When the Espresso Book Machine, a print-on-demand machine, was installed at The Mizzou Store, many people with a desire to self-publish were interested. To teach people how to print their own books and to explain the publishing process, The Mizzou Store and Mizzou Publishing started hosting workshops.
One such workshop, the Self-Publishing Workshop, will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at The Mizzou Store.
“We have held workshops for authors since 2010,” manager of Mizzou Publishing Heather Tearney says. “Non-academic self-publishing continues to grow, and we are happy to provide this resource to the campus and the community at large. This event will be our sixth workshop dedicated to this flourishing field.”
When the attendees of the Self-Publishing Workshop arrive, they can choose to sign up for consultations with the Mizzou Publishing staff after the event. Following signups, the speakers will present and answer questions.
One of the speakers, Marta Ferguson, owns Wordhound Writing & Editing Services LLC and is an author, as well. Ferguson was a speaker at the Self-Publishing Workshop in the fall.
“I think what I saw at the fall workshop, and what I’m hoping to see again this spring, is that whether or not people who attend the workshop go forward to self-publish, it comes back to community,” Ferguson says. “For whatever reason, this workshop reaches people with writing aspirations that haven’t typically responded to some of the other literary opportunities in Columbia, so I think it opens the possibility of writing in the community for a lot of people.”
Mark Morgan, who teaches classes in outdoor recreation management at MU, will speak at the event. Morgan is the author and editor of “Hook, Line & Sinker,” which was recently printed through Mizzou Publishing.
“(My) best advice for the self-publishing gig would be to have a sense of patience because everything is not going to happen immediately,” Morgan says. “Have a strong passion or a conviction as to the fact that you believe in your own product, so you shouldn’t be hesitant about talking about it to other individuals. You have to kind of market yourself. If you’re shy around individuals and you don’t want to talk about it, then not a lot is going to happen. You have to get out there and do what you can because it’s your book, and it’s your name that’s on it.”
After consultations, attendees will have the opportunity to meet with speakers individually. Attendees will find Yolanda Ciolli from AKA-Publishing and Compass Flower Press and a representative from the UM Press at the event, as well.
Ferguson says she looks forward to working with writers in the Columbia community.
“Getting into a situation where people who haven’t been writing quietly, but in secret, finally get to talk to other writers and to see that they’re not alone in what they’re doing … that’s pretty awesome to get to be present as somebody is just discovering there’s a whole other world of people like them,” Ferguson says.
