As holiday shopping heats up, there are dozens of local authors anxious for you to purchase their books.
There is a burgeoning population of local authors. Gradually, some are shifting into fiction, perhaps based here, and some are writing children's books.
Many turned out on Saturday for an annual event in the Buffalo History Museum showcasing local authors and giving them a chance to sign their books sold in the museum shop.
Marti Gorman now has 50 books on her list as publisher of Buffalo Heritage books.
"I meet with at least one to two authors a week on book projects that they have in mind. Some of them are just concepts and some will go through to full publication of a book," Gorman said.
"I try and sort through which will really have a market. But frankly, if somebody wants to publish, they will go off and do it on their own. It will not be edited. It will not be designed. It will not have a proper ISBN. It will not end up across the nation."
Gorman said she would like to do more printing on demand, but there isn't a local book binder who can handle the process. That can mean going out of town for some of the physical processes of publishing, but Gorman said none of her books have been done out of the country.
Author Richard Feltoe came from Toronto for the event, talking to prospective purchasers in a red coat of the British Army from long ago. Feltoe writes books about the War of 1812.
"It was mostly fought right here on the Niagara Frontier. It was so concentrated. The Niagara Frontier changed hands no less than six times. In fact Fort Erie, across the river from Buffalo, changed hands eight times during the course of the war," Feltoe said.
Wars generally provide material for authors, including one local writer, who is four books into a series of nine novels about Buffalo and the Civil War based on a fictional aging general from that war.
