NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 3, 2000

TIPS ON TELLING YOUR STORY OFFERED IN CARY’S
SMALL PRESS SERIES

CARY, NC – The bad news is that as big publishing houses are cutting back their author lists to focus on blockbuster books, it’s harder than ever for new writers to break into the business; the good news is small presses-- which actively seek out new writers. And the best news is the three-part series that Cary is hosting designed to help new writers access those smaller publishing houses.

President of Carolina Wren Press Jackie Ogburn will be featured in "The Role of Small Presses in Book Publishing", an informative seminar on publishing personal works being presented at Cary’s historic Page-Walker Arts & History Center, 119 Ambassador Loop on Saturday, May 6 from 1:00 – 4:00 PM. Ogburn is also former editor for Lee & Shepard Books and Dial Books for Young Readers, and author of The Jukebox Man and The Reptile Ball. Participants will learn the advantages and challenges of publishing with a small press and how to submit their work. There will also be small breakout sessions offered after the panel discussion. David Kellogg, Senior Lecturing Fellow from Duke’s Writing Program will be on hand to discuss poetry chapbooks and their production, and Martha Scotford, graphic designer and professor at NC State’s School of Design will discuss book design.

In "Creative Non-fiction: Telling Your Story Through Journal Keeping, Letters, and Memoir", Carolina Wren Press author Elaine Goolsby discusses her books, Letter in a Bottle and Letters Lost and Found, and tells her story of how her pen pal correspondence became a book. This second seminar of the series will be held on Thursday, May18th from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. Participants will work on their own non-fiction projects with Elaine as their guide, and discover the possibilities for their work to be published in a small press.

The series culminates on Wednesday, May 24^th at 7:00 PM with "Writing Your Story or Someone Else’s: Gathering the Permissions We Need to Tell Our Stories." Poet Jaki Shelton Green examines how to gather needed permissions from sources that authors "make" into character. Participants will explore the true basis of writing and its fictional usage, how personal stories crafted into poetry or writing in general, whose voice should tell the stories, and how to validate, honor, and use writer’s license.

Pre-registration for each seminar is necessary, and fees range from $20 per participant for the "The Role of Small Presses" seminar to $7.00 for the "Creative Non-fiction" workshop as well as the "Writing Your Story" seminar. For more information, call 460-4963or 560-2738.

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