Showing posts with label Kristina Blank Makansi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kristina Blank Makansi. Show all posts

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Guild workshop 9/7 focuses on Publishing Perspectives

Writers can explore options for getting published at the Sept. 7 “Publishing Perspectives” workshop sponsored by the St. Louis Writers Guild. Representatives of Walrus Publishing, Blank Slate Press/Treehouse Publishing, Month9Books and a nonfiction and poetry educator/editor will explain their services and answer questions from 10 a.m. to noon at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 S. Geyer Road in Kirkwood. Free to Guild members, $5 for nonmembers.

Lisa Miller
Lisa Miller founded Walrus Publishing, Inc. in 2008 with the mission to contribute to the Saint Louis Literary Community by publishing talented St. Louis writers. Walrus Publishing has three titles in print thus far and has several more “in the works.” Lisa is a member of the St. Louis Writers Guild, the Missouri Writers Guild, and a founding member of the St. Louis Literary Consortium. This year she is honored to serve as the Conference Committee Chair for the Missouri Writers Guild. Lisa has a B.A. in English from the University of Baltimore and an M.A. in English from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She has most recently published her debut novel¸ Halfway There.

Kristina Makansi
 Born and raised in Southern Illinois, Kristina Makansi has a B.A. in Government from University of Texas at Austin and a M.A.T. from the College of New Jersey and an opinion on everything. She has worked as a copywriter, marketing coordinator, web and collateral designer, editor, and publisher. In 2010, she co-founded Blank Slate Press, an award-winning small press focusing on debut authors in the greater St. Louis area, and in 2013, she co-founded Treehouse Publishing Group, an author services and assisted-publishing partnership. Her current writing projects include co-writing and self-publishing The Sowing, the first book in The Seeds Trilogy, and she is hard at work revising her historical fiction, Oracles of Delphi, set in ancient Greece.


Catherine Rankovic
Catherine Rankovic’s books include Meet Me: Writers in St. Louis; Island Universe: Essays and Entertainments; Fierce Consent and Other Poems; and Guilty Pleasures: Indulgences, Addictions, and Obsessions. She has published her poems in numerous print and online magazines. She received her M.F.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, where she taught from 1989 to 2010; she now teaches poetry writing and creative nonfiction writing in the online M.F.A. program at Lindenwood University and is a professional editor of poetry and prose manuscripts at BookEval.com.

Mandy Schoen
Mandy Schoen is a senior editor of Month9Books, LLC, and the managing editor of Swoon Romance (a digital romance imprint of Month9Books, LLC) and otherwise keeps plenty busy traveling the world, slaying dragons, falling in love, and whatever else her "To Be Read" pile has in store for her. When she’s not reading, hanging out with her family, or acquiring and editing incredible stories for Swoon Romance, she can usually be found huddling over a cup of flavored coffee. She lives in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, with her husband, her boxer, and her Nook, but it’s probably easier to find her on Twitter at @Mandy_Schoen.

Friday, May 24, 2013

St. Louis Writers Guild workshop June 1: Understanding local publishing options

Writers can learn about some local publishing options—from self-publishing to traditional publishing—at the June 1 “Print or Publish” workshop sponsored by the St. Louis Writers Guild. Representatives of Rocking Horse Publishing, High Hill Press and Treehouse Publishing Group will explain their services and answer questions from 10 a.m. to noon at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 S. Geyer Road in Kirkwood. Free to Guild members, $5 for nonmembers.


Robin Tidwell
“We don't believe authors should pay someone to publish their books - we believe that WE should pay YOU,” said Robin Tidwell, who will represent Rocking Horse Publishing (RHP). As a trade publisher, RHP doesn’t charge for its editing, formatting, cover design, and publicity services. Founded in October 2012, RHP publishes both print and e-formats. Robin’s husband Dennis co-owns RHP and All On the Same Page bookstore at 11052 Olive Blvd., Creve Coeur, where they offer their authors instant shelf space. The team behind RHP has decades of experience in reading, writing, and editing. 

Margo Dill
Margo L. Dill, memoir and children's/YA novel editor, will represent High Hill Press (HHP). Established in 2008, HHP offers writers a niche between the huge New York publishing houses and the often high-priced “print on demands.” The small, royalty-paying St. Charles County press accepts submissions from picture books to mystery novels, from memoirs to short story collections.
--Margo owns a copyediting business, Editor 911, and is also a freelance writer, editor, speaker, and teacher. She is a contributing editor for WOW! Women On Writing, as well as the assistant editor for the Sunday Books page in The News-Gazette.

Treehouse Publishing Group (TPG), founded in February 2013, is a partnership of authors, editors, designers, and marketing professionals who offer professional business services — the same level of service a traditional publisher would provide — to authors seeking to prepare their manuscripts for submission to agents and editors and to entrepreneurial authors seeking to self-publish. Representing TPG will be Kristina Blank Makansi, Anne Milford and Jennifer Dunn Stewart.
Jennifer Dunn Stewart 
Kristina Makanzi
Anne Milford
 --Kristina has worked as an advertising copywriter, marketing coordinator, web and collateral designer, writer, fiction and non-fiction editor, and publisher. Kristina is also the co-founder, editor and publisher of Blank Slate Press.
--Anne is a freelance writer, developmental editor and author with more than 25 years experience writing, marketing and special event planning. She also works with authors—particularly non-fiction—to help them fine-tune their manuscripts, clarify their messages and publicize their books.
--Jennifer has taught creative writing at the university level and worked as a reading and writing instructor, tutor and editor. She also serves as a reader and editor for Blank Slate Press.

Three of the panelists are published authors and will have books for sale after the workshop: Robin (Reduced and Reused), Margo (Finding My Place: One Girl's Strength at Vicksburg), and Anne (How Not to Marry the Wrong Guy). Kristina and Jennifer are currently working on novels.

Find out more about the St. Louis Writers Guild and upcoming activities at www.stlwritersguild.net.