The MN Publishing Tweet Up

Amy Quale is the co-founder and editorial director of Wise Ink Creative Publishing. Amy has a background in publishing production, developmental editing, copy editing, and writing. To date, she has worked with more than 250 authors from beginning to end and has been a part of the publishing community for seven years. Amy’s emphases are in memoir, spirituality, sci-fi/fantasy, mysteries, YA, and academic writing. She is a board member of the Minnesota Book Publishers’ Roundtable and is currently working on a master’s degree in English from Minnesota State University – Mankato. When she’s relaxing from a day of working with authors, she’s hanging with her husband Zachary and their canine and feline companions.

David Skarjune is a publisher and consultant at Word & Image, providing publishing and content solutions for authors, artists, and organizations. He has worked with content and publishing systems for decades in a variety of roles including writer, photographer, journalist, editor, designer, developer, system architect, and trainer. Skarjune is a certified Electronic Document Professional (EDP) with Xplor International and AIIM Professional Member in the enterprise content management industry. Word & Image is a member of Midwest Independent Publishers Association and Minnesota Book Publishers Roundtable.

Ryan Scheife began his career as a Design Coordinator for Redleaf Press in 2003. In 2007, he launched Mayfly Design, an award-winning graphic design firm specializing in all aspects of book design, including cover design, page design, typesetting, and eBook formatting for digital books. Ryan has designed books for a number of self-published authors, as well as a variety of independent presses including Beaver’s Pond Press, Fairview Press, Hazelden Press, U of M Press, Barefoot Books, and others. He is a member of AIGA-MN and currently serves as Webmaster for the Minnesota Book Publishers’ Roundtable. Samples of his recent work can be viewed at mayflydesign.com.

Michael Maupin has been seen around town, first as a desktop publisher, then trade book editor for eight years, and lastly managing editor of the now-defunct Minnesota Law & Politics magazine. He served on the board of the Minnesota Screenwriters’ Workshop, co-founding its long-running Script Night reading series. Mike designed the curriculum for IFP-Minnesota’s Elements of Screenwriting course, which he taught for eight years. In April 2012 he left corporate publishing to launch StoryShed Media LLC, a digital media producer and publisher. StoryShed’s debut product will be Memento Mori, an interactive eBook application for iOS. Look for it in the iTunes Store in Spring 2013.

Dara M. Beevas is a writer, editor, blogger, speaker and indie author. She mentors other indie authors as Vice President of Beaver’s Pond Press, an award-winning mentoring publisher in the Twin Cities that has helped more than 600 indie authors self-publish. Her passion for authors and the indie author revolution led her to launch Wise, Ink, an online community for indie authors.

For most of her career, Beevas has worked in publishing. She was acquisitions editor for the American Chemical Society and has also worked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She received her Master’s Degree in publishing from George Washington University and was selected as an emerging writer by the Givens Foundation for African-American literature.

Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Beevas moved to Minneapolis in 2007 with her husband Tomme Beevas. The Twin Cities’ writing community captivated her almost immediately. In her spare time she writes poetry, short stories, and is a speaker on the topic of self-publishing. She’s reachable via her blog www.wiseinkblog.com, LinkedIn, and @darairene on Twitter.