U.P. publishers and authors gather for 12th annual conference to network, learn and market

The Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association met this week in Marquette for its 12th annual conference, with six authors presenting seminars on different aspects of self-publishing books.

The seminars addressed the three main focuses of the association: writing, publishing and marketing self-published books.

"I looked for a balance among these topics when planning the conference," says UPPAA president Tyler Tichelaar, who also led one seminar on writing convincing realistic fiction. "Our purpose is really to find people the best way to self-publish, which may be different for different books and authors."

For instance, Tichelaar says, another seminar in the conference, given by Walt Shiel, addressed a new form of self-publishing becoming increasingly popular; e-books, including books available on the Kindle or iPad.

"Publishing has opened up a lot more as the cost barrier to book publishing has gone down," Tichelaar explains, adding that's the mission of the association: to help authors have more creative control, more direct profits from their work, and open up publishing to a larger group of authors.

A self-published author can expect to sell fewer copies of a book than publishing-house-backed authors; but typically receives 60 to 70 percent of the book's royalties, as opposed to 5 to 10 percent for traditional publishing.

He notes the association has about 85 members, with well over 100 books published by its members.

The conference saw about 40 attendees from across the U.P., who listened to author James Studinger speak on creating income from books, Cheryl Corey on book manufacturing, Frida Waara talk about the need for authors to also be public speakers, and Deborah Frontiera on adding poetic elements to writing.

"The primary purpose of the conference is educating authors, but the secondary purpose is networking and learning from each other, sharing ideas and information," Tichelaar says.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Tyler Tichelaar, UPPAA