The Latest from GNYIPA Author Perry Brass

Although March was a not great for Caesar, it's quite a month for me, with lots of things brewing.

First of all, my next book, King of Angels, a novel set in Savannah, GA, in 1963, the year of Kennedy's assassination, will be out by the end of the month—and the real work begins, trying to get the world to smile at it for a moment, and hopefully get lots of good people to read it. I hope they will. But, several other events and projects I'm proud of will be happening as well. First off—

On Sunday, March 18, there will be the premiere of the choreographic version of The Restless Yearning Towards To My Self, a poem of mine set to music by Paula Kimper (who's also working on a new opera about the great black feminist and abolitionist Sojourner Truth, called Sojourner). Premiere The Restless Yearning Towards My Self for baritone and dancer, with chamber ensemble: Sunday, March 18, 3 PM, at St. Marks in the Bowery, 10th Street and Second Avenue, as part of Downtown Music Productions "Women's Musical Journey," under the artistic direction of Mimi Stern-Wolfe. Suggested donation: $15, $10 for seniors and students.       

A week later, on Saturday, March 24, I will be at the Rainbow Book Fair, the largest LGBT book fair in the US, at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Center, 208 West 13th Street, where I'll be joined by about a hundred + publishers, writers, and poets, running the gamut from totally serious to wild (and Wilde) and very crazy. I love this Fair, and am proud to be a coordinator of it. It puts the zing back into reading—last year we got about 1500 people there, so I wanna see lots of my friends there, too. This year, to spread out the joy and the crowds, the fair will be on all three floors of the Center, but I will be showing Belhue Press books and talking to you in Room 301, on the the third floor.

The Rainbow Book Fair is completely free—with tons of readings, panels, and great face time with fabulous authors—and open to the public. For more information, please go to Rainbowbookfair.org. 

But, the night before the fair, Friday, March 23, I'll taking part in a Rainbow Book Fair Kick Off reading, at 7:30 pm, Room C198, Concourse Level, CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10016. This reading will be sponsored by Assaracus Magazine, a magazine of gay male poetry published in Little Rock, Ark. by Bryan Borland. There will be 27 readers there, some of them coming in from places like Los Vegas and L.A. and it's going to be a wonderful, charming fun-filled event. After all, how could anything sponsored by a magazine called Assaracus be anything but? This reading is also completely free and open to the public. 

New Books and Website from Norman Beim

GNYIPA member and playwright Norman Beim has unveiled a  magnificent new website:

normanbeim.com

Beim has also just published two new books: Zygielbaum's Journey, a novel based on fact. And Bitter & Sweet, Three New Musicals (with music by Mark Barkan).

Both books are available on his website or through Amazon.

Publishing Expert to Speak March 7: Look Before You Leap: Evaluating Your Marketing Plans

Marion Gropen, noted publishing expert, to speak at the next GNYIPA meeting, March 7 at 6:30pm.

Most publishers have trouble projecting their sales from any given marketing opportunity, and even more problems finding their most profitable choices. And there are thousands of choices being flogged by hundreds of marketing consultants all over the web.

Marion Gropen won't tell you how to market your books. She does show you how to tell which opportunities will work out well for you, and more importantly, which ones won't. She'll show you simple ways to estimate your sales, your costs and your profits before you commit. There will be lots of examples, and you'll be encouraged to ask enormous numbers of questions, enabling her to tailor this talk to your needs and interests.

About Marion Gropen: Marion Gropen has been in the business of book publishing for more than 20 years. She combines the practicality and innovation required by the small press world with the sophisticated and powerful techniques used by larger publishers and taught in business schools, giving her students and clients the best of both. She has offered advice and solutions By-The-Question to small presses for the last 8 years, has been teaching financial techniques to publishers for longer than she'll admit, and offers a brief ebook, The Profitable Publisher, explaining the most critical ones.


GNYIPA meetings are typically the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30pm at CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY (between 34th and 35th Streets), room 8301. Please RSVP to heidirussellpublicist@gmail.com so we can anticipate headcount.