 From the President's Perspective . . .
September 2003
Ever get discouraged? Of course you do. We all do.
A few days ago when things weren’t going really well for me I got discouraged. I made the mistake of feeling sorry for myself. No one cared? Why should I?
It was about that time that I received an invitation to visit a web site which I had visited several times before. If you haven’t been there, you ought to do yourself a favor and drop in, you’ll be glad you did. Here it is.
Mary is our Maryland/Delaware EPIC State Coordinator. Beyond that, she is perhaps the most inspiring person I know. I’ve never actually met her in person—I hope to one day. After browsing around her web site and reading her bio again, and again, I came away re-inspired to tackle whatever I faced with a new energy, a new commitment.
EPIC is a living, growing organization. I read somewhere once that anything that wasn’t growing was dying. I believe that. I also believe that to continue growing EPIC must change—we are doing that.
Stop and consider what has happened in six short months:
We now have a first class web site that is getting even better every day. Valuable information is there for the viewing, or downloading, for EPIC members new or old. Our EPIC news source, the "WHAT’S NEWS" keeps us updated on the happenings of our members. We now cast our votes right from our web site. And on and on . . .
We now have State/Country EPIC Chapters in 24 states and 4 foreign countries. These volunteers are generously donating their time, talent, and energy to promote and advertise E-publishing, the EPIC organization, its members, and their work. Folks like Mary Cox-Bilz are working on YOUR behalf to promote YOUR work. They are gathering valuable information about Writing Groups in their respective areas, about Book Festivals, Book Fairs, and Workshops. Soon, we will be forming a “Speakers Forum” to utilize the information these coordinators are gathering and spread the word about EPIC and E-Publishing.
We are securing booths at several Book Festivals and Conventions and making ourselves visible. There are literally thousands of authors and industry professionals out there that have never heard of EPIC. Isn’t it about time they did?
We now have 30 e-publisher members in our organization. These folks can contribute valuable information and helpful guidance from a publisher’s perspective.
Our EPIC/ePublishers Coalition committee is working hard and making progress. This effort won’t happen overnight—but it will happen, and when it does it will change the face of the e-publishing industry.
We are already utilizing our new EPIC brochure and we are working feverishly to "de-bug" our new e-publishing informational brochure and make it available to anyone and everyone that will help us in this EPIC AWARENESS campaign.
I just completed my EPIC AWARENESS speaking tour of Arkansas-Oklahoma. In the past two months I had the privilege of speaking before six different Writing Groups. I have never spoken to a more attentive, eager to learn group of writers. These folks are hungry to hear about e-publishing and EPIC.
The way to get the most out of your organization is to get involved. Of course you are busy. Sure you are pressed for time, we all are. But the happiest members in any group or organization are those that get involved.
Will you help?
Hugs and Happy Trails!
Dusty Rhodes
EPIC President
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