the market has become highly competitive for authors, but even for readers, it can be so frustrating, because even though there’s an endless supply of free reads out there, self-publishing platforms are so user-friendly that literally anyone can publish a book. For so many aspiring writers and authors and readers, it enabled passage for all the hidden extraordinary and original talent out there in the world and indie publishing has become so popular for that reason, but it also opened channels to all those that wouldn’t provide quality or to those just trying to make some fast-cash whom could then just change their pen name and do it again. Further, there are hidden exchange programs and groups and a variety of illegitimate ways that people can go about getting dishonest reviews. I remember one I came across that advertised, $5 for 5-stars.

Now Amazon and other companies have done their best to try to filter these illegitimate reviews out, but there’s only so much they can do in a free market. So put together all the information I just revealed, and the fact that most people don’t provide reviews, even if they’re completely satisfied with a product, then you find that those most likely to get an abundant of positive reviews have come upon those reviews through either having a backlist of reviewers or through illegitimate ways. (The backlist of reviewers is completely legit and legal, because those reviews are honest, but it is more likely an exchange of free goods, so the reviewer isn’t paying for the product and then leaving a review at their leisure; rather, they’re getting a free product and then being asked to complete a survey or provide their honest opinion on how they felt about the product).

What this means is that reviews – honest, legit reviews – are more important than ever for the public to know if they’re going to get a quality product.

Which is what Freebird Express Publishing’s Paying-It-Forward Program is all about. The Read & Review feature is for titles that Freebird Express Publishing is able to provide for free; however, the Paying-It-Forward Program applies to the entire market and any and all businesses that provide products or services for sale by spreading the word.

If you get a product for free, there is a person or a business behind it that not only created the product, but also invested their time and money into it, and nothing is ever quite free. Someone has to pay for it, so if you’re getting something for free, it’s at the expense of the person or business that is providing it.

Artists especially – authors, illustrators, photographers, musicians, designers, producers – those who create – spend thousands upon thousands of unpaid hours, decades even, to create that product or provide that service. So behind every e-book or paperback that is promoted as free for a limited time is a person with a home, a family, and bills to support. Most authors/writers/artists have to work fulltime jobs outside of their profession to make ends meet. Most artists only dream of one day making enough to be able to commit themselves full time to their art.

So if you get something for free, remember to think about the person whose hard work, time, and expense provided it, and pay it forward. Whatever your opinion is of it, share it. Leave a review to help others filter out the poor and good quality products. Take a few seconds to share the link and spread the word. Know that it matters significantly and could be the difference between an extremely talented individual gaining acknowledgement and appreciation, versus one whom scams for sales and scams the public, whom doesn’t provide quality, while gaining more reviews in illegitimate ways than the honest talented individuals giving out thousands upon thousands of their product or service for free in order to be able to get their product out their and be acknowledged for all their hard work, talent, and expertise.

Most artists aren’t motivated by money, just like most would choose freedom and the ability to create their own original work versus signing their lives away on the contracts that could help them to achieve fortune and fame. You know what we all DO love, though? Fan mail. I’d take fan mail or inspiring reviews any day over cash, because to know I even just made a single person’s day better or inspired and impacted a person’s life in a positive way is priceless.

Freebird Express Publishing offers a Free Read & Review Feature as part of its Paying-It Forward Program.

What does this mean?

It means that you, the reader, can check out most any title featured on the FreeBird Express Publishing page and read it for FREE where we just courteously request that you provide an honest review of what you read and/or spread the word to those that may also enjoy it. In the coming year, FreeBird Express Publishing will be signing 3-4 dozen authors, alongside our current authors, and releasing dozens of titles, in addition to working alongside other authors and publishers in the recommended authors/titles & new releases list.

What this can mean for you as a reader is thousands of hours of leisure reading time that doesn’t cost you a dime.

In addition, there are plenty of rewards programs and additional incentives for reviewers offered on places such as Amazon and Goodreads and first-come-first-serve access to giveaways on gift cards, Kindles, Nooks, Books, and more!

So give it a try, and if you really like it, you may even be able have access to titles before they’ve even hit the shelves!

You may sign up here via email or complete the Free Read & Review form HERE where you can read the descriptions of the various titles offered as well.

In addition, FreeBird Express Publishing will be posting Free Reads as part of this blog, and your comments and opinions will help let us know what you like, don’t like, and what your reading preferences are so we can give you more of what you like or what you’d like to see in the future.

Finally, we’ll be having a huge, once-in-a-lifetime, promotion coming up on 4^th of July week, 2018. And let’s just say that #FREE and #ONETIMEONLY are the key words. You don’t want to miss it.

Next Up: Get the entire 6-book Modules Series for FREE beginning July 4^th and ending midnight Friday, July 6^th, ONE TIME ONLY, in celebration of Independence Day Week(end), and the revolution of a reformed dystopian world begun by one rebellious, prodigy, quirky, yet humorous, teenager, Catina Salsbury.