An e-Publication of the Colorado Independent Publishers Association
Independent Publishers Working Together
Inside—
President’s Letter
January 15 Meeting—Dominic Testa
New Approach to CIPA College 2011
NEW CIPA Website
Hidden Minefield’s in Digital Publishing
(Part 2) by Brian Schwartz
How To Make Your First Impression
Last (Part 2) by Karen Saunders
Ric Simmons Award Nominations
Advertising Rates
Board Members
www.CIPABooks.com
© 2010 Colorado Independent
Publishers Association
P.O. Box 101975, Denver, CO 80250-1975
Phone: (303) 365-CIPA •
Fax (303) 957-5428
Admin@CIPABooks.com
Find us at -
Important Dates
Saturday, February 12, 2011
CIPA College—Northglenn, CO
Saturday, February 26, 2011
CIPA College—Lone Tree, CO
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Member meeting - Red Lion Hotel.
1 Colorado Independent Publishers Association
President’s Letter
Let me be the eight-hundred-thirteenth
person to wish each of you a Happy
New Year! We’re halfway through our
2010-2011 CIPA Year and the best is
yet to come. Kenn Amdahl has some
terrific programs planned for the bal-
ance of the year, Dan and Joyce Miller
will launch our new CIPA College for-
mat in February, and Ravay Snow has
our CIPA EVVY Awards well in hand.
Don’t forget that the entry deadline for
the CIPA EVVYs is January 15. You can
bring your books to the meeting that
day if you haven’t already turned them
in. Ravay and Sue and Herb will all be
on hand to answer any questions.
We launched our much-needed new
website last week. We’re still transi-
tioning from the old site to the new
one but it won’t be long before CIPA
will be enjoying all the benefits of a
state-of-the-art website. Neil Erickson,
CIPA’s Membership co-chair, has spent
countless hours making the transfer,
building new pages and adding new
features. The next step is to start the
process of building an online catalog
for our members’ books. We’re cross-
checking the membership list so if you
haven’t renewed your dues, please do
so. You’ll still get the e-mail blasts and
copies of the Signature but you won’t
enjoy all the member benefits that CI-
PA has to offer. Take a look at the new
site, click your way around it and see
what fun things are there.
JanuaryNovember
2011 2010
This coming Saturday’s meeting
(1/15/11) promises to be most informa-
tive. The phrase, “Nothing happens until
someone sells something,” has never
been truer. You write, you edit, you re-
write, you index; you choose cover de-
signs and font styles. You choose paper,
trim size, cover stock, buy ISBNs and bar
codes; you find a printer, negotiate a
price, you accept delivery of cases upon
cases of your new book but no one will
ever see it unless you develop a mar-
keting and sales plan. Dominic Testa is
our featured program speaker and will
share his expertise. Dominic has worked
for the United States Olympic Com-
mittee, The Colorado Rockies, and The
National Western Stock Show. Currently
he’s with The Profound Impact Group
and the Big Brain Club.
We’ll start the meeting at 8:30 with our
regular roundtable discussions. This
month’s experts will be in the areas of
Editing, Newbies, WordPress, Children’s
Books and Printing. Whether you’re a
published author or in the process, you
can always glean something new from
our roundtable experts.
I’m so proud of all the work our 2010-
2011 Board of Directors has done so far.
We’ve taken on the monumental tasks of
changing the College format, changing
our newsletter from printed to digital,
building a new website, aggressively
working in the arena of social media
marketing and revamping our CIPA EVVY
rules, entry procedures and judging
Continued on page 2 . . .

The January 15 Meeting —
The Well-Rounded Author: Finding
Balance in the Business of Writing
and Publishing
In a rapidly evolving market, it is more im-
portant than ever for authors to have a firm
grasp on every last element of their business.
Profound Impact Group’s Dominic Testa will
lead a wide-ranging discussion on everything
from marketing platforms to day-to-day op-
erations to knowing when and where to hire
outside help. A Q&A will follow his presenta- Dominic Testa
tion.
Dominic Testa is Vice President of Profound Impact Group, a
Denver-based publishing and marketing firm, and Executive
Director of The Big Brain Foundation, a non-profit education
foundation. He oversees strategic and day-to-day operations
for both entities.
Previously, Dominic served as Director of Development for
the USA Swimming Foundation, the fundraising arm of the
world’s most successful Olympic National Governing Body.
Prior to that he held various roles in business operations and
communications for the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club, and
worked as an independent consultant for the National West-
ern Stock Show.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE... We’ll begin each meeting with
Roundtable sessions from 8:30 - 9:15 a.m. and then start our
general meeting at 9:30 a.m. These Roundtables are designed
to help anyone with any genre, with any question, simple or
complex, for new writers and publishers as well as experi-
enced authors and publishers.
NEWBIE table. Just getting started? This Networking
Roundtable is the place to get your most basic question an-
swered, or to ask, “What Are the Basic Questions?”
EDITING table. Our expert editor will lead a discussion on how
2 Colorado Independent Publishers Association
to find and work with an editor to polish your work. Bring your
pesky editing questions to this networking session.
CHILDREN’S BOOKS table. Confused by what it takes to write
and publish a children's book? Our expert children's book pub-
lisher can answer all your questions.
PRINTING table. Get answers to your printing questions, includ-
ing book size, paper quality, color and other book printing ques-
tions.
WORDPRESS table. Our WordPress authority will help you nav-
igate the ins and outs of creating a WordPress blog or website
and show you how using this simple tool can boost your book
sales.
See Agenda below for details. $15 dollars for CIPA members
($20.00 at the door), $30 for nonmember, Guests come FREE
(with a guest pass) or $30.
When:
Saturday, January 15, 2011
8:00 a.m.– Noon
Location:
Red Lion Hotel
4040 Quebec Street, Denver, CO 80216
Tel: 303-321-6666
Agenda:
8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Registration, Networking and Continental
Breakfast
8:30 – 9:15 a.m. Roundtable Sessions
9:30 – 9:45 a.m. Meeting Announcements, Committee Updates,
Star Time
10:00 – Noon Main Program
Sign up for the January meeting now!
President’s Letter continued from page 1 . . .
handbook. Whew! We’ll be announcing some additional
member benefits in the next few months. CIPA has a bright
future, in large part to our board, and in large part to our
membership. Please take the time to introduce yourselves to
the board members. Each of us is interested in hearing your
comments and suggestions.
First CIPA College Day Scheduled NEW CIPA Website
For February 12, 2011 It's fresh, modern, and easy to navigate.

CIPA College is now being expanded to offer live education As with everything new online, it may take a little while to
straighten out the kinks but we're up and running. If you have
events related to independent publishing at trouble with a link or navigation on the new site, please contact
different times and locations around the Cheryl at admin@cipabooks.com.
calendar year. The first "CIPA College Day" is
Each of you must sign on to receive your membership discount
scheduled for February 12th at the Colorado
pricing. It's easy, here's what you do:
Christian University building in Northglenn,
CO. The full-day schedule starts with a free 1. Go to http://www.cipabooks.com
2. Click on the Create An Account link on the very top tool
"Introduction to CIPA Col-
bar
lege from 8:00 - 8:20 AM. 3. Click the Create an Account button
Dan Miller
Six one-hour presentations 4. Enter your information
follow. You may sign up for a single presen- 5. The password is Cipa2011 (capital "C")
tation, a morning session with basic topics, 6. Click "Create an Account" button at the bottom and you'll
be good to go
an afternoon session with advanced topics,
or all day.
Joyce Miller

February 12 Schedule
8:30-9:30 AM Basics of Copyright
10:00-11:00 AM Basics of a Marketing Plan
11:30-12:30 PM Comparison of Publishing Options
1:00-2:00 PM Establishing & Promoting Your Brand
2:30-3:30 PM Create a Website That Sells Books
4:00-5:00 PM Blogs, Blurbs, Twitter, and Other Noise
February 26 Schedule
8:30-9:30 AM Basics of Copyright
10:00-11:00 AM Comparison of Publishing Options
11:30-12:30 PM Basics of e-Book Devices, Formants,
Retailers
1:00-2:00 PM E-Book Distribution Systems
2:30-3:30 PM Strategies for Launching Your New Book
4:00-5:00 PM Integrating Social Media into Marketing

Mark your calendar for February 12 and 26! For more infor-
mation and the dates of upcoming college sessions please
click here!

3 Colorado Independent Publishers Association


The Hidden Minefields in
Digital Publishing (Part 2)
I am not a fan of third party aggregators.
These are sites that make it all too easy
to upload your book to them. The ma-
jority of the ones I’ve come across have
you accept T&Cs that essentially make
them your “ebook distributor.” The idea
of an ebook distributor is pretty ridicu-
lous when you consider they really
aren't distributing anything, once the
book is setup, it is delivered to the buyer
Brian Schwartz
without anyone’s involvement (there’s
nothing to ship). Also, most of the aggregators I’ve seen have
no way of ensuring DRM (Digital Rights Management) on your
title, which means there’s nothing to prevent the buyer of
your ebook to post it online or send it to all their friends.
More scary stories from fellow authors… There are companies
offering digital conversions for a fee, but then retaining as
much as 80% of all the proceeds from each sale of the digital
versions. Whoa! That’s exploitation of technologically naive
authors. The price of ebooks will inevitably fall, and likely fast
once the market gets saturated. There's simply no room for a
middleman. Besides, the work that will likely take them a few
hours to complete (the digital book layout), is nowhere near
the amount of time and energy you put in as an author. So
why would you be willing to give up 50% of every sale?
A new breed of vanity publishers who retain a percentage of
every book, despite the fact the author pays to publish. Xilbris,
iUniverse keep 50% and Tate keeps 60% on every ebook sale.
How often do they pay the author? It varies, but in some cases,
only two times per year. This bothers me because these are
pay-to-publish companies. You’ve already paid all the produc-
tion costs associated with your book, so why are they entitled
to a hefty percent of every digital book sale? Set your own ti-
tles up and you’ll get 100% of your digital profit monthly.
In summary, here’s my advice:
 Don’t ever accept the assignment of an ISBN (or eISBN)
unless you’ve purchased it yourself through certified re-
seller of ISBN #’s (i.e., Bowker). The person/company
Bowker assigns the ISBN to is the publisher on record for
the title.
 Only use the third party aggregators to distribute excerpts
of your book, or create specifically branded content so it’s
not competing with your own.
 If you do sign an agreement with a vanity/hybrid publisher
(where you pay to publish), be sure you retain full rights to
your digital editions.
Brian Schwartz is the owner of KindleExpert.com. He provides
high quality and affordable digital conversion services.

Spend the 20 minutes it will take to upload your own title,

with your own bank account, directly to the various market-
places. You need to have direct access to your own sales data
so you can see if your marketing efforts are working.
What else do you need to watch out for?

4 Colorado Independent Publishers Association


How To Make Your First
Impression Last - Part 2
In case you didn't read Part 1, here's the story.
Let me tell you about the last home show I went to. It was
your typical home show with lots of booths, pretty displays,
loads of freebies. But I wasn’t interested in all that. I was on
a mission. I needed a landscaping
contractor to take my dismal, ordinary
backyard and turn it into Fantasy Is-
land. Not too much to ask, right?
I was prepared to spend all day, if nec-
essary, talking with every last land-
scaping contractor there in order to Karen Saunders
find someone to make my dream come true. So I grabbed a
tall mocha on the way in, took a plastic goodie bag from the
entry table, and set off to find me a contractor.
Not as easy as it sounds. Everyone seemed to have a great
deal going, and the displays were all so gorgeous, and pretty
soon all the people I met seemed to blend together! On the
upside, I did collect a lot of pretty brochures to put in my
bag, not to mention some nifty water bottles and key chains.
When I got home later that evening, I slipped on some comfy
clothes, sat down with a cup of hot tea, and stared sorting
through all the business cards I’d collected. But, I had so
many cards it was hard to remember who was who! Which
one was the guy that specialized in outdoor kitchens? And
the one that did those waterfall scenes, which one was that?
Ahh!
I don’t remember what every one said. I just remember
what I liked. But it was hard to tell anyone apart from this
stack of cards! Is there a way to set yourself apart from the
crowd with just your business card?
Absolutely! A business card, while small in size, is your big
weapon. Here are 7 more topnotch tips to keep your card
5 Colorado Independent Publishers Association
out of the wastebasket and into the rolodex! (The first 7 are in
Part 1.)
Don’t get too crazy with the fonts. Make it appropriate for
your business, without the trendy or overly embellished ver-
sions that are available out there.
Keep a tight rein on your text. Think small and compact, and
your text will have a much more professional look.
Avoid using all capital letters, because THEY ARE HARD TO
READ. It looks unprofessional, not to mention it implies that
you are shouting at the reader. You don’t want to scare any-
one off, do you?
Use a grid. It helps you to align texts and objects to each other
in a way that you just can’t do with the naked eye.
Any illustrations that you use should be bold, not delicate.
When you try to print all that detail at the small size of a card,
it just looks muddy and you lose the look you were going for.
I said bold, not amateur. Illustrations from clip-art are usually
out-dated and campy. Find a good quality resource for your
illustrations, and stay away from the I-did-it-myself look.
Don't forget the back! That's wasted real estate back there.
Why not put a special offer or something else enticing to en-
courage people to call.
OK, now you are all set to let your little business card do big
things for your business! If it’s the first impression people get
about you, you want to make sure it’s a memorable one. Your
success depends on it!
Karen Saunders and her team of award-winning designers
help authors and small business owners design their books,
build their brand, launch their website and market their busi-
ness. She is the author of Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal:
How to easily transform your marketing pieces into dazzling,
persuasive sales tools! Karen was a board member and pro-
gram director for CIPA for 3 years. Contact:
www.MacGraphics.net, 303-680-2330, 888-796-7300,
Karen@macgraphics.net.
CIPA EVVY Entry Deadline
January 15, 2011
If you haven’t had the chance to enter your book in the CIPA
EVVYs, Saturday, January 15 is your last chance. Bring copies of
your book to the meeting. You can fill out information on a pa-
per entry form, available at the check-in table, or register online
at the same location. A few of the CIPA EVVY winners who went
on to experience great national and international success are
Elizabeth Yarnell, Dom Testa and Mara Purl. The all started with
CIPA and the CIPA EVVYs. Don’t miss this opportunity to get your
book the recognition it deserves.
The CIPA EVVYs are awarded each year to members whose
books meet and exceed the high standards set by the organiza-
tion. There are 21 categories in which to enter. Awards are not
made unless the book meets the criteria with the minimum
number of points attained. Most of the CIPA EVVY winning
books go on to enjoy a tremendous amount of success.
The 17th Annual CIPA EVVY Awards will take place the evening
of March 19, 2011 at The Red Lion Hotel.
To enter the 2011 CIPA EVVY awards view or download the fol-
lowing Book Entry Rules, Tech Entry Rules, and Entry Form. All
questions regarding the CIPA EVVY Awards can be directed to
Ravay Snow, CIPA EVVY Awards Chair.
Membership Benefits
The CIPA College - An annual series of courses developed
around all aspects of successful independent publishing
Access to an Associate Service Provider Member Directory
where you can find the best of the best in editing, book cover
design, layout, marketing, printing, and more.
To successfully navigate the independent publishing maze, Join
CIPA, attend the monthly meetings, learn from the meeting
speaker pros, take advantage of the education and networking
programs, and reap the rewards. You, too, can have an award-
winning book that sells.
Nominations Are Now Being Accepted for the
Ric Simmons Memorial
Life Vest Award
The Ric Simmons Memorial Life Vest Award was established in
2008 by CIPA to honor the memory of Ric Simmons. Ric was a
CIPA member for many years and helped countless authors see
their books go from inception to print. The Ric Simmons Life
Vest Award is presented to a publishing professional who ex-
emplifies Ric Simmons’ dedication to excellence in publishing,
integrity in business and service to authors.
Send your nominations, along with the reasons why you think
that CIPA member deserves this award to Herb Tabak at docfly-
er@earthlink.com before February 1, 2011. The Ric Simmons
Memorial Life Vest Award will be presented at the 2011 CIPA
EVVY Award Ceremony on March 19, 2011.

The annual CIPA EVVY Awards and TECH Awards - A book com-
petition program that honors the best of our members' books by
providing an independently judged competition in various gen-
res and technical categories
The CIPA Education and Literacy Foundation (CIPA ELF) - A non-
profit 501c3 charitable foundation created to promote and sup-
port education and literacy in our schools, libraries and commu-
nities
The Young Author's League (YAL) - A project of CIPA ELF that
sponsors programs to help foster and promote reading and
writing in Colorado Schools

6 Colorado Independent Publishers Association

About CIPA
For the new author, the would-be author or the published au-
thor, membership in CIPA allows you to tap into the vast experi-
ence of some of the brightest publishing experts in the nation.

Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) member-

ship is open, without discrimination, to all persons who wish to
further the cause of independent publishing. CIPA, one of the
largest and most active publishing related groups in the coun-
try, has 300+ members, including authors, publishers, editors,
illustrators, layout and cover designers, printers and others who
help one another to learn by sharing from their varied experi-
ences.

CIPA’s mission is to encourage cooperative efforts and the free

exchange of information, experience and expertise to help our
members achieve, survive and prosper while also assisting the
writing and marketing of their books through cooperative ven-
tures, education and networking.

Besides our regular monthly meetings with professional speak-

ers and programs, roundtable discussions with experts in the
publishing/writing fields, and networking with like-minded indi-
viduals.

Non- Would you like to place an ad in the

Size Associate Member Price
Member
Per 1 2 3 Signature?
issue issue issues issues Ads must be submitted on the second Friday of
1/8 page $50 $40 $75 $100
each month for the next issue of the Signature.
Accepted formats are .jpg, .giff or .pdf.
1/4 page $75 $55 $95 $125
The CIPA Board retains the right to review and
1/2 page $100 $80 $135 $195 approve all advertising submitted.
Email your ad to admin@CIPABooks.com
Full page $150 $135 $225 $315 Call 303.347.2923 with any questions.

7 Colorado Independent Publishers Association

 CIPA Board Members 2010-2011

Nancy Mills, President

Sue Hamilton, Immediate Past President Karen Reddick, Vice President Herb Tabak, Treasurer

Kenn Amdahl, Trade Show & Ravay Snow-Renner, EVVY Chair Mary Walewski, PR
Program Chair

Dan Miller, College Dean Joyce Miller, College Dean Mike Daniels, Board Member

Mara Purl, Board Member Terrie Wolf, Membership Co-Chair Neil Erickson, Membership Co-Chair
8 Colorado Independent Publishers Association