Local Author Enjoys Self-Publishing Success with Serial Fiction

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Katie Auman in Book Recommendations, Library Blog, Library Services, Writing

An Interview with Local Sci-Fi/Fantasy Author Daniel Ausema

With the wide range of writing tools and publishing paths available, today’s authors have more opportunities to get their stories in front of readers than ever before. And your public library plays a large role in that!

Poudre River Public Library District doesn’t just place books and authors on our shelves (or digital shelves) and make them available for check out; the library also supports local writers in creating, self-publishing, and promoting their work inside and outside the library walls.

Local writer Daniel Ausema is one of many authors who have recently made use of the Library District’s new self-publishing tools to make his sci-fi/fantasy serial fiction “Spire City” available to readers through the library catalog and Indie Colorado (via Biblioboard).

“Some writers think libraries don’t support authors because they offer books for free,” says Daniel. “But this is short sighted. I think about how many times I’ve bought books from writers because I came across them at the library, checked out their book, read it and loved it, and decided I needed to purchase their books myself.”

Daniel considers himself a long-time library supporter, having grown up visiting libraries as a kid and teen, and now taking his own children to Council Tree Library every week. He recalls discovering stories by J.R.R. Tolkien and Ursula Le Guin when he was young and later by Italo Calvino, Jorge Luis Borges, China Miéville, and Jeff VanderMeer.

Reading authors like Mieville and VanderMeer challenged Daniel’s view of what fantasy could be.

“They really expanded my view of what’s possible in fantasy,” he explains. “I’d always enjoyed the creative writing-type assignments in school, but in college I was strongly encouraged not to put all my hopes into writing fiction, so I also pursued journalism. I enjoyed that aspect of writing, too. Putting words together, arranging them – it appealed to me.”

After college Daniel continued to write fiction and nonfiction, having a variety of original works accepted for publication in anthologies, podcasts, and more. But his path to having a book published would take a less direct path.

“I had submitted a novel to a publisher who impressed me with how they put together books, ones that you’d want to hold and show off,” Daniels explains. “The publisher read my novel and said she had in his mind reading the novel like a serial.

“I wondered if writing a serial is something that could be done in a digital age; many authors I interacted with were skeptical of eBooks at this time.”

Serial fiction is a format where a single, larger work is published in smaller, episodic installments. Think television series and syndication.

Unfortunately, Daniel’s publisher folded suddenly, but he never let go of the serial fiction idea. Later, he set out to write a book specifically to capture that serial fiction approach and find that balance between the episodic, TV-show and an overall story arc that spans the entire series.

The serial fiction Spire City, Season One: Infected by Daniel Ausema is available through the library.

This was the start of Spire City.

“I began writing the rough draft of Season One right after my daughter was born, almost 10 years ago,” Daniel says. “The second season I wrote during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month in November). After that I just let it sit.”

Daniel eventually lined up a new publisher for his serial and soon saw Season One and part of Season Two published as he was finishing writing the story with the final season, Season Three. But once again, Daniel faced another publisher closing its doors and now found himself with only part of his series publicly available.

Readers were expecting the next “episode.” Now what was he to do with his series?

“I decided to self-publish,” he recalls. “Getting it on Amazon as an eBook was really easy – you simply follow the steps through the dashboard. There’s not a lot to that. For print versions, I used their CreateSpace.”

Last summer, Daniel was introduced to the Library District’s new SELF-e publishing platform, where writers submit their eBook to the Library’s catalog for readers to access it and at the same time make it more widely available through “Indie Colorado,” an online collection of work by Colorado authors.

“I looked into the Library’s publishing resource and saw it was easy,” Daniel says.

Because he already had an eBook version of his work, Daniel only needed to use the Library’s SELF-e tool to upload it to the catalog and make it available. In addition to his book being listed among other digital titles from Poudre River Public Libraries, it is also accessible through other Colorado libraries which use the Biblioboard discovery platform and Indie Colorado.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy author Daniel Ausema is featured on the Library District’s Local Author curation on Biblioboard.

Spire City, Season One: Infected can be read online through the Library’s Biblioboard service and readers have the option to also purchase a print copy of the book along with Daniel’s other complete seasons, Season Two: Pursued and Season Three: Unwoven. The SELF-e platform allows writers to connect their work to purchasing sites like Amazon or Barnes & Noble to promote digital and print book sales.

Daniel advises others who want to go the self-publishing route to “get the book as perfect as you can possible make it.” He warns against just throwing a story up on Amazon without going through the full editing process: scene by scene and line by line to make it as good as it can be, and then do the copy edits.

“People get drawn to self-publishing because it doesn’t cost a lot of money, but to do with well you need to work with professionals like editors,” Daniel points out. “Find someone who can look at the story, the character arc, and find the spaces where the book isn’t really working.

“After getting it as perfect as you can, give yourself three months and then take it back out of the virtual drawer and get other eyes to see it.”

Daniel continues to write within the speculative fiction genre. His most recent work, The Silk Betrayal: The Arcist Chronicles, Volume One, was published in December 2017 by Guardbridge Books and is available on Amazon. He is currently working on Volume Two.

Learn more about Daniel on his website, and check out the Library’s various writing and self-publishing tools – Pressbooks, SELF-e, and Biblioboard – via our online Writer’s Café.

Curiosity is the Spice of Life for Local Entrepreneur

Posted on April 12, 2018 by Katie Auman in Business, Library Blog, Library Programs, Library Services

If you look for a common thread to tie together Susan Kirkpatrick’s personal and professional journey over the last few decades, you’d undoubtedly find that its “community.” Whether the former city mayor and current owner of Savory Spice Shop is working for the community or working within the community, her interests lie in doing meaningful and engaging work around town.

This began as early as the 1980s when Susan and her husband relocated to Fort Collins from Massachusetts. He worked as a professor at Colorado State University; she was interested in putting her Ph.D. in political science to use by getting involved in the community right from the start.

And, that brought Susan to the public library.

In 1982, the Fort Collins city council appointed her to the library’s advisory board. At this time, the Library was part of the city government and it was still referred to as “Main Library.”

“I was excited to be part of the library’s board,” Susan recalls. “I’m not just an avid reader, I believe strongly in tenets of the 1^st Amendment. It’s a basic democratic right.”

Susan served the community in a variety of roles including on the Fort Collins Coalition for Literacy.

Among the advisory board’s responsibilities at that time was responding to book challenges, and Susan found herself reviewing public challenges to titles such as Animalia and Chicken Little.

“The board believed in individuals’ fundamental access to written materials and information, so we worked with community members to discuss their concerns about certain books,” Susan explains. “But we never removed materials from the shelves.”

A few years into her role on the library board, Susan was asked to fill a vacancy on the city council and later won the at-large seat. She then continued to serve the community as the city’s mayor – both as an appointed position and then as the first directly-elected mayor of Fort Collins (1991-1993).

Susan and her staff at Savory Spice Shop often create new spice blends.

But she never strayed far away from books and reading and the library. Susan was inspired by a program in Seattle that encouraged the entire city to read the same book and come together to discuss and learn. After leaving her position as mayor, she worked with other community members and the Chamber of Commerce to establish a similar community literacy and engagement program in Fort Collins, and in 2002, Read On Fort Collins was founded (now Fort Collins Reads).

“We really wanted the program to be independent of the city, so our choices of authors and topics wouldn’t be restricted,” Susan says. “We wanted to highlight living authors and not be afraid of discussing controversial topics.”

The first author and book chosen was Lois Lowry’s The Giver, followed the next year by Louis Sachar’s Holes. Since then, Fort Collins Reads has expanded to include other notable authors like Erik Larson and T.C. Boyle.

For Susan, reading – and discussing what she reads – was a big part of raising her own children to become readers and how she continues to pursue her interests and spark her curiosity today.

“I always have at least one book in the works,” she explains, mentioning that she recently finished News of the World by Paulette Jiles and was currently listening to an audiobook by Tayari Jones. “Reading is transformative and adds such dimensions to your life.”

Customers can find everything from spice blends for dips and dressings to flavor extracts and hot sauces.

In addition to reading, one of Susan’s lifelong hobbies is cooking. A perfect weekend day for her includes visiting the library or a bookstore, coffee in hand, to peruse the shelves of books and cookbooks. It was this passion that took her from the public sector to entrepreneur and small business owner.

After four years of working on economic development with former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter (2007-2011), Susan was curious about exploring new opportunities.

“I needed to find a new path,” she says and recalls the moment when she knew where that path would lead. “My children gave me a gift certificate to a spice store in Denver because they knew how much I enjoyed cooking. I visited the Denver Savory Spice Shop and thought ‘A-ha! This is what I want to do.’”

She opened the Fort Collins Savory Spice Shop location in August 2011, and the experience has exceeded her expectations!

“I learn something new about the world of spices and flavors every day,” Susan says. “It’s amazing how you can learn about other cultures through food, similar to how you can journey to other cultures through books and stories.”

She points to a medium-sized jar labeled “za’atar” and happily explains that it’s a popular Middle Eastern spice blend of sumac, sesame seeds, and other flavors.

A selection of Middle Eastern recipes and cookbooks available through the Library.

Persiana: Recipes from the Middle East & Beyond	Sabrina Ghayour
The Aleppo Cookbook: Celebrating the Legendary Cuisine of Syria	Marlene Matar
The New Book of Middle Eastern Food	Claudia Roden

Fort Collins Savory Spice Shop isn’t so different from the Poudre River Public Libraries. When you enter the front door, you’re greeted by orderly shelves of “new arrivals” and “best sellers.” You see themed displays and tons of staff recommendations. Some visitors to the spice shop come by because they’re curious about the store or about cooking or just enjoy browsing the shelves to see if anything sparks their interest; others stop by with a list in hand of must-have items.

“I love having people experience the store where they are in their discovery,” explains Susan. “I don’t try to tell them what they want, but to help them explore and discover new interests.”

Susan and her staff offer great expertise, personalization and customer service for shop visitors.

To visit Susan and her fantastic staff and explore the wonderful aromas and tastes, stop by Fort Collins Savory Spice Shop at 123 N. College Ave. in the Opera Galleria building. The store also offers fun classes that showcase the staff’s expertise and enthusiasm for cooking and cultures.

Fort Collins’ Savory Spice Shop is a participant in the Library District’s Flash Your Card program, so be sure to show your library card when you check out at the register to receive special discounts just for library card holders.

5 Easy Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Katie Auman in Library Blog, Local Happenings, Writing

Did you know that National Poetry Month is the largest literary celebration in the world? This makes it a perfect time to celebrate the contributions from local poets and encourage others to give poetry a try.

Popular children’s writer and poet Kenn Nesbitt explains that good poetry always makes the reader feel something: “A good poem will give you goose bumps or butterflies in your stomach, or it will make you cry, or it will make you laugh. Or a good poem will make you feel better when you are sad or grieving.”

Family Read Alouds

For families and kids, Nesbitt recommends finding a new favorite poet or returning to an old favorite like Shel Silverstein and sharing poetry together by reading it aloud. And speaking of Shel Silverstein, did you know there are hundreds of YouTube videos featuring Silverstein and others reading his poetry? Bring favorites from A Light in the Attic or Where the Sidewalk Ends to life for your children, or better yet, check out a copy of one of his many books of poems from the Library.

Dear Poetry Project

Another way to introduce children and teens to poetry is to encourage them to participate in the Dear Poet Project from the Academy of American Poets. This multimedia education project invites young poets in grades 5-12 to write letters in response to poems written and read by award-winning poets who serve on the Academy’s Board of Chancellors.

Students simply watch a video of one of the poets reading and discussing one of their poems, and write them a letter in response and send it in by April 30. Letters will be considered for publication, and some students will receive replies from the poets. Full details are available on the Dear Poet Project website.

Poetry Readings & Activities

Attend a local poetry reading or other event to really experience the power of poetry and support local writers in the process. Here are a just a few we found around northern Colorado.

Crossings: A Multimedia Poetry Reading
April 7, 7:00-8:30PM
Wolverine Farm Letterpress & Publick House, 316 Willow St.

Crossings is “an experimental multimedia reading focusing on how the language within poetry shifts and changes with the merging of different art mediums.” The collaborative project includes various writers, artists, dancers and musicians.

Photo: Colorado State University, English Dept.

National Poetry Month at Old Firehouse Books
April 12, 6:00-7:00PM
Old Firehouse Books, 232 Walnut St.

The bookstore features two new poets: New Mexico senator Bill O’Neill and BookBar event coordinator Russell Brakefield will both be celebrating the release of their new poetry collections, The Freedom of the Ignored and Field Recordings, respectively. They will be joined by local poet Sasha Steensen.

Poetry Café
April 21, 11:00AM – 2:00PM
Loveland Museum, Foote Gallery, 503 N. Lincoln Ave.

An open house for all-ages to celebrate Earth Day by creating eco-poetry. Several writing stations, writing prompts, and games will jumpstart your creativity. Local poets will be on-hand to assist and celebrate your work.

Creative Writing Reading Series: Ross Gay
April 26, 7:30-9:00PM
CSU Lory Student Center, Cherokee Ballroom

Ross Gay is a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and author of three highly acclaimed books of poetry, most recently Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude. He teaches at Indiana University. You can check out his book through Prospector.

Photo: Colorado State University, English Dept.

Poem in Your Pocket Day
April 26, All Day
Everywhere

The idea is simple: grab a poem you love, carry it with you, and share it with friends, family, and coworkers!

Friday Night Writes Poetry Slam
April 27, 6:30-8:30PM
Harmony Library, 4616 S. Shields St.

Local teen and adult poets compete during this celebration of National Poetry Month. Audience participation is highly encouraged. Poets interested in participation must register in advance by calling 970-221-6740.

Slamogadro Poetry Slam
April 30, Signups begin at 7:00PM
Avogadro’s Number, 605 S. Mason St.

This slam poetry competition happens at Avogadro’s Number the final Sunday of every month.

Fort Collins Poet Laureate

Add your vote for the next Fort Collins Poet Laureate. The city poet laureate program, hosted by Wolverine Farm Letterpress & Publick House, is seeking public input into who will be named the next poet voice of the community. Voting for one of the finalists, Natalie Giarratano and Jack Martin, is open through April 13. Learn about the finalists, read their selections, and vote online.

Books by Local Poets

Check out any number of books from local poets through the Library! One place to start is with our Biblioboard collection of past Battle of the Bards poetry submissions and winners. These have been archived in our own Biblioboard collection.

Other local poets’ work can be found in 811 area of the library shelves.

What other great ideas have you come across to celebrate National Poetry Month? Share them with us!

And, if we missed any other great poetry events going on around town, feel free to add it in the comments section below. Happy #NationalPoetryMonth!

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Local Author Enjoys Self-Publishing Success with Serial Fiction

Curiosity is the Spice of Life for Local Entrepreneur

5 Easy Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

Family Read Alouds

Dear Poetry Project

Poetry Readings & Activities

Fort Collins Poet Laureate

Books by Local Poets

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