Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wednesday Guest- Marci Baun


The publisher of Wild Child Publishing since its inception in 1999, Ms. Baun has been in love with the written word beginning with Clifford the Big Red Dog and Curious George. Her reading and interests have expanded since those first books to include history, music, opera, theater, swimming, cycling, nature, travel, and writing. She has written and performed one person shows about historical women in schools, universities and festivals across the state of California and sang with the Coasters and the Drifters, Freddie Hart, as well as on the operatic stage. A few years past, as a member of the Academy for New Musical Theatre, she composed music for a twelve minute musical. When time permits, she hopes to return to the theater. In her other life, she is a stay-at-home mom.

When asked why she began publishing, she replied, “I love the written word. There is nothing as powerful or as beautiful. It can influence, teach, and move us. What an amazing medium!"

I've always loved reading and writing. When I started the Wild Child as an online magazine back in '99 with my then-roommate, there were very few well-edited fiction/literary magazines. Because of our hard work, the magazine had an excellent reputation, even listed in Writer's Digest top 101 website for writers in 2005. (This past year, we were interviewed for Writer's Digest Standout Markets.) As I'd always had publishing in the back of my mind when I started the magazine, when I finally saw what I considered a viable, and financially sound, delivery system for eBooks, I moved into eBook publishing.

I'm glad we did. We have some amazing authors and some award winning books. Beneath the Surface ( http://www.wildchildpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=70&products_id=238 ) by Suzanne Perazzini won the Australia RWA's prestigious R*BY this year. This is the first time an eBook has won a R*BY. Suzanne's other title Crash into Darkness ( http://www.wildchildpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=73&products_id=256 ) came in as a runner up. We've had titles final in the EPPIE Awards (The Wagonmaster by Nita Wick, which also won the Laurel Wreath, Kat Attalla's Codename Romeo, Ruth G. Zavitsanos's The Villa Dog, to name a few) as well as one nominated for the Bram Stoker Award.

At Wild Child Publishing, we publish all genres, including non-fiction, except porn and erotica. Freya's Bower is Wild Child's erotica imprint. All genres (excluding incest, pedophilia, necrophilia, and bestiality) and heat levels of erotica (and romance) are represented at Freya's Bower.

My latest works? Oh, my latest published eBook is Hieroglyphs under the pseudonym of Kit Wylde at Wild Child.

The reason I'm here today is to talk about Freya's Bower's latest charity anthology Dreams & Desires, vol. 4. As attested to by the title, this is our fourth volume in this series. Each volume's net proceeds are designated to benefit a specified battered woman's shelter or an organization that supports battered women's shelters. This year, A Window Between Worlds (http://www.awbw.org) is the beneficiary. They provide art supplies and training to use art as a healing tool free of charge for battered women's shelters across the US. One thousand dollars can provide this wonderful service for an entire year. They are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. This year, we're also offering the stories as standalone titles. Currently, they can be purchased directly from Freya's Bower or on Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Bookstrand, and soon Apple's iBookstore, B&N and Fictionwise. This volume will also be available in print format very soon.

Blurb:

True love, freedom, self-worth, security... Dreams and desires of the ordinary woman, or man. From a thirty-something, single woman who wants a baby to a jeweler who finds love with the least expected man to a widow who wants to finish her degree and find love to a young, futuristic woman who's still searching for herself to an 18th century saloon girl whose lost hope but still dreams of love to a man who has escaped his abusive lover but has lost himself. This collection of nine stories celebrates the attainment of all one can dream or desire. Which one do you secretly yearn for?

By purchasing this collection, you can help turn someone's nightmare into the pursuit of dreams. Every year, four million women are assaulted by their partners. At Freya's Bower, we want to do our part to bring this statistic down to zero. To this end, all net proceeds from every Dreams and Desire anthology volume 4 purchased will go to A Window Between Worlds, a non-profit organization that provides art supplies and training for art as a healing tool free of charge to battered women's shelters across the United States. Through education and support, we can make a difference.

Authors (in alphabetical order of last name): Adrianne Brennan, Zetta Brown, Teresa, D’Amario, Natalie Dae, Moriah Jovan, Helen E. H. Madden, Sarah Masters, Jaime Samms, and LaVerne Thompson.

Links:

Dreams & Desires, vol 4, ebook: http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=47&products_id=261
Dreams & Desires series: http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=47
Hieroglyphs: http://www.wildchildpublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=84&products_id=314

8 comments:

Dee Julian said...

Hi Paty! Very informative post. Marci, thank you for sharing some of your precious time with us. You are such a busy lady. I don't know how you have time to breathe, let alone be a guest on a blogspot.

For anyone who might think all publishers are hard to reach or difficult to talk to, I'm officially going on record here...as WCP's Editor and Chief, Marci Baun treats her authors with respect and a great deal of patience. Every question is answered promptly, and we appreciate that.

My first historical romance, The Macgregor's Daughter, was published with WCP in June 2009, and my second, Promise Me, should be released some time this year. I would recommend WCP to anyone interested in E-publishing. Not only are they recommended by Preditors and Editors, they are also RMA approved and in my opinion, they are a definite cut above all the others.

Marci Baun said...

Oh, thanks, Dee. (beaming) We have wonderful authors, so I am very fortunate. :)

Cassandra Carr said...

What a cool anthology for charity! I work for Marci as a freelance editor and she's a great person to work for! Thanks for telling us more about you!

Marci Baun said...

I'm a bit biased about this anthology, but I think it's fantastic! (g) Um, no comment about what it's like to work with me. Considering that I have to live with myself... (g)

Thanks for dropping by, Cassandra!

Aaron Paul Lazar said...

Marci, what a great cause! Thanks for doing this, and best of luck with your sales on this anthology. ;o)

Maggi Andersen said...

Fantastic cause, Marci. Hope it receives the attention it deserves.

Marci Baun said...

Thanks, Aaron. I'm really hoping we sell a lot so we can donate a lot. :)

Marci Baun said...

Thanks, Maggie. We do this every year. I am so grateful to our authors and everyone else who makes this possible.