July 2005, Mendocino, California.
Bookbuilders West's newest affiliate, Bookbuilders Northcoast (BBNC), was just the wisp of an idea a year ago. Since then, two public Networking Salons have been held in Mendocino, California. The response has been very positive.
Authors, copyeditors, proofreaders, indexers, graphic designers, book producers, publishers, and printers have come together to talk about what they do, find out about their new colleagues' specialties, learn from each other, and trade job leads and industry news.
The February Networking Salon featured brief presentations by Cynthia Frank, publisher of Cypress House Press; Medea Minnich, freelance back-of-the book indexer; Charlotte Gullick, creative writing instructor at the College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg, California, and newly-appointed director of the 2007 Mendocino Coast Writers Conference; and last, but surely not least, Ramona Beville, President of Bookbuilders West. This was the first Bookbuilders Northcoast public event, and more than 40 people attended the kickoff. Expressions of enthusiasm confirmed the need for this type of gathering for local publishing professionals.
In May, Salon attendees heard from Paula Goldstein, Art Director of Jossey-Bass, and Larry Bauman, publisher of Redwood Audiobooks. Their presentations sparked lively questions and answers. Some of the attendees made connections for freelance work, and there were many new faces in the crowd.
In August a BBNC Networking Salon will be the featured event on Friday evening the 12th, at the 16th Annual Mendocino Coast Writers Conference. BBNC regulars will have the opportunity to mix with conference attendees and presenters, who include authors, publishers, and literary agents. Two independent authors/publishers will give their perspective of book publishing: Dan Imhoff, author of Paper or Plastic and other books he has published as Watershed Media; and Taylor Lockwood, author/photographer/publisher of Treasures from the Kingdom of Fung. Excitement is building for this event, and the BBNC organizing committee (Annette Jarvie, Dreux Carpenter, Michael Rossetti, and Medea Minnich) is anticipating a big turnout.
Announcements of BBNC events are featured on the BBW website and email newsletters. For more information on BBNC, write to northcoast@bookbuilders.org. BBNC plans to continue with quarterly Networking Salons, and serves as a job announcement service to email subscribers.
Medea Minnich is a freelance indexer working on the north coast