Christmas Time at Penn State and State College

Posted: January 21, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Penn State | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Enjoy this slide show of images from Penn State and State College, PA.

 

 

BookFest PA, State College, July 16, 2011

Posted: July 7, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: BookFest PA | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Join me and over 20 other authors at BookFest PA on Saturday, July 16 from 10 – 5 outside of Schlow Library in State College. We will be signing and selling books, as well as chatting with readers.

Many people know about The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, better known as Arts Fest. It’s a five-day event, featuring artists from all over the country, selling their work along the sidewalks of State College and Penn State’s University Park Campus. Arts Fest is an event State College residents look forward to all year long. The festival includes fun for kids, live music, 5K and 10K runs, numerous other events, and a variety of food vendors. It draws about 125,000 people annually and is a boon for local business during State College’s quiet summer months.

For the second year in a row, Arts Fest includes BookFest PA. Featured authors Lisa Scottoline, Tamar Myers, and Nancy Martin, will be there along with Cyn Balog, Josh Berk, Lyndsay Eland, Lyndsay Barrett George, Paul Yeager, and Daryl Gregory.

Local authors include Sylvia Apple, Georgia Ann Butler, John F. Carr, Judy Ann Davis, Jeffrey Frazier, John Gastil, Cindy Simmons, Jennifer Herbstritt, Sandra Hill, Ken Hull, Marie Jackman, Heather Jordan, Janice McElhoe, Jodi Moore, Kieryn Nicolas, David Penek, Melicent Sammis, Judith Vicary Swisher, John Swisher,  Patricia Thomas, poet Zoë Brigley Thompson, Phillip Winsor, Veronica Winters, and me. Please stop by, say hello, and have your books signed by the authors.

Thanks to Pat Griffith at Schlow Library and the other BookFest PA and Arts Fest organizers for making this event happen.

Learn more at BookFest PA and at Arts Fest.

Greg Halpin is the author of Welcome to Scranton.

Self-Publishing Discussion, May 10, 7 p.m.

Posted: May 3, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Nittany Valley Writers Network, Self-Publishing | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I will be hosting a discussion about self-publishing at the Nittany Valley Writers Network meeting on Tuesday, May 10 at 7 p.m. at the Schlow Library in State College, Pennsylvania. Anyone interested in learning more about self-publishing is encouraged to attend.  The discussion is free and open to the public.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, self-published authors are shaking up ebook sales thanks to Amazon’s Kindle and the Nook from Barnes and Noble.

Many of the top selling Kindle books are from self-published authors like Amanda Hocking, Joe Konrath, and John Locke. Hocking’s books became so successful, traditional publishers took notice. She recently signed a contract with St. Martin’s Press for a four-book deal reportedly worth at least $2 million.

At the same time, some traditionally published authors like Barry Eisler are walking away from lucrative publishing contracts. These authors believe they can make more money by self-publishing. More importantly, the authors will have more control over their books and the timing of their release. Instead of waiting 18 – 24 months for traditionally published books to hit the store shelves, self-published authors can release their books as quickly as they can write them, have them edited, and a cover produced. Some authors publish several a year.

We will talk about these and other topics at the meeting. I’ll also demonstrate how to upload your book to the Amazon Kindle site, Lulu.com, and CreateSpace.com.