New York State History Conference

I spent Friday in Ithaca for the NYSHAC – New York State Historical Association Conference. The three-hour drive out that morning was ambitious, but with over 150 passionate NYS historians all in one place, it was definitely worth it! I had many people stop by our exhibit, including librarians, independent scholars, genealogy enthusiasts, and several folks from the NYS Archives. I had a great spread of memoirs, personal and local history, and general non fiction to display.

The chairman of the event, Field Horne—himself a self-published author—made mention of trying to find a way to “capture” our list of titles in a larger, more visible way, so more organizations will know about the quality and variety of work coming from The Troy Book Makers.

Historical societies seemed (very!) encouraged by the fact we require a minimum print run of only ten copies. And, I had a delightful conversation with a professional genealogist who highly recommended TIGS, the Troy Irish Genealogical Society, for their thoroughness, their knowledge, and their cheerful demeanor. I hope to be in touch with them soon to see if there are ways that TBM can assist in what they do.

Self publishing is definitely a force to be reckoned with!