Writers and aspiring writers who are ready to take their efforts to the next level should mark their calendars for Saturday, July 11, at 1 p.m. at the Fayette County Public Library.
Milton Davis, Fayetteville author and entrepreneur, will speak on the topic, “Publish Your Own Book.” The program is open to the public and offered free of charge, with no registration required.
Davis, a full-time chemist and a part-time author/publisher, wrote fiction in his spare time for years before sharing it with a larger audience. He writes the kinds of stories he himself has always wanted to read: tales full of action, adventure, magic and futurism, steeped in traditions originating on the African continent.
When he decided to try publishing his first novel, “Meji,” Davis found mainstream publishing houses less than receptive to this sort of storytelling. Looking for an alternative among the self-publishing vendors available at the time, he was not encouraged by what he found there either. Instead, Davis decided to take a hands-on, do-it-yourself approach, establishing his own small publishing company, MVmedia, to produce and promote his books.
Seven years later, MVmedia is a thriving machine that continues to make Milton Davis’ vision a reality: developing and promoting science fiction, fantasy and action stories inspired by African history and mythology. Since 2008, MVmedia has published more than a dozen full-length books by Davis and others, including novels and short-story anthologies, selling throughout the country as well as internationally. The most recent addition to the lineup is “From Here to Timbuktu,” a steamfunk adventure set in an alternate reality in which Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman govern the independent nation of Freedonia. Steamfunk, like its more widely recognized and more European-centered sibling steampunk, is a genre of fiction set in an alternate historical past where a blend of old-fashioned and advanced technologies blend and mingle in an anachronistic way.
Aspiring authors of all types of fiction and nonfiction can benefit from Milton Davis’ expertise. Topics at Saturday’s session will include preparing and assembling a book for publication, getting the book printed, and marketing and selling the finished product. Guests will also have the opportunity to purchase signed copies of MVmedia books, with proceeds benefiting the Friends of the Fayette County Public Library.
The Fayette County Public Library is located behind the Fayette County administrative complex in downtown Fayetteville, at the southwest corner of Highways 85 and 54. For additional information, contact the library at 770-461-8841.
