How do you tell your parents you’ve been published? Stefanie Allison, a.k.a. Star5fallonmyheart, our ferociously faithful fan and prolific poster of stories and comments, gives us a little tutorial in the fine art of Breaking the Big News to the ‘Rents. Stefanie has very kindly videotaped her own experience, [...]]]>

How do you tell your parents you’ve been published? Stefanie Allison, a.k.a. Star5fallonmyheart, our ferociously faithful fan and prolific poster of stories and comments, gives us a little tutorial in the fine art of Breaking the Big News to the ‘Rents. Stefanie has very kindly videotaped her own experience, which she has uploaded to YouTube, and which we are posting here for sheer educational value.

Fans and friends of Stefanie and A Word with You Press, we present to you the World Premiere (unless you count YouTube) of “Stefanie Tells Her Parents That She Has Been Published in The Coffee Shop Chronicles, Vol. 1: Oh, the Places I Have Been.”

It’s our staff inspecting the arrival of The Coffee Shop Chronicles, Vol. One:  Oh, the Places I Have Bean! Notice, if you will, the cup on the table is the same as on the book cover. (You’ll will read why when your own copy arrives at your door [...]]]>

It’s our staff inspecting the arrival of The Coffee Shop Chronicles, Vol. One:  Oh, the Places I Have Bean! Notice, if you will, the cup on the table is the same as on the book cover. (You’ll will read why when your own copy arrives at your door shortly.) Notice also the shirt does not make me look fat. Notice also my arms are not as hairy as rumored to be.

love to all

Monika

The book you helped create is now at the printers, and it’s time to place your orders for the first edition of The Coffee Shop Chronicles, Volume One:  Oh, the Places I Have Bean!

Our intention is that every contributing author receives his or her first copy at cost [...]]]>

The book you helped create is now at the printers, and it’s time to place your orders for the first edition of The Coffee Shop Chronicles, Volume One:  Oh, the Places I Have Bean!

Our intention is that every contributing author receives his or her first copy at cost of printing plus shipping, about seven bucks. When each order is shipped to a contributing author, we will include a money order for $4.95 as a rebate for the first copy. To recoup our costs and remain a free community for writers, all additional copies are at retail price.

However, a number of you have expressed interest in buying in quantities of ten or more to give as gifts or circulate among friends. We are delighted to give you a price break on that. In a bundle of ten, your price is $99.50, and we will still send you your rebate for the first copy. We can’t break the bundles, so for example if you buy 13 books, you will be paying for three books at $11.95. and ten books at $99.50, for a total of $135.35. If you are buying more than ten and fewer than twenty and are unsure of how to order, send me an e-mail and we will assist you. When we ship to you (for which we will pay) we will be sure to include your rebate money order for $4.95, regardless of the quantity ordered.

Some of you have already received your gift certificates from your named coffee shop. Others of you may receive your gift certificate inside your book if you order a copy, and those of you who do not intend to order a copy will receive your gift certificate in the mail, or it will be waiting for you at your favorite coffee shop. PLEASE wait until you hear from us  efore you ask your favorite barista about your gift card. We are dealing with a hundred different coffee shops, and each is idiosyncratic. You have done your part–ours is a bit more time consuming, but we’re doing our best.

It’s been quite a ride, hasn’t it? Who knew that a simple contest could create such a vibrant online community? We are planning other anthologies in the near future and hope that getting published feels so good the first time you will want to do it again.

Here are five things that you can do to help this tribe that you have stumbled into thrive and continue to have stories to read around the campfire:

1.  Buy some books. If you had planned to buy one, buy three. If you were planning on seven, buy ten. Christmas, anyone? Our costs have been so high it hurts my feelings. Buying a few more than you had planned helps us recoup our losses, and the chances are you will think of someone you missed when you were first figuring out how many you needed.

2.  Spread the word. Let your friends know, not just using online technology, but also with that anachronistic phenomenon called word-of-mouth, that there is a website that wants them (and you) to actively participate in all our activities, from blogs to contests, and we will do our best to engage every new tribal member personally and with dignity. WE READ WHAT YOU WRITE and we CARE ABOUT WE READ.

3.  Enter our contests and blogs. Give everyone else who comes to our site on a whim or by design a chance to read something fresh every day. One thing I have noticed, and it was a very gratifying surprise, is that the quality of writing for each individual has IMPROVED with each new entry they submit. The more you write, the better you get. And be sure to leave comments on the work of other writers. I am fortunate in that I actually have a history of being paid for what I write, but for many of us the only real gratification we will get is from the comments left by other writers, and their encouragement.

4.  PROMOTE US LIKE A MAD DOG! YOU are our best advertisement. If you are in our anthology, head on down to your favorite coffee shop and boast of your accomplishments, and tell the manager how cool it would be to have The Coffee Shop Chronicles for sale at their point of purchase. Let it be the only book you bring to read there for the next month. Read it with the title tilted slightly towards each passerby, daring them to make some comment so that you can start a conversation. Hemingway did that with The Old Man and the Sea just to pick up girls, as he casually mentioned he wrote the book while sipping coffee. (What? He didn’t?)

5.  Volunteer on our site. At the moment there are seven or eight of us administering the site, and we could use some help. We need ambassadors to welcome people and read their work, techies to do techie stuff, drum beaters to beat drums, readers to read and comment. If you care to get involved a few hours a week, just send me a line and we’ll put you to work.

This site and all of you have changed my life. I can only hope that the same can be said for you. We will continue with our mission statement: Putting Gravitas on a Lo-Carb Diet and continue to thrive, and continue to create books that don’t require crayons in order to enjoy. The book you just helped author is just six cents a page.

Look for great things from us in the very near future, and plan to be a part of it.

love, warmth, and prosperity

thorn

touchy-feely-author-guy-in-chief

Things are progressing smoothly with The Coffee Shop Chronicles and we’re now on the downward log flume of delight, formatting and tweaking and generally answering the age old koan that runs, “What is the sound of a semi-colon clapping?”

But mostly, as we re-read and re-organize all the fabulous [...]]]>

Things are progressing smoothly with The Coffee Shop Chronicles and we’re now on the downward log flume of delight, formatting and tweaking and generally answering the age old koan that runs, “What is the sound of a semi-colon clapping?”

But mostly, as we re-read and re-organize all the fabulous entries, we’ve been gobsmacked by how colorful the writing is. And how varied, how insightful, how… everything!

We’re sure that when you’ve swum across the lake of anticipation and arrived on shore to grab yourself a piece of A Word with You Press history, you’ll fall in love all over again with the rich and diverse collection before you. Having read your own work first, naturally, and with a coffee in hand.

We’ll send you an update so you can set your watches / calendars and bank cards shortly. Stay tuned……..

You’ve all been as patiently as daisies waiting for the summer.

I can now announce that the cover design for our first ever anthology will be design number 4:

www.awordwithyoupress.com/2010/09/04/coffee-shop-chronicles-–-the-fourth-cover-design/

There may be a tweak or two still to tweaken, but overall we felt it was the one [...]]]>

You’ve all been as patiently as daisies waiting for the summer.

I can now announce that the cover design for our first ever anthology will be design number 4:

www.awordwithyoupress.com/2010/09/04/coffee-shop-chronicles-–-the-fourth-cover-design/

There may be a tweak or two still to tweaken, but overall we felt it was the one which best reflected the style and vibe we are aiming for. Fun and funky, you might say. We’ve really appreciated everyone’s comments and views, and look forward to updating you as we clear each of our momentous milestones on the road to bookdom.

Meantime, remember we’ve let the cats out of the bag:

http://www.awordwithyoupress.com/2010/08/09/write-up-our-alley-wussnboots-announce-a-new-contes/

And we have sweetened the pot with Cat-Ass-Trophy and liberalized the rules a bit for those of you who don’t have kitty role models:

http://www.awordwithyoupress.com/2010/08/19/omg-its-a-cat-ass-trophy/

Hi y’all, here’s design number four. And if you think it looks a lot like design number one, you’d be right. Although the decision has weighed heavily on my in-tray, we’ve all appreciated your input and views and discussions about coffee. This modified design has [...]]]>

Hi y’all, here’s design number four. And if you think it looks a lot like design number one, you’d be right. Although the decision has weighed heavily on my in-tray, we’ve all appreciated your input and views and discussions about coffee. This modified design has taken some of your – and our – feedback into account. So feast your eyes on Ed’s creative endeavor and expect a final announcement soon.

“If you’re not excited yet, you haven’t realized what’s going on.”

Ed continues to surprise us with different interpretations of our ideas. And boy do we have a lot of ideas.

We’ll announce the chosen cover design soon, so we can gambol further along the road to production. Maybe we’ll write a book in the future [...]]]>

Ed continues to surprise us with different interpretations of our ideas. And boy do we have a lot of ideas.

We’ll announce the chosen cover design soon, so we can gambol further along the road to production. Maybe we’ll write a book in the future entitled The Road Less Gamboled – even though that word just doesn’t look right.

Here’s the second of four cover designs from Ed. Let us know what you think, what you feel and generally in which direction your aura gyrates. Two more cover designs to follow over consecutive days.

Here’s the first cover design folks, lovingly crafted by Ed.

We look forward to reading your comments, observations and creative potpourri. We’ll post the other designs over the next few days and let you know which one we’re going with.

Have a great and creative [...]]]>

Here’s the first cover design folks, lovingly crafted by Ed.

We look forward to reading your comments, observations and creative potpourri. We’ll post the other designs over the next few days and let you know which one we’re going with.

Have a great and creative day.

Well folks, let the trumpets be silenced and a hush fall upon the audience. The curtain raises and a scroll of names – in no particular order – unravels from the ceiling.

As the late, great Max Miller used to say: “You lucky people!” This is the list of [...]]]>

Well folks, let the trumpets be silenced and a hush fall upon the audience. The curtain raises and a scroll of names – in no particular order – unravels from the ceiling.

As the late, great Max Miller used to say: “You lucky people!” This is the list of writers who have an entry in our very first (I’m tingling with excitement just thinking about saying it…) anthology: The Coffee Shop Chronicles, Vol. 1: Oh, the Places I Have Bean!

Please check the list and, if your name is on it, check that we’ve spelled your name correctly and included any initials or excluded them, as the mood takes you. You have until FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3 at 6 PM to advise us of any changes. E-mail any change to spellings only to  our oracle, Diana, at diana@awordwithyoupress.com

Here’s the list, and congratulations to EVERYONE involved. Tomorrow, I’ll show you the first of the cover designs – it’s not a vote, but we thought you’d appreciate seeing the options we looked at, and we’d love to read your comments. Right, enough from me, here’s all of you…

Ed Coonce

Corlis Martin

Ivan Guevara

Caitlin M. Foyt

Taiko Toma

F.J. Dagg

Brian Harrison

Stefanie Allison

Sophia True

Mia Wood

Russell Shor

Monika Spykerman

Terrie Leigh Relf

Traci Foust

Dillon Mullenix

Cheryll Cochrane

Crystal Mahaffey

Robyn Jackson

Antoinette Wayne

Jessica Midden

Suzanne Morse

Barbara Walker

Joseph Trinh

Julie M. Dunaway

Andrea Glass

Jack Horne

Kelly Flowers

Robby Hoffman

James Weaver

Rachel Walker

Manda Oliver

Kristy Webster

Christie Elliott

Mario Amaya

Drew Pearsal

Korrena Bailie

Suzanne Parrish

George Verongos

Kyle McLean

Slim Symes

Kayla Roth

Zack Sherzad

Otha Cole

Sean Labrador y Manzano

Kimberly Schaub

Grace Griffith

Chrissy Tustison

Danielle LeFevre

Dawn Johnson

Terri Neely

S.C. Barrus

Danielle Radin

Ruthie Joyce

Clarissa McHale

Stephen Keaton

Athena Garcia

Sonia B. SyGaco

Amy Glin

Steven Kakowski

Dustin Brown

Nicholas Conley

Ann Bancroft

Judy Goldstein Botello, M.D

David Artavia

Jodie McDanal

Georgia Hubley

Juan Vandendorp

Lori Westfall

Lennard Espiritu Santo

Mason Schoen

Anthony Bonds

Avery Steele

Stephen Roberts

Loicia Ware

Brenda Griffith

Hilary Abramson

Tom Miller

Betty Gelean

J. Richard Jacobs

Marlayne Giron

Diane Cresswell

Adrienne Aiello

Peggy R. Dobbs

Jennifer Silva Redmond

Rachel Lyn Jensen

James Wika

Salvatore H. Folisi

Toianna Wika

Christine Hoang

Jamie Gilliam

Carrie Bailey

William Elder

Jonathan Freedman

Katie Manning

Diana Diehl

Miryam Howard-Meier

Nicole Taylor

Don Maker

Derek Thompson

Ariadna Rico

THE END – for this anthology anyway!