April Newsletter

 The MWSA BookStore is up and running!  Joyce Faulkner did a wonderful job by cross-categorizing the books by title, author and topic.  So far we have about 30 books listed. This is a free program for Active Members so please fill out the form on the BookStore site and submit it to Joyce while she still has time to post your titles.  Once we get going, it will not take long for things to get backed up and delay your entry. Sign up now and get noticed!

Bob Ruehrdanz, Regional 1 Director is taking names of authors who would like to participate in the 2008 Sonoma County Book Festival in Santa Rosa, California to be held on Saturday, Sept 20th.  The MWSA has paid for two 10 x 10 booth spaces and will be able to accommodate the first eight authors who sign up.  Authors wanting to have their books displayed with order information may also contact Bob.  Please check out the Sonoma County Book Festival website at http://www.socobookfest.org/about.html and then contact Bob at bobrue34@yahoo.com if you would like to attend.

The official dates for the MWSA Conference and Award Banquet will be the 10th, 11th and 12th of November in the historic city of San Antonio, Texas.  This three-day event will include six guest speakers, a cruise down the famous Riverwalk, an authors’ reception, and an awards dinner and dance at a place to be announced in the future, in other words, details are still being worked out.

The August 1st deadline for entries into this years’ 2008 MWSA Awards Program will be here before you know it. Please email Andrew Lubin for information regarding titles you wish to submit. Andrew is the MWSA Lead Book reviewer and will have you send your book to the next available reviewer.

MWSA membership cards are still going out but now at a slower pace since I had surgery on my left shoulder.  The doctors assured me I would be 100% in about ten weeks.

Please feel free to contact me with any comments, concerns or suggestions.

Best wishes to all of you.

Tony Lazzarini, President-MWSA

March Newsletter

Membership cards are going out!

Anyone who has become an Active Member in MWSA since January 1, 2008 can expect or should have received their MWSA membership card.  Active Members who joined after July 1, 2007 will be receiving membership cards within the next two weeks.  Active Members renewing their memberships or Associate Members desiring to change status will have membership cards mailed to them as we receive their membership dues.

San Antonio, Texas will be the site of this year’s MWSA Conference and Awards Banquet. This is a great location because San Antonio has the largest community of retired veterans in the USA plus a whole lot of history.  The event will be held in November prior to Veterans Day. More information will follow as things become finalized.

The MWSA BookStore will soon open online.  Joyce Faulkner and I are setting up the format.  Expect to see it up very soon.  Forms may be downloaded from our site. Another free service for Active Members!

The nine Regions of MWSA across the states are now posted.  I am looking for folks to head up each Region.  Robert Ruehrdanz has stepped up to the plate and will head the Pacific Northwest Region One.  I’ve met with Robert and he is excited about contributing to MWSA and seeing it grow.

Tony Lazzarini

President

MWSA

February Newsletter

 Moving forward in 2008

          I received a few notes in the past few months regarding membership cards.  I have been conserving our fund for such things as keeping the website up, accounting fees for preparation of income tax returns, applying for our federal nonprofit status, purchasing awards and certificates and the multitude of costs associated with running a small business.

            I like the idea of having them so I will be working on a design within the next few weeks and hopefully have them out to Active Members by the middle of this year.

            In order to have MWSA events around the nation with the ability to have as many members participate, I created 8 regional areas, each with their own manager. The regional manager will be in charge of locating book events or locations in his/her area that would be receptive to an authors program. Events would be posted on our website under the region heading. Anyone interested in attending an event only need to contact the manager of that region. This accomplishes a couple of things. (1) Members in an area can meet other writers in their region. (2) I found that small groups of writers sell more books as opposed to competing for book buyer’s money in large events of ten or more authors. I feel a gathering of five to eight authors representing the MWSA will do well at targeted events. The MWSA will support these events by means of press releases, posters, and author information. This will also bring a greater awareness to the MWSA itself.

            For those of you who use a POD publisher and can not afford to give a book store the usual 40% off list price, our proposed regional programs at targeted or MWSA sponsored events will let you keep more of your book sales money in your pocket.

            I will be posting the 8 regional areas and looking for managers for those areas in the next week. Please keep checking our site for more information.

            If you would like to BE a Regional Manager, please contact me directly for more information.

            Also in the works is the MWSA Bookstore. Potential book buyers can view our web pages and see your book’s cover with a short description or a few chosen review quotes. A link will lead them to your personal website where they can purchase books directly from you. This is another great program for you POD authors! If you do not have a web page up yet, get one started NOW. This program is available to Active Members only! 

 Tony Lazzarini

President

MWSA

January 2008

Photo courtesy

The Monterey Herald

Donna Teresa, columnist for the on-line extension of The Monterey Herald Newspaper has been appointed to head the Military Writers Society of America’s Education and Speaker program for the organization’s west coast region.

The MWSA is a California based national authors and artists society devoted to education, recognition and promotion of works by men and women who have served their country through military service.

Her duties will include the management of the MWSA Vietnam War Library, author speaking engagements and the disbursement of free books to charitable organizations for fund raising events.

The MWSA Vietnam War Library is a collection of books written about the war by veterans of that conflict.  This is loaned out to schools for a specific amount of time so students studying that period in history can read accounts from those who were actually there.  This helps to clarify any misunderstanding or false conceptions related to our nations Vietnam Veterans.  Speakers and short films are also available to help generate a greater interest in this subject.

Although not a veteran herself, Mrs. Teresa has represented our country’s veterans well through her weekly columns.  I am very happy to have her as an active member of the MWSA and am confident she will add a great deal to the growth and recognition of our organization.

Members wishing to be listed as available guest speakers can contact Teresa at donnateresa@sbcglobal.net.

Regards,

Tony Lazzarini

President

MWSA