November Speaker: Susan Toy on Marketing

Our November speaker will be Susan Toy.

The topic: And you thought writing the novel was the hard part!

What happens after you sign the contract - from planning marketing and promotion campaigns, to cover design, sales catalogues, the sales conference, the role of the publisher's reps, author tours and reviews, right up to getting finished books on store shelves.

Susan is the Alberta and East Kootenays sales representative for Kate Walker & Co., a sales agency that sells books to bookstores (including the chains), libraries, wholesalers, specialty and gift stores. Her clients include numerous small presses, like Dundurn (which publishes mysteries), Oolichan, Raincoast and Freehand Books. In addition to sales, Susan represents the publishers locally in promotion of authors and books during promotion and publicity
campaigns.

Come prepared to learn a lot about this mysterious side of the
publishing business.

October Door Prize

Mystery Writers Ink thanks member Jenny Hoops for donating October's door prize of two tickets to WinePLAY 2008 - a wine/scotch/beer-tasting fundraising gala in support of
PLAY Community Child Care Centre in Kensington (www.playdaycare.org). Marilynne Hebert was the lucky winner.