Author: kpdavis

Kimberly Parish Davis is the director and founder of Madville Publishing. She sometimes teaches writing, and worked on the editorial staff of Texas Review Press for five years.
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Madville at AWP 2022 in Philadelphia! #AWP22

Celebrate with Madville Publishing at AWP22. We will have a reading on the bookfair stage, a reception, and a virtual panel.

Madville Publishing will be in attendance at AWP in person this year. We also recorded a virtual panel so you can see a few of us even if you can’t attend in person. Our booth is #1044… near the food court! This page shows our schedule.

We will update here with information about author book signings. We didn’t get that info in in time for the official program listings.

AWP logo for #AWP22 White text on a pale green background

2022 AWP Conference & Bookfair
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Convention Center
March 23–26, 2022

All About Publicity: Publicists & Small Presses

https://www.awpwriter.org/awp_conference/event_detail/21532

T242. Virtual

Thursday, March 24, 2022 – 3:20 pm to 4:20 pm

Publishing with a small press with a limited promotion budget can leave an author feeling adrift and alone when it comes to advertising and promoting their books. Some (who have the resources to do so) hire outside publicists. This panel seeks to answer some hard questions about how to find the right publicist to promote your work and how to gauge your success. What should a publicist cost? How many books will the author have to sell to cover that cost? Is it worthwhile in the long run?

Event Outline: All-About-Publicity-outline.rev2_.pdf

Participants

  • Kimberly Davis (moderator) is the director at Madville Publishing, a nonprofit independent press based in Denton, Texas. Kim writes mostly fiction and has an MFA from SHSU. She spent five years at Texas Review Press.
  • Caitlin Hamilton Summie is the former marketing director of MacMurray & Beck and of BlueHen Books/Penguin Putnam. At each firm, she also managed imprint profile and directed all publicity, hardcover and paperback. In 2003, she founded Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity.
  • Gigi Marino is a senior publicist with Otter PR in Orlando, Fla. She has more than twenty-five years of experience working in higher education as a writing lecturer, magazine editor, photography director, and director of communications, She also is a poet and essayist.
  • Lee Zacharias is the author of a collection of short stories, a collection of essays, and four novels. Her work has received IPPY silver medals for fiction and nonfiction, two Sir Walter Raleigh Awards, the Phillip H. McMath Book Award, and fellowships from the NEA and the North Carolina Arts Council.
  • Michael Simms founded Autumn House Press in 1998 and served as editor in chief until 2015 when he started Vox Populi, a public sphere for politics and poetry. His poetry collections include American Ash and Nightjar, and he’s been the lead editor of over 100 published books.

Madville On Stage

12:10pm – 1:25pm on Friday March 25, 2022
Michener Center for Writers Bookfair Stage 
Hall D & E, Pennsylvania Convention Center, 200 Level

The Pursuit: A Meditation on Happiness by Gerry Lafemina, front cover features an abstract watercolor that might be a man reclining by artist, Cliff Wockenfuss/Zito Art, Pittsburgh
Cover art by Cliff Wockenfuss/Zito Art, Pittsburgh
What a Wonderful World This Could Be by Lee Zacharias. Front cover to look like graffiti on a white painted brick wall with a camera and block letters. Also displays two awards.
Cover design by Jacqueline Davis
Front cover for: The Iron Scar: A Father and Son in Siberia BY BOB KUNZINGER WITH PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL KUNZINGER
Cover photo by Michael Kunzinger
Judgment Day & Other White Lies by Mike Hilbig. Front cover shows an orangutan with a gun and an egg timer balancing on the rim of a Greek Urn with Perseus holding the Medusa's head.
Cover by Crowcrumbs
Heartbreak Tree: Poems by Pauletta Hansel, front cover. White block letters are superimposed over a painting of a road and a tree by Angelyn DeBord
Cover art by Angelyn Debord

This reading brings together poetry, essay, creative nonfiction, and fiction from recently released or upcoming Madville titles. We’ve invited several of our authors who enjoy performing to read on the AWP Bookfair stage. Each of these talented writers/performers has a new book coming out in time to share at AWP22. They are: 

·       Gerry LaFemina

Gerry LaFemina’s poetry collections include Baby Steps in Doomsday Prepping, The Story of Ash and Little Heretic. His essays on prosody, Palpable Magic, came out in 2015 and Kendall Hunt recently released his textbook, Composing Poetry: A Guide to Writing Poems and Thinking Lyrically. He teaches at Frostburg State University and in the Carlow University MFA Program. https://gerrylafemina.com/ His latest collection is creative nonfiction in flash format, THE PURSUIT: A MEDITATION ON HAPPINESS (Madville, Feb 2022)

·       Mike Hilbig

Mike Hilbig graduated in 2017 from Sam Houston State University with an MFA in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing. He lives in Houston, TX and teaches English at the University of Houston-Downtown and at Lone Star College. His new collection of short stories is JUDGMENT DAY & OTHER WHITE LIES (Madville, Feb 2022)

·       Lee Zacharias

Lee Zacharias is the author of a collection of short stories, a collection of essays, and four novels. Her work has received IPPY silver medals for fiction and nonfiction, two Sir Walter Raleigh Awards, the Phillip H. McMath Book Award, and fellowships from the NEA and the North Carolina Arts Council. Her most recent novel is WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD THIS COULD BE (Madville, Jun 2021)

·       Bob Kunzinger

Bob Kunzinger is the author of nine collections of essays, including: A Third Place: Notes in Nature, and Penance: Walking with the Infant. He lives in Virginia. His newest collection is THE IRON SCAR: A FATHER AND SON IN SIBERIA with photos by Michael Kunzinger (Madville, Apr 2022)

·       Pauletta Hansel

Pauletta Hansel is a poet, memoirist and teacher who is author of eight poetry collections including Friend, Coal Town Photograph and Palindrome, winner of the 2017 Weatherford Award for best Appalachian Poetry. Her writing has been widely anthologized and featured in print and online journals including Oxford American, Rattle, The Writer’s Almanac, American Life in Poetry and Verse Daily, the Appalachian Journal, Appalachian Review, Cincinnati Review, and Still: The Journal, among others. Pauletta was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate, 2016-2018 and for ten years served as managing editor of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, the literary publication of Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative. Read Pauletta’s work and hear her read her own work on her website, paulettahansel.wordpress.com. Her latest collection is Heartbreak Tree (Madville, March 2022)

Madville Publishing Reception

F252.

people toasting wine glasses
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

Join us for some reading and some laughs. We’ll have refreshments of the adult variety.

This event is a celebration for Madville Publishing authors, past and present. Friends of Madville or Madville authors are welcome.

Friday, March 25, 2022, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Room 308, Marriott Philadelphia Downtown

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Writer’s World Workshop

Writers World workshop mini shows a split screen with an old typewriter on the left in yellow, and a laptop on a turquoise background on the right

The Writer’s World Workshop took place yesterday, and many thanks to the And I Thought Ladies, Jade and Wilnona for inviting Kim Davis to speak about Madville Publishing and small press publishing in general. What a whirlwind! Many connections were made and much information was shared in a short period of time. Pre-Covid, we didn’t see this sort of digital gathering in which people from all around the country came together, spoke candidly and laughed together about our crazy industry.

Attendees ran the gamut from right across the industry. There were writers, screenwriters, publicists, Hollywood producers, and publishers. Madville was in good company.

Who attended?

  • Rose Drew – CEO of Stairwell Books – https://www.stairwellbooks.co.uk/about/
  • Rosemerry Trommer opened with a beautiful poem – AHundredFallingVeils.com daily poems and rosemerry.com, https://www.wordwoman.com/about/
  • It was lovely to meet Janet Todd, who joined from England where a storm named Eunice was raging outside her window. She rejoined the conversation periodically throughout the day, and she was delightful. Her most recent book is Jane Austen and Shelley in the Garden. At one point, Janet Todd drew a connection for us between Jane Austen’s development as it related to Brandy Miller’s talk. She also told us about the Lucy Cavendish College Fiction Prize for women, which is now open.
  • Kathy Murphy How to attract Book clubs- Pulpwood Queens Kathy L. Murphy, CEO and Founder of The International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Club Reading Nation.
  • Angela Anderson – Marketing 101 (Book PR/Marketing). Angela is a certified word nerd, who provides quality services including literary coaching, marketing, promotions, and literary cafe events in excellence, the Angela Anderson Presents way. Read about angela here: http://angelaandersonpresents.com/about/.
  • Sean Connors – Dr. Connors teaches courses on young adult literature and graphic novels. He also works with English education interns in the Master of Arts in Teaching program.
  • Victorine (New York Times Bestselling Author) “How to create a book Cover.”
  • Amy Ferris (author, screenwriter, editor and playwright). Co-director story summit Learn about Amy Ferris here: http://marryinggeorgeclooney.com/about/
  • Parasian hostess Tamara (How to Dress Your Brand) – Creator of The Parisian Hostess Brand of hand made essential oil products, Pin Up Personality, creator of Bombshell Academy Bootcamp. Read about the Parsian hostess here: https://www.theparisianhostess.com/collections/classes
  • Charlie Rossiter, http://www.poetryspokenhere.com/, gave a great talk about poetry. He talked about “forest bathing” and the amusing habit we have of naming things like being in the woods. He invited us to feel the earth beneath us.
  • Susan Wingate talked about podcasting. susanwingate.com/dialog, https://www.susanwingate.com/podcast
    She said there are very few platforms (podcasts where they talk about books) where you can post fiction free of charge. Most cost $250-$750 for them to share information about your book. In response to this, Susan started Dialog Between the Lines. She was asked about services for podcasts and recommended pod beam and Buzz sprout, with Sound cloud taking third place because it isn’t quite as easy to use. Next, Susan inspired everyone with a discussion of MFA programs and told us how she has worked on an MFA durning COVID and how much she’s learned. It’s interesting to hear about a multi-published author doing her MFA.
  • B. Daniel (B.D.) Watkins, chief programmer for I Elevate Plus TV. She is a Hollywood producer who talked about the differences between writing for screen and writing for print. She tried to give a true picture of what it is like to write for TV, and told how it has been hard for her to go back to writing books where the author has to tell everything. If we want to get a book to Hollywood, we need to investigate creating a Pitch deck, then writing a screenplay. And we need a logline.
  • Tonya Todd, a writer/actress. She hosts the Dime Grinds podcast, and loves to have authors read and talk about their work. dimegrinds@gmail.com Her most recent short story is in Love in the Dunes: Las Vegas Writers on Passion and Heartache. Her podcast is https://www.youtube.com/c/The52LovePodcast/, and she could always use more subscribers to her newsletter!
  • Gabriel Cleveland – CavanKerry Press – a nonprofit literary press founded in 2000.
  • Madeline Goldman. Publicity and Marketing. Madweek Marketing. Contact her at madeleine@madweekmarketing.com . Madeline also writes under the pen name, Adele Royce, and she invited us to look at and comment on her lovely new author’s website: adeleroyce.com 
  • Recorded reading and interview with Amy Ferris. “Loveletter to Women” Read about women supporting women. Hope and confidence. Storysummit.us 
  • Alex Creswick – film producer – gave a general weather report for the industry. To sum in up, it’s a rough time because of Covid restrictions, but if you have a script with a low production budget and not too many actors, you have a better chance.nwww.alexcreswick.com
  • Lauren Marino, author of What Would Dolly Do? also Bookish Broads: Women who Wrote themselves into History. Lauren had great advice and info for other authors about the publishing process because not only is she an author, she works for Hachette.
  • D C Gomez gave up some insider secrets about how to get onto the USA Today Bestsellers.
  • David Legere of Woodhall Press dllegre.com, https://www.woodhallpress.com/. They’re currently accepting all sorts of things. Check their website.

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Poet friends honor Vincent D’Amico

Vince D'Amico came out to listen to a presentation I gave at the University of Houston. Photo shows Kim Davis and Vince D'Amio on the U of H campus

We’ve lost dear friends and this one deserves to be remembered, especially. Vincent D’Amico was Madville Publishing director, Kim Davis‘s high school English teacher. Without his inspiration, it’s no exaggeration to say that Madville Publishing would never have happened. So, we are grateful to our friends Dave Parson and Janet Lowery for putting this annual event together in Mr. D’Amico’s honor. Most friends called him Vince, but to Kim, he was MR. Vince died last year, well into his 80s, and the information in the video will give you a bit more of his background.

For those who did not know him, Vince D’Amico had a lifelong love of Robert Frost’s work. He spent years taking his vacations in New Hampshire, touring the places Frost lived and worked, chronicling his life. That is why a Robert Frost reading makes such perfect sense for this Memorial.

1st Annual Vince D’Amico Memorial Poetry Reading and Open Mic. Thanks so much to Texas Poet Laureate Dave Parsons, Janet Lowery, and Deedee Fox. Janet Lowery edited Madville’s first poetry anthology, By the Light of a Neon Moon.
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Katherine, Kathryn! What a beautiful cover!

Three covers with art by Kathryn Smith for a new poetry collection by Katherine Smith entitled Secret City. The image shows three covers side-by-side. One with a white background one more orange, and one blue.

Take our poll to tell us which cover you like best. It doesn’t mean we’ll change our minds about the one WE like, but it’s always fun to see what everyone thinks!

While Katherine Smith writes beautiful poetry, Kathryn also creates collages we can’t stop looking at.

The story begins with the Madville crew doing some online research about a new poet we had just signed, Katherine Smith. (Secret City, Madville, August 2022). Expect a preorder page to become available for this collection in May. You’ll find that on our homepage, https://madvillepublishing.com.

But back to the reason for the search in the first place, we were looking for inspiration for Katherine Smith’s book cover. We like to start by looking at an author’s previous covers, so we started by looking at Katherine’s Woman Alone on the Mountain (Iris Press, 2014). After that, our eyes were naturally drawn to the really striking collage art of Katheryn Smith, who turned up among our search results. We contacted her about her art before even realizing she is also a poet. Learn more about her at kathrynsmithpoetry.com

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