Steve O'Keefe, marketing, public relations, online promotion

Steve O'Keefe is an important early pioneer of the effort to develop the commercial potential of the World Wide Web beginning with being one of the first people to publicize and sell books on the Internet. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, approached him for advice when he was formulating the concept behind what was to become the world’s largest eCommerce site. In 1996 and again in 2002, John Wiley & Sons published Mr. O’Keefe’s first book “Publicity on the Internet” (second edition titled A Complete Guide to Internet Publicity), one of the first professional guides to online marketing and the first specifically on the subject of promoting books. In 2001, Mr. O’Keefe founded Patron Saint Productions, a New Orleans-based online publicity firm. He also is one of the founders of the International Association of Online Communicators and is a faculty member at Tulane University. In 2004, he began AuthorViews, the pioneering effort to put video of authors talking about their books online. Several videos of Chatgris Press titles are available for viewing online thanks to Mr. O’Keefe’s efforts.

Dean Shapiro, copy editor, Foreword author

Dean M. Shapiro is a New Orleans-based freelance writer and journalist with close to 40 years of experience in his field. He is also a publicist, copyeditor, and author with four published books and more than 1,500 newspaper, magazine, and web articles to his credit. His career as a journalist dates back to the late 1960s when, as a sophomore in college, he reported award-winning stories from the anti-war protests in Washington, D.C. Mr. Shapiro co-authored The Blood Covenant with Rena Chynoweth, one of the 13 wives of polygamist cult leader Ervil LeBaron. Nicknamed the “Mormon Manson,” LeBaron ordered the murders of 2 dozen people, including members of his own family. The book, released by Diamond Books/Eakin Press, was the subject of a 1993 CBS made-for-TV movie, Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story starring Brian Dennehy, William Devane, and Tracey Needham. Mr. Shapiro also co-authored the novelization of the critically acclaimed feature film, Belizaire the Cajun, a work of fiction set on the bayous of southern Louisiana in 1859. The novel, co-written with the film’s director Glen Pitre, was published in hardcover and trade paperback by Pelican Publishing Company of New Orleans in 1988. His third book, Blondin, is a biography of the first man ever to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope in the mid-19th century. It was published by Vanwell Publishing Ltd. of St. Catherines, Ontario in 1990. His fourth book, The Eleventh Commandment, a suspense novel, was published in 2008 by PublishAmerica of Baltimore. He also has been contracted to write essays and biographies for several junior and senior high school history and geography textbooks in recent years. Mr. Shapiro is the author of 10 screenplays and he ghostwrote Mackie Shilstone’s Body Plan for Kids, due to be published in the spring of 2009 by Basic Media of Laguna Beach, CA. Mr. Shapiro teaches writing classes at the University of New Orleans and writes regularly for several New Orleans-area publications and websites.

Christy Soto, cover designer

Christy Soto completed her Bachelor of Arts in English/Writing with more than 50 publications and six produced theatrical plays to her credit. She also hosted an eclectic radio show as disc jockey for 6 years. Ms. Soto followed her dreams of seeing the world when she and her child, Athen, moved to New Orleans to attend graduate-level film school. Her focus was screenwriting and playwriting. Her surreal drama, Good Enough Girl, was produced in New Orleans hot spot, Le Chat Noir theatre. In 3 years, she penned six feature-length screenplays, and one short intended student production. With the intention to some day move to Los Angeles, Ms. Soto sought film industry insight and learned pitching techniques from several L.A.-based screenwriting workshops, which eventually landed her television and movie work. In 2002, Ms. Soto self published her previously published works into a volume of poetry and photography called, These are the Rooms to my Mother’s House. The book made its debut at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Shortly after that, she was the sole photographer for a start-up anthropological webzine that featured the native Queen Charlotte Island Haida Indians. Today, she has more than 1,000 travel, event, and unconventional works of photography. She currently is working on a coffee table book, The Saddest Party on Earth—a photo journal of the first Mardi Gras post-Hurricane Katrina. Throughout her elementary, junior high, high school, and college years she sang in many advanced choir groups. In New Orleans, a town known for its music, Ms. Soto was a singer and songwriter in two bands, and at Voodoofest 2004, Ms. Soto went solo producing electronic music under the moniker “Vinylux.” Prior to Katrina, Ms. Soto was photographing, interviewing, and doing layout for A New Orleans Tour Guide for Hip Parents. NOTGHP showcased a family-friendly New Orleans with activities and historical facts. She now is at work on a book of autobiographical travel humor, Happily Ever Aftermath. Comprising more than 300 pages, this full color book dubbed the ill-conceived travels of an unwed mother documents adventures from Germany to Alaska to Thailand. In 2007 Ms. Soto incorporated Vinylux Productions where she holds her ghostwriting business, Ghostwriter’s Ink and her graphic design business, XY DESIGN. She also is a founding member of the company Optilux Design Firm.

Jack Stanovich, copy editor, grammarian

Jack Stanovich is a lifelong resident of New Orleans. With a Bachelor of Arts in Government, he is a formidable force to be reckoned with regarding political discussions. Mr. Stanovich began his technical career as a field surveyor, performing the layout of roads, pipelines, and foundations for industrial structures. His technical writing/editing career began on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 1978, and he currently develops technical documentation on a consulting basis. Mr. Stanovich’s personal interests include English literature, grammar, world history, government, and historical and contemporary politics. I consider myself humbled to have played guitar with him, although his classical expertise far outweighs mine. Also, he has a photographic memory.

Gary Michael Smith, author, editor, acquisitions, publisher

Gary Michael Smith has more than 20 years of experience as an author and editor, having published 11 books. He also has contributed hundreds of articles for dozens of magazines and trade journals, serving as columnist and contributor for such publications as Cat Fancy, Urban Dog, The Editorial Eye, and Louisiana Film and Video Magazine. Mr. Smith began as a technical writer more than 2 decades ago, working for such firms as Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, CACI, and Northrop Grumman, and eventually serving a couple years a president for the local chapter of the international organization Society for Technical Communication. While working on his MFA in Television Video and Film Production, he worked stints as camera operator and floor director for local television stations. But he never lost sight of his writing, eventually transitioning into developing trade and technical books through his brand Chatgris Press. Mr. Smith enjoys sharing his knowledge, teaching as many as 11 night courses for the University of New Orleans and the St. Charles Parish ( Louisiana ) School District . Additionally, he has given many lectures and presentations at writing and technical conferences and professional meetings, and has granted numerous radio, television, and print interviews. He also has produced a number of monologues for theatrical production. Having served as the former managing editor of an American Heart Association scientific journal, Mr. Smith discovered his love of periodical management. He launched The Veranda literary journal of creative nonfiction in 1998 and also served as editor-in-chief of the film magazine Shutter. As author, he pioneered such books as The Peer-Reviewed Journal on scientific journal management, perhaps the only book in existence on driving etiquette, another on professional organization development and management, and a cutting-edge text on using digital processes for short pressrun printing. Other texts include topics of working in the film industry, the history of coffee and coffeehouses, advanced grammar and writing, and writing for publication in magazines and trade journals. Mr. Smith also enjoys working in the film industry, having helped to cast several feature films and appearing in 18 made-for-TV movies, feature films, a cooking show, and the pilot of a reality series. He currently serves on a number of boards of directors and committees, and has won awards for writing and organizational development.