Meet, greet, read at Montclair Public Library’s Indie Author Day

Indie Author Day
Saturday, Oct. 14

Montclair Public Library
50 South Fullerton Ave.

11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Local author booths and miniature book-making with The Creativity Caravan

3-4 p.m.: Intro to Book Publicity: How Authors Can Become Part of the News, Mike Onorato, executive director of publicity at Smith Publicity

Information:
montclairlibrary.org
john.daquino@montclair.bccls.org
973-744-0500, ext. 2267

By GWEN OREL
orel@montclairlocal.news

Writing is a famously solitary activity.

So perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising that authors attending Indie Author Day at Montclair Public Library next weekend are looking forward to meeting one another, and greeting the public.

And yet it is, somehow.

For Richard Fulco, Steve Moore and Paula White, all of Montclair, the opportunity to socialize with other authors is a big draw.

Fulco and Moore have written novels, while White has a nonfiction book about parenting.

The name “Indie,” short for independent, suggests something that bucks the trend on purpose.

When it comes to book publishing, just as it does in music production, the term means a product done individually or with small companies.

Some of the authors are published by small presses, some are self-published. They come from Montclair and surrounding towns.

It’s the second Indie Author Day at MPL, said John Daquino, adult services librarian.

The event is co-presented by BiblioBoard, which is holding Indie Author Days nationwide. BiblioBoard, according to its website, biblioboard.com, is a “community engagement platform for libraries.”

MPL hosts local authors’ ebooks on the BiblioBoard platform for patrons to download.

“It’s like building a local author library,” Aquino said.

The first part of the day will see from 45 to 50 authors, set up at tables around the auditorium, selling their wares and talking to the public.

The Creativity Caravan, the art studio and gallery at 28 South Fullerton Ave., will offer a miniature book-making workshop during the first part of the day.

In the second, Mike Onorato, executive director of publicity at Smith Publicity, will give a talk titled “Intro to Book Publicity: How Authors Can Become Part of the News.”

This is the second year the library has held Indie Author Day.

Publishing with small presses or self-publishing has become an attractive option, Daquino said. Just as in the music industry, self-producing grants greater control of rights to the author.

“Montclair is home to a lot of authors, some more established than others,” Daquino said. Holding this event gives local authors a platform. The library provides six-foot long tables, and the authors create their presentations. Last year, Daquino said, “I was amazed at the creativity of the authors. There were banners and displays.” Some even had chocolate, he said.

TALKING BOOKS AND SHAKING HANDS
Richard Fulco said he did some of his editing at MPL, and had a reading there. He wanted to be in Indie Author Day “to get out there and meet some people, fellow writers, fellow Montclairians.”

A high school teacher in Edison, Fulco is primarily a playwright. He got the idea for his 2014 novel, “There Is No End to This Slope” during a performance of a play he’d written during the New York International Fringe Festival.

“It was a lot more challenging than I anticipated,” he said with a laugh.

He described his book as “a novel about a middle-aged guy coming to terms with the death of his childhood friend.” The book is published traditionally, by small press Wampus.

He’s researching his next novel, which is set in the summer of 1967, at MPL

now. At his author booth, he will have chocolate in addition to books, and a trailer of a screenplay he’s written that is in preproduction.

“I want to belong to a writers community, and I don’t,” he said. “I’m looking for someone to share pages with."

Paula White’s book, “Shape: The 5 Keys to Parenting from Research & Real Life,” came out just last year.

But White had just started a new job as state director for Democrats for Education Reform, and didn’t have time to think about marketing her book until she’d settled into the job.

Now, she said, “I want to heighten the exposure of the book, and interact with other authors here in Montclair. We have a

rich literary life in Montclair, and writers of all shapes and levels of acclaim. I’m happy to be a part of that community.”

She described her book as “an intersection of personal and professional experiences that I’ve had.” White has worked as a teacher and has a degree in child development. She’s also the mother of three boys, and transitioned into single parenthood after 20 years.

“Drawing from ‘on-the-ground’ experiences as well as my professional background was the genesis of the book,” she said. Like Fulco, her book is published traditionally, with Motivational Press.

Steve Moore’s novel “Rembrandt’s Angel” is published traditionally too.

It’s the first time Moore has been able to go that route. He has written 21 novels and three collections of short stori

es, often using a company that does the formatting and art work. “Rembrandt’s Angel,” amystery/thriller, is published by Penmore Press.

“I’m sort of a mongrel now,” he said with a laugh. “I’m not 100 percent Indie or 100 percent traditional. The important thing is that there are a lot of good books and a lot of good authors out there.”

And, he said, “I love to talk to writers and readers.”

In Moore’s novel, an arts and antiques inspector for Scotland Yard is determined to retrieve a work of art stolen by the Nazis. As she works with an Interpol agent she begins to uncover an international neo-Nazi conspiracy.

Both putting money upfront to self-publish and having the traditional publisher cover costs have pros and cons, Moore said. Going the traditional route gives him more access to bookstores.

“My motivation is I’m a storyteller. I like to get my stories out to people. If only one reader reads and is entertained, I consider that book a success,” he said. “I’m putting the bar very low, but that’s the way I feel.”