EXCITING BOOK EXPLORES CHEROKEE HISTORY

Following the earthquakes of 1811, false prophets appeared among The Real People. The Cherokee struggled to revitalize their ancient religion amidst witchcraft, missionaries, and white intrusion of every kind. The Myth Makers, a family saga, explores the resulting fractured myths. Set against the backdrop of Indian Removal, Comes Back at Night, the medicine man, Isaac Smoke, and Raincrow attempt to piece together a shattered world. Upon arrival in the new Indian Territory, 1839 Raincrow fulfills his destiny and a little girl named Quatie begins to embark on what will become hers.


A registered member of the Cherokee Nation and former high school English teacher, Judith Houston-Emerson studied four years at the Art Students League in New York City, worked for the National Museum of the American Indian, and was a consultant for the Cherokee and Philbrook Museums in Oklahoma. As a visual artist, she taught Art History of the American Indian at the University of Central Oklahoma.


J. Houston-Emerson is a writer, storyteller, painter, and teacher. Her inspiration comes from Cherokee cultural heritage and her creative work in the arts. Her debut novel "The Myth Makers" is at its core a family story, and yet its broader narrative engages the reader in the complex history of Indian Removal and the earlier days of Indian Territory. The author's series of paintings "The Shape Shift Series" is grounded in her understanding of this history and her own first-hand experiences in a similarly complex world.  - John Haworth (Cherokee), Director National Museum of the American Indian's Heye Center, New York City


The Myth Makers cover art painted by J. Houston Emerson. Order here.

A NEW BOOK FOCUSES ON GUTHRIE AND LOGAN COUNTY

Glen V. McIntyre is a native of Kingfisher, Oklahoma and is a graduate of Kingfisher High School. He attended the University of Oklahoma at Norman where he received a B.A. in History in 1969 and an M.A. in History in 1971. In 1992, received a second Masters from the University of Oklahoma, this time a Masters of Liberal Studies Degree with Museum Emphasis.

He worked from 1979 to 1983 as the Historic and Educational Specialist for the Division of Planning and Development of the Oklahoma Tourism Department. In 1983, he had the unusual distinction of being appointed the Curator (Director) of the Chisholm Trail Museum and Governor Seay Mansion in his old home town of Kingfisher. After serving there for 10 years, in 1993 he was transferred to the then Museum of the Cherokee Strip in Enid, Oklahoma where he served in various positions until he retired in August of 2010 as the Director of The Archives Department of the Museum of the Cherokee Strip, renamed the Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center. In addition he has been an adjunct instructor at Phillips University in Enid in 1994, teaching Oklahoma History, and an Adjunct at the Enid Campus of Northwestern Oklahoma State University where he taught Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece and England to 1688.

He has deep ties in Guthrie and Logan County. His great uncle lived there for many years and is buried in the Guthrie cemetery. His uncle lives in Guthrie to this day. His great-grandfather on his Grandmother’s side took place in the Land Run of 1889 and homesteaded in eastern Logan County. His mother grew up in eastern Logan County and he went through Guthrie on the way to her old home many times growing up.

He has loved to write all his life, publishing poems in magazines at the University of Central Oklahoma at Edmond and Southwestern Oklahoma State University at Weatherford. He has published articles on Oklahoma History in The Chronicles of Oklahoma, American West Magazine and The Saturday Evening Post, and two articles on Ancient Egypt in KMT magazine. This love of writing culminated in 2009 when he published his first book with Arcadia Publishing, Kingfisher and Kingfisher County and now Guthrie and Logan County.

He is an active member of the Federated Church in Kingfisher (Presbyterian-United Church of Christ) and is currently the lay representative from his church to Cimarron Presbytery in Northwest, Oklahoma.

The book, published by Arcadia,  is available on Amazon , Barnes and Noble, and through better book stores and libraries.  Media inquiries should be directed to: Erica Winters, Marketing Specialist, 843.853.2070 x 192 or ewinters@arcadiapublishing.com

5 TIPS FOR WRITING A BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT NEWS RELEASE...

5 tips for writing a book announcement news release that will get used by the pressBy Sandra Beckwith

A book announcement press release helps us tell the world our new book is available for purchase. It’s often sent to the media with a copy of the book or a note asking if the journalist would like to receive a complimentary review copy. It’s also included in the book’s press kit. It’s not the only media relations tool you’ll want to use to generate book buzz, but it’s an essential resource when your goal is to tell the media outlets read, watched, or listened to by your book’s target audience that there’s a new book they’ll want to know about.

An effective a book announcement press release is written in a journalistic format that mimics how a magazine or newspaper would write about your new book. It uses the traditional news release format that journalists are accustomed to receiving.

Because this is such an important tool – and because there is a trend among inexperienced publicists to turn the announcement into an advertisement that journalists will reject, not embrace – it’s important to understand how to write a release that will get read and used.

Here are tips designed to help you avoid common and costly errors with your important announcement release.

1. Use the traditional news release format. This includes your contact information, a headline, and your announcement written in a journalistic style. Study the press releases at www.prweb.com and www.prnewswire.com for examples. Don’t use graphics, multiple columns, or different fonts, sizes, and colors.

2. Remember that you are not the news. Your book is the news. Unless your name is recognizable, don’t put it in the headline. “New book details secret World War II plot” is more compelling than, “John Brown’s first book is about World War II.”

3. Avoid using superlatives. A news release announces news in a factual way, so limit your descriptive text to the facts. This isn’t a book review expressing an opinion – it’s an announcement that a journalist would like to copy and paste into a publication. That’s why you want to avoid language – “fabulous,” “best-ever,” “fascinating” – that you won’t see in a news story.

4. Distribute your announcement release in text format, not as a PDF file. It is easy to copy and paste text from an e-mail or from a Web site; it is hard to copy text from a PDF file. The more you make somebody work to use your information, the less likely they are to do so.

5. Tell us where to buy the book. This is the key chunk of information most often omitted in the homework assignments submitted by students in my book publicity e-course. Remember to include the title, publisher name, publication date, price, and information about where it can be purchased.

In addition to distributing your release to your targeted media outlets – including online options such as blogs – post the release on your Web site so it can be found by search engine users. Your goal is to get your news in front of the people who are most likely to buy your book.

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You have permission to reprint the article with this required author credit:
Sandra Beckwith offers a free book publicity and promotion e-zine at www.buildbookbuzz.com and teaches the “Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz” e-cours

Oh No! I Am Being Interviewed - What Do I Do?

It is bound to happen to any author at some time. It might be a snaggle-toothed elementary child or a sleek videographer on the local cable news show, whatever the setting be prepared for an interview.

Remember these fundamentals:

1. It is all about the book.

2. It is all about the book.

3. It is all about the book.

Bring every question, every comment, back to the point of the interview.

Some questions are going to be asked to simply get you settled. Some to check the sound or the lights. Few are designed to trip you up  - many are filled with just inane and tiring questions to be repeated endlessly while promoting a new work.

1. Be brief.

2. Be positive.

3. Be yourself - only better.

4. Bring it back to the book.

"What is your book about?" is not an introduction for you to ramble for 30 minutes. It is your chance to give a 30-60 second 'sound bite' teaser.

"How did you get started writing?"

Quick, dynamic and to the point answer.

"What is the next book?"

Always have a plan for the next book...one hit wonders do not resonate.

"Do you have a specific writing style?"

Tie your style to a known name - name drop blatantly!  "If you like Dean Koontz, you will enjoy [insert the name of your book].   Note: always insert the name of your book!

"What is the message or theme of your book?"

Sub-text: is this an enjoyable read or one of those 'literary things' I will find boring? Remember the common themes of literature: survival, family, fear, struggle, accomplishment, etc.  Hitch your story to an easily understood descriptive star.

Special note: Can you describe your book in the space of an index card?  Can you do so using virbant action words? Can you convey the mood of the story without giving away the whole story? Can you 'tease' artfully or do you just bluntly strip exposing everything to the reader?