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MULTI PART PROGRAM.
Talk by Book Publicist Felicia Sinusas
Slide Show by Costume Photographer John Upton
Video Program: Neil Gaiman Reading and British Television
MEETING SUMMARY:
Meeting Date: March 8, 2003.
Meeting Site: Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Official Attendance: 28.
Meeting Program: Talk by Publicist. Slide Show. Videos.
Notes:
The title of the Neil Gaiman story is "The Price." It appears in his collection, SMOKE AND MIRRORS. The actual reading appears as an extra on the DVD, NEIL GAIMAN'S A SHORT FILM ABOUT JOHN BOLTON.
Meeting Memories:
Newsletter Account:
The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2003 Philip J De Parto:
The March meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held on Saturday, March 8, 2003 at the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. The meeting was a multi-media event of a half dozen programs throughout the evening.
There was a change of pace for both of our pre meeting events. Instead of showing Japanese Animation, our Anime Associates did a special event focusing on the works of Fleisher Studios. POPEYE, BETTY BOOP, and other Fleisher shorts were shown to a small, but enthusiastic audience.
Meanwhile, Damon, Glenn, and Monique Mc Colgan were hosting a Films To Come Discussion in place of the television-oriented Final Frontier. This event had been running for a couple of months at the Hi-Way Hobby House in Ramsey, New Jersey before the store lost its ability to host events and continue their movie screenings. The discussion of upcoming and newly released films was racuous and well attended.
Also being held before the meeting proper was the semi-annual club booksale, with Bill Wagner donating a fresh box of books which were quickly goggled up.
The meeting consisted of four programs, two live and two on videotape.
One video consisted of author Neil Gaiman reading one of his stories. The story concerned a stray cat who arrives to safeguard its adopted family from the devil. Longtime club members know how good a reader Gaiman is. We had shown part of this video, including the immortal Martha Soukup poem, at our September 2001 meeting. The tape was of a performance he had done on behalf of the Comic Book Legal Aid Defense Project.
The other component of the video program was "Change," an episode of an obscure British sitcom called SPACED. The series is of interest because the male lead is an aspiring comic book artist and a fan, and also because of the non stop references and homages to genre films, television, and other media.
Club members John Upton and Asta Sinusas gave live presentations.
John Upton is a past officer of The Lunarians and a past convention chair of Lunacon, but he is best known in fandom as a photographer. He put together a breathtaking slide show of masquerade costumes from the past ten years of World Science Fiction Convention shows. He also talked about behind the scenes events and technical details about the costumes which added immensely to the enjoyment and appreciation of the costumes. He adroitly answered questions about the conventions, attire, and details about photographing the works.
Saint Martin's Press publicist Asta Sinusas talked and answered questions about the role of a publicist in a publishing company. Her job begins, she said, "when the lucky author's manuscript is accepted and all the papers have been signed."
Two departments may be involved in promoting an author. If the company believes the book has break out best seller possibilities, the Marketing Department arranges for paid newspaper/radio/television advertising. If the budget consists of stamps and a telephone, it's up to publicity to create a buzz for the book.
She displayed and spoke about the tools of her trade--galleys, press kits, cover flats and the like. She exhibited samples of how different books can be promoted and approaches used by herself and other staff publicists.
There were also stories of dealing with unnamed authors who have been banned from the chains for being drunk and abusive, and getting calls to have writers bailed out of jail. The presentation was professional without being stuffy and conversational without being gossipy. We are fortunate to have people like Asta and John in the club.
As usual, there were many people who pitched in to make the evening a success. Thanks are due to Jim Spinosa for getting the television/VCR hookup in the Fellowship Hall to function properly, to Robert Yeager who brought bags of extra eats, and to Pamela Webber and everyone else who assisted with the set up and clean up.