On May 2, members of the New Mexico Book Association began their seventh year of selling autographed books to the community and to delighted tourists at Tuesday’s Santa Fe Farmers Market. Sales grew each week in May despite the fact that many authors were away on vacation and the summer crops were slow to appear. Beginning June 5, the Market will open at 7:00 a.m., which means authors must arrive at 6:30 a.m. and stay until 1:00 p.m.

We continue to bemoan the fact that the city does not give guest venders free parking. One suggestion to reduce the cost of parking is for authors to share rides and thereby use a single meter. Authors are invited to come up with other cost-saving ideas.

We are delighted to announce that Mike Metras has agreed to unload and set up the tables at Farmers Market until we can find someone to both transport and set up the tables and chairs each week in exchange for a seat at the table. Perhaps Mike’s help was the impetus for his having his very best selling week at the Market on May 29! If you would like to discuss this job, please contact Maxine Davenport at maxine@kewa.com.

Authors who took advantage of our sales opportunity at least one week during May were Roberta Parry, Mike Metras, Elaine Coleman, Sandi Wright, Shirley Melis, Fiona Simon, Lauren Thyme, and Maxine Davenport. NMBA members who would like to investigate this selling opportunity hould contact Maxine for rules governing our presence at the Market.

By Richard Polese, NMBA Historian

THE PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION OF THE WEST (best known as PubWest) just announced that its 2019 conference will return to Santa Fe’s La Fonda in February 2019. We welcomed PubWest here in November 2010, a very useful and happy occasion for NMBA’s people as well as publishers throughout the American West.

Here is a bit of our long-standing connection with PubWest: New Mexico Book Association was created from a nascent Rocky Mountain Publishers group in 1994. PubWest became a strong offspring from that beginning as well. We have been affiliated ever since.

PubWest serves the broad American West, from Oregon and Western Provinces of Canada all the way to East Texas. Recently I saw dozens of publishing jobs listed on the www.pubwest.org website. On the site you will find a new Pub501 Educational Session: “The Title Profit and Loss Statement.” To become a PubWest member (as individual or publisher), contact Kent Watson: kent@pubwest.org or executivedirector@pubwest.org.

PubWest is one of a handful of outstanding NMBA affiliates. We also work with the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Western Writers, New Mexico Book Co-op, Society of the Muse of the Southwest (SOMOS), and others. I will share more about them in the next Points & Picas. You can contact me directly at Richard@oceantree.com.

At the NMBA June Gala and Membership Meeting, our members will vote to elect or reelect members of the Board of Directors. Our Board has nine voting members who come up for reelection on a rotating schedule, three per year. Any member of NMBA can also add their name to the ballot at this time. After the balloting is completed, the Board has a brief meeting to elect officers for the next year, and the new officers are announced to the membership following this meeting.

When the new officers for 2018–2019 are announced, I will not be one of them. This is my choice. I have been a voting member of the NMBA Board for ten years. During that time, I have held every office in NMBA, and occasionally several at once. I’m tired. Also, I feel it’s better for an organization to bring in new officers periodically, rather than reelecting the same people every year. I will remain a Board member (I come up for reelection in 2020), and I will continue to participate in NMBA’s programs. But I feel it’s time for someone else to take charge. Thanks to everyone for their support over the years.
 
—Paula Lozar, soon-to-be-ex-President