Please welcome guest blogger Kristen Painter! Kristen resides on the Spacecoast of FL with her retired Air Force hubby and 3 feline dependents. Her writing has explored many genres – poetry, non-fiction, short stories, and now fun paranormals, quirky young adult or dark & twisty urban fantasy. Her work has been seen in Sun magazine, Cosmopolitan, and the Romance Writers Report. A two-time Golden Heart finalist, she’s also the co-founder of the award winning site, Romance Divas, and the past vice president and webmaster of two RWA chapters, Chesapeake Romance Writers and SpacecoasT Authors of Romance and the current President of ESPAN. She’s represented by The Knight Agency and looks forward to her debut novel coming from Samhain in September 2009.Kristen was kind enough to visit today and chat about the newly revitalized ESPAN chapter of RWA!
KATIE: Okay, my first question is obvious considering what today’s blog topic is, but what does ESPAN stand for?
KRISTEN: Electronic and Small Press Authors Network.
KATIE: Why do you think it’s important for ESPAN to have a voice within the romance community, RWA specifically?
KRISTEN: Epublishing is changing the face of the publishing business model as we know it. Ebooks don’t require the cost to publish that traditional books do and they also don’t require the same return policy. Many in RWA may not fully understand that epublished authors often work just as hard as traditionally pubbed authors. Epubbed and small press authors deserve the same acceptance and recognition as our traditionally pubbed peers.
KATIE: What changes has the ‘new’ ESPAN made? What changes do they plan to make in the future?
KRISTEN: ESPAN is moving forward with a brand new website and forum for members that allows us to interact with one another and discuss topics much like a physical chapter meeting. Beyond that, we’re looking into ways to educate others about what epublishing is, what it means for the future of publishing and why there’s no reason to fear it, but rather to embrace it. We look forward to expanding our membership and really developing a voice for the epubbed and small press pubbed authors in RWA.
KATIE: Anything else you’d like to share with us today?
KRISTEN: If you haven’t tried an ebook, check one out. There are genres out there for every taste!
KRISTEN: Electronic and Small Press Authors Network.
KATIE: Why do you think it’s important for ESPAN to have a voice within the romance community, RWA specifically?
KRISTEN: Epublishing is changing the face of the publishing business model as we know it. Ebooks don’t require the cost to publish that traditional books do and they also don’t require the same return policy. Many in RWA may not fully understand that epublished authors often work just as hard as traditionally pubbed authors. Epubbed and small press authors deserve the same acceptance and recognition as our traditionally pubbed peers.
KATIE: What changes has the ‘new’ ESPAN made? What changes do they plan to make in the future?
KRISTEN: ESPAN is moving forward with a brand new website and forum for members that allows us to interact with one another and discuss topics much like a physical chapter meeting. Beyond that, we’re looking into ways to educate others about what epublishing is, what it means for the future of publishing and why there’s no reason to fear it, but rather to embrace it. We look forward to expanding our membership and really developing a voice for the epubbed and small press pubbed authors in RWA.
KATIE: Anything else you’d like to share with us today?
KRISTEN: If you haven’t tried an ebook, check one out. There are genres out there for every taste!
Kristen firmly believes the future of publishing holds many exciting opportunities and that a chapter like ESPAN will be vital in leading the way toward educating RWA’s members about those possibilities. Additionally, she believes ESPAN can become an advocate for epublishing and epublished authors, providing the necessary information to instruct and guide its members in career decisions and dispel myths about epublishing through the free dispersion of information.
Since Kristen was cool enough to hang out with us wild women today, I'm offering a signed copy of Lucinda Betts' The Supplicant (Aphrodisia) to one lucky commenter. If you have any questions about ESPAN feel free to ask :)
8 comments:
I enjoyed your insightful interview. Best of luck with ESPAN. As a career-focused, multi-published e-book author I can attest to the fact that we work hard to create top-notch stories readers will love.
Good luck!
Best--Adele Dubois
Thanks for a great interview. It's nice to know that there really is an RWA chapter out looking out for the interests of small press and epubbed authors!
I resisted submitting to ePubs for a long time before becoming involved with Red Sage. And I'm so glad I took that leap of faith--and that the wonderful people there were prepared to take a chance on me!
Thank you for sharing this info about ESPAN, Kristen. It's very exciting to know about them and to know that ePubbed and small press authors have such a great support network behind them.
Don't put me in for Ms. Betts book, I read it (its great, so all the best all). Looking forward to checking out about your debut with Samhain Kristen!
Is ESPAN one that's open for authors and readers? I can't recall now the name but I remember one that was related to EBook Authors but only for authors. I would have missed many great reads if it wasn't for ebooks! So I'm glad they did this!
Thanks again Kristen for a great interview! Caffey, ESPAN is also open to unpublished, traditionally published, and other industry professionals as associate members (meaning they can't vote during elections, etc.)
Sorry I wasn't here to answer questions, but yesterday was also my birthday and I was at Universal Studios all day!
Thanks for having me, Katie!
So how do you, Kristen, feel about the current flap over the high price of David Baldacci's new book on Kindle? Do you think E-books should cost as much as hardback or paperback books?
I plan on joining ESPAN soon.
Thanks for stopping by Kristin!
Hugs,
Tambra
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