New Castle is the seat of Craig County, which lies west of Botetourt. It's a very rural and somewhat remote community.
The event took place at the old fairgrounds, which is a lovely site. Craig County used to have a rollicking fair, complete with "hootchie cootchie girls," I've been told. All the men would stand around and chew tobacco and watch the women. I went once or twice as a child but don't remember much about it, to be sure. The idea of it has always caused me to raise an eyebrow.
This is a piece of fire apparatus. The brigades are all volunteer in Craig County.
Ann Harrell of Creekside Creations takes pictures and does a little writing for The New Castle Record, which is a newspaper for which I used to write. She had nice nature photos and has a line of cards she prints off on card stock.
These are old engines. My husband said they used to run washing machines, ice cream makers, and the like.
This is an old farm tractor that someone did a nice job of restoring.
The event had a lot of crafters with wares ranging from photos to doodads to clothing. I saw one woman who self-publishes books. I think I inadvertently offended her by asking if she had much trouble with Publish America, which was the self-publisher she was using. Publish America bills itself as a traditional publisher but from everything I have read it is really a form of vanity press. I have read a lot of bad things about PA and I was most unimpressed by the one book I had seen previously. However, this lady's books did not look bad at all. Perhaps it is all in the editing?
You need to write the book first, Girlfriend! I'm still waiting. *taps foot impatiently*
ReplyDeleteDi
PublishAmerica, one of the largest author mills, doesn't edit. No doubt this lady had her own editor.
ReplyDeleteThe PublishAmerica business model is to sell the books it prints back to the authors, so it's not a self-publisher. Most bookstores are hesitant to order from PublishsAmerica, so you rarely see a PUblishAmerica book on a bookstore's shelf. Plus the prices tend to be way higher than standard.
PublishAmerica accepts most manuscripts they receive. A few years ago, I decided to test them to see if they would accept a dreadful manuscript. They would. I blogged about it here:
http://peevishpen.blogspot.com/2007/02/doggone-literary-scams.html
Di, thank you for your confidence in me. I wish I had it.
ReplyDeleteBecky, I remembered you had written something about PA. Thanks for the link. I take it there is not an upfront fee for the author, then?
If so I can see why a lot of writers would be inclined to go that route.